Are you looking for an experienced Backend Engineer/Linux Sysadmin who is passionate about providing and delivering a quality software experience? Can you provide me technical challenges and a great team to work with? If you can, I can bring to the table my twelve years of Linux experience (primarily on RedHat Enterprise Linux, but, I also run CentOS and Debian at home) in customer support, Linux administration, and general geekyness.

To give you a good synopsis of my skill sets, I encourage you to take a look at my resume; even in a redacted form, you should be able to get a good idea of the skills and areas of knowledge that I cover. I'm more than happy to share my information to qualified companies -- please feel free to contact me to get the ball rolling.

In the past two years, I have been heavