Passion and diligence is the key to being successful in any endeavor that one set’s their mind to – professionally and personally. I driving strategy and lead global initiatives to improve organizational capacity, simplify solutions, and facilitate growth
Versatile IT leader, spearheading strategic planning, problem solving, employee and team growth, vendor management, and cost-saving initiatives. Design and implement secure systems, processes, and procedures, making fact-based decisions, seizing development opportunities, and closing performance gaps. Build, coach, and lead distributed teams, managing large budgets, IT infrastructure, timelines, and ongoing alignment with business needs. Promote cross-functional collaboration, communicating with complex information diplomacy and tact to technical/non-technical professionals at all levels. Trusted to eliminate technology silos, identify cost saving/capability development opportunities, and scale solutions.
I thrive in challenging and time sensitive environments.
I thrive in a wide range of circumstances – especially new, changing and ambiguous situations. I center my efforts to think in a number of different ways and foster agile teams that collaborate, learn from each other, promote feedback and focus on quality and continuous learning.
I practice analogical reasoning as well as deduction. I love to take things apart just so I can understand and put them back together.
I was fortunate to play soccer all of my life. I now have the opportunity to give back to young players and coach a sport that I am passionate about.
My philosophy as a leader is to serve humbly and put the needs of the employees and organization first. I help people develop and perform as highly as possible.
I have enough experience of the workings of a IT community to understand its needs, and enough experience with technology to address those needs through leadership.
Work/Life balance is the state of equilibrium in which demands of personal life, professional life, and family life are equal.
I love numbers so here are just a few about me.
Over twenty years of professional experience driving strategy and leading global initiatives to improve organizational capacity, simplify solutions, and facilitate growth
NetApp, Inc. is an American hybrid cloud data services and data management company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It has ranked in the Fortune 500 since 2012. Founded in 1992 with an IPO in 1995, NetApp offers cloud data services for management of applications and data both online and physically.
NetApp.com
As the leader of the US Cloud Site Reliability Engineering function for a portfolio of public cloud services including AWS, GCP, and Astra, my role is both strategic and hands-on. I'm responsible for developing and managing a high-performing application, platform, and DevOps team, capable of meeting the needs of our rapidly growing business in a continuously evolving technology landscape. I've successfully implemented self-healing and automation strategies aimed at increasing resource efficiency, reducing downtime, and enhancing the reliability of our overall ecosystem, thereby improving user satisfaction. Collaborating closely with application development and infrastructure teams, I've bridged functional gaps and optimized our technical environment, ensuring we deliver top-notch IT services that meet our business needs and exceed user expectations. In addition to these operational responsibilities, a significant part of my role is strategic leadership. I've spearheaded initiatives such as the alignment of our Engineering processes with Service Level Objectives (SLOs) at Google, and the planning and execution of the India Google Cloud NetApp Volumes Summit. These initiatives have not only improved our operational efficiency but also fostered a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing. Maintaining effective relationships is another crucial aspect of my role. I work closely with core and extended program team members, product managers, architects, business stakeholders, and senior management. This collaboration ensures that we're all aligned and working towards our shared goals. Furthermore, I've been proactive in promoting work-life balance, effectively managing on-call schedules to ensure a seamless transition during holiday periods. Overall, my leadership role is characterized by a strategic vision, team collaboration, operational efficiency, and a commitment to work-life balance.
Role Experience +Mastercard Incorporated is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in the Mastercard International Global Headquarters in Purchase, New York, United States. The Global Operations Headquarters is located in O'Fallon, Missouri, United States, a municipality of St. Charles County, Missouri.
Mastercard.com
Lead 25-member Enterprise Distributed Storage Group managing and maintaining storage area network (SAN) environments and backup services for UNIX/Linux, Windows, and virtual server platforms. Oversee and coach IT contributors/engineers and mentor IT leaders providing world-class catalog of services for engineering, design, and compliance, as well as operational administration, support, troubleshooting, and maintenance for SAN-related devices and processes.
Analyze current state and set strategy to support achievement of company goals. Determine annual forecast/budget requirements and align throughout year. Create and communicate department roadmaps. Champion security and privacy missions by obtaining, upholding, and adhering to PCI certifications and compliance audits, as well as resolving distributed storage vulnerabilities and findings.
Role Experience +Enterprise Holdings, Inc. is a private holding company headquartered in the Clayton suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It is the parent company of car rental companies Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental, Alamo Rent a Car, and Enterprise CarShare.
EnterpriseHoldings.com
Oversaw SRE and performance solutions for network, SAN storage, compute, and server-based operating systems, as well as application, database, and incident management systems. Led and coached team of 8–10 SREs of various infrastructure and data disciplines, providing opportunities for team performance and individual professional growth. Managed $10M+ annual CapEx/OpEx budget and created standardized roadmap documentation per planning, procurement, NPV, and ROI analyses. Set and executed operational strategy for solution and product health monitoring; developed and defined requirements for critical KPI data collection, incident management, reactive/proactive monitoring, troubleshooting, and reporting.
