{"schemaVersion":2,"updated":"2026-10-16","name":"Umer Mahmood","professionalTitle":"Infrastructure & Security Engineer","mostRecentRole":"Senior Systems Administrator & Site Lead","headline":"Infrastructure security engineer · RMF/STIG and ATO delivery · Nutanix, VMware, AWS","location":"Greater Seattle, WA","availability":"Available now · Greater Seattle or remote","targetRoles":"infrastructure security, DevSecOps, platform and systems engineering roles","alsoOpenTo":["Network engineering","Cloud engineering","Solutions architecture","IT consulting"],"summary":"Infrastructure and security engineer with more than 10 years of government contracting experience on classified networks, secure datacenter operations, and cloud infrastructure. Site Lead for a 12-administrator datacenter team; contributed to dozens of successful Authorization to Operate (ATO) efforts and led two complete packages. Hands-on with RMF/STIG compliance, Nutanix and VMware virtualization, AWS, and automation, and now building security tooling of my own.","highlights":["Dozens of ATO efforts across DoD programs, including two complete packages led end to end at SMX and the secure campus wireless ATO delivered with NSA integrators.","Led a 12-administrator datacenter team as Site Lead and Product Owner; migrated 100+ VMs from VMware to Nutanix HCI with under four hours of downtime.","Cut costs where security allowed it: $100K+ per year through microsegmentation, and an AWS Outpost bill from $1,400 to $300 a month."],"currentWork":{"description":"I currently consult and am the sole member of YATC LLC (Yet Another Tech Company), a managed service provider I co-founded and began working on part-time in December 2023.","organization":"YATC LLC (Yet Another Tech Company)","businessType":"Managed service provider","workBegan":"2023-12","initialWorkArrangement":"Part-time alongside SMX","currentOwnership":"Sole member"},"clearance":{"statement":"Top Secret clearance held through May 2025 (last cleared role); eligible for reinstatement.","previousLevel":"Top Secret","currentStatus":"Eligible for reinstatement","lastClearedRoleEnded":"2025-05"},"education":[["Bachelor of Science, Cloud Computing (AWS track)","Western Governors University (online)","In progress, part-time"],["Computer Science coursework toward an Associate degree","Modesto Junior College, Modesto, CA","2007 – 2009"]],"certifications":{"active":["Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure 6 (issued Mar 2025)","CompTIA CySA+ ce (valid through Nov 2027)","CompTIA Security+ ce (valid through Nov 2027)","LPI Linux Essentials (issued Feb 2022)","Microsoft Technology Associate: Networking Fundamentals (issued Oct 2016)"],"prior":["AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (held 2023 – Aug 2026, expired; renewal planned)","ISC2 CCSP exam passed Oct 2023; certification not held (endorsement window lapsed)"],"planned":"AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer – Associate and AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate; exams planned, not yet scheduled."},"employment":[{"title":"Independent consultant · Co-founder and sole member","org":"YATC LLC (Yet Another Tech Company)","where":"Remote","when":"Dec 2023 – Present","bullets":["Co-founded a managed service provider part-time alongside the SMX role in December 2023; now its sole member","Design, operate and harden a self-hosted platform on a Rocky Linux VPS: GitLab CE with CI runners, OpenBao secrets with AppRole delivery, an nginx edge proxy with automated TLS renewal, Tailscale-only administration, and containers run read-only, non-root, with all capabilities dropped","Build security tooling with written requirements, decision logs and automated tests: netstig (network STIG evidence), Spotter (a macOS terminal with bounded AI assistance), the STIG Checklist Editor, and an OpenBao desktop client"]},{"title":"Senior System Administrator / Site Lead","org":"SMX","where":"Ridgecrest, CA","when":"Oct 2023 – May 2025","bullets":["Led two complete ATO packages from control selection through authorization","Led a 12-administrator datacenter team and drove PI planning as Product Owner, aligning technical work with operational priorities","Migrated 100+ VMs from VMware to Nutanix HCI with less than four hours of downtime","Engineered microsegmentation that reduced annual costs by $100K+ while meeting infrastructure security requirements","Defined platform ownership and service expectations through a PaaS Shared Responsibility Model and service catalog","Deployed AWS Outpost and used CloudWatch to cut its monthly cost from $1,400 to $300","Implemented STIG hardening and remediated Nessus findings to support secure operations and authorization requirements"]},{"title":"Senior Systems Administrator","org":"Life Cycle Engineering","where":"Ridgecrest, CA","when":"Sep 2022 – Oct 2023","bullets":["Primary technical point of contact for three ATO efforts","Administered Rubrik protection for 50 TB of data, sustaining a 99% backup success rate","Deployed SolarWinds NPM monitoring across 1,000 network devices","Hardened 200+ servers and 1,000+ network devices against DoD STIG requirements"]},{"title":"System Administrator","org":"Trowbridge & Trowbridge","where":"Ridgecrest, CA","when":"Oct 2018 – Sep 2022","bullets":["Delivered the secure campus wireless ATO in collaboration with NSA integrators","Developed a DoD secure Wi-Fi solution supporting classified SIPRNet operations","Migrated ~150 VMs from VMware VxRail to Nutanix HCI","Reduced critical vulnerabilities by approximately 80% through Tenable ACAS management across approximately 100 assets"]},{"title":"Network Administrator","org":"Epsilon, Inc.","where":"Ridgecrest, CA","when":"Nov 2016 – Oct 2018","bullets":["Managed full-lifecycle network infrastructure across multi-vendor environments","Completed hardware and software upgrades with minimal downtime; led the first on-time hardware refresh in 18 months"]},{"title":"Information Technology Specialist","org":"IntellecTechs, Inc.","where":"Bridgeport, CA","when":"Apr 2016 – Nov 2016","bullets":["Replaced hardware, performed backup restorations, and resolved ~50 Remedy service desk tickets weekly on a cleared site"]},{"title":"Network Administrator / Engineer","org":"Kurtis Company","where":"San Francisco, CA","when":"Oct 2014 – Apr 2016","bullets":["Conducted A/V and network site surveys, created network diagrams, and supervised installations of routers, switches, wireless APs and IP cameras"]}],"earlierExperience":"Earlier: IT support technician (The Gamer's Network, 2009–2011) and freelance web developer / IT consultant (2009–2010), Modesto, CA.","projects":[{"name":"netstig","url":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/projects/netstig","description":"Python CLI that pulls network device configs, diffs them against baselines, and emits STIG Viewer .ckl checklists for ATO packages."},{"name":"Spotter","url":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/projects/spotter","description":"Native macOS terminal with an AI assistant whose level you set; secrets stay in the Keychain and every risky command asks first. 1,700+ tests."},{"name":"STIG Checklist Editor","url":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/projects/stig-checklist-editor","description":"Go + Wails desktop editor for DoD STIG checklists with CKL and CKLB export."},{"name":"Self-hosted platform","url":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/projects/platform","description":"GitLab CE, OpenBao, hardened containers and an nginx edge proxy on a Rocky Linux VPS; runs this site."}],"aiDisclosure":"AI-assisted implementation, tests, and documentation. Portfolio emphasizes infrastructure, security and architecture judgment; not a claim of seasoned software development expertise.","sources":{"resume":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/resume","resumePdf":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/Umer-Mahmood-Resume.pdf","brief":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/brief","projects":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/projects","aiApproach":"https://umer-mahmood.cloud/about#ai"},"contact":{"email":"umerm89@gmail.com","linkedin":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/umer-mahmood-225293163"}}