Role Experience +Developed and implemented SRE and performance solutions for network, application, and SAN storage, leading diverse team of 8–10 network, application, and storage performance engineers providing third-tier escalation services to troubleshoot issues and outages. Managed teams, $3-5MM budgets, and projects focused on performance optimization. Met worldwide end user SLAs and SLOs of company applications and network/system architecture through proactive monitoring, incident management, alerting, troubleshooting, and capacity planning.
Managed and provided support for external cloud services by troubleshooting application and environment issues, recommending capacity and delivering configuration management administration and services
Mentored colleagues by developing and instructing cloud hosting technology on- boarding sessions to assist them in establishing testing processes, developing test plans and reviewing completed efforts
Improved end-user experience (UX) by delivering IT infrastructure performance recommendations that combined engineering disciplines with a business focus; solved network, application and server capacity and performance issues
Optimized network and application infrastructure services by designing, recommending and implementing new deployments through analysis, modeling and planning.
Led a team of network administrators to troubleshoot environment issues at the Blackburn College campus that included data center, dormitories, faculty personnel offices, and classrooms
Details +
Leadership is what moves us from point A to point B; leadership is what makes each of us all that we have the potential to be. Leadership is what gives us hope for a better tomorrow.
It is the aspect of leadership that will require the most discipline, commitment and determination. However, it is also the aspect that will reap the greatest rewards.
They have to believe in what you are communicating. You need to communicate to them why their lives will be better off for having achieved this.
Interacting with and persuading others is both an art and a science – understand, motivate and empower.
With over 21 years of IT and IT Leadership experience, I've learned to continually work to strengthen my development opportunities.
Want to learn more about Leadership, Technology and specifically - SRE?
It is the aspect of leadership that will require the most discipline, commitment and determination. However, it is also the aspect that will reap the greatest rewards.
They have to believe in what you are communicating. You need to communicate to them why their lives will be better off for having achieved this.
Interacting with and persuading others is both an art and a science – understand, motivate and empower.
I've worked with countless amazing people over the years, most leaving positive impressions on me. Many thanks for the kind words and friendships we've made.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Nate for several years at Enterprise with our focus on delivering world class technology and services. Nate has always found the balance in the vendor/client partnership that delivers the best overall results for his company while meeting the needs of the vendor. It takes great leadership, teamwork and a degree of transparency to succeed and Nate manages this balance exceeding well. I’ve very much enjoyed working with Nat thru both good times and the tough ones because in either case, his leadership and even keel style come thru and deliver.”
Via LinkedIn
“Working for Nate, I knew that I was lucky to have a great manager. I could come to him with an issue and it would be addressed in a timely manner. He is easy to talk to, offers support and great perspective all while giving his team the leeway to grow and learn.”
Via LinkedIn
“Being a sales leader for a large IT company has provided me with an opportunity to meet many customers, partners, and peers across the world. One customer in particular that I’ve worked with the last 5 years stands out for many reasons. His leadership, passion, and commitment to working with others to achieve a common goal have been a symbol for success. I’ve had the pleasure of working on several large projects with Nathan and his team and I look forward to many more, Thanks Nathan.”
Via LinkedIn
“Nate is a valuable and respected team member. He is reliable, stays current on industry trends and shows a great deal of enthusiasm when it comes to his career and the growth of his employees.”
Via LinkedIn
“Consistent and fair, intelligent and hardworking, with a broad understanding of his customer’s needs; he is a pleasure to work with as a vendor’s representative. I’ve worked with Nathan almost 10 years now, and he’s proven to not only be a great guy who works really well with others; but works well as part of a team, and brings high value and success to any goal or project he is assigned. Working with him has always been a pleasure. Nate shows initiative and versatility, works collaboratively, has strong technical and interpersonal skills. He would be a strong asset to whatever team he was leading.”
Via LinkedIn
“Nathan was a dedicated employee always striving to learn and to do what was right for our customers! He never shied away from new technologies or a challenge. He took the time to understand his customers requirements and then worked diligently to ensure they were met. Nathan was a great employee and I would highly recommend him for any position.”
Via LinkedIn
“Energetic and determined, Nate was a driving force within the Network Performance Team at Enterprise. Managing a team of Tier III Network Performance Engineers, he ensured Network stability while helping guide enhancements in tools and equipment for Enterprise. His leadership and technical capabilities helped ensure the team met or exceeded company objectives. It was a pleasure working with Nate during the four years I was at Enterprise.”
Via LinkedIn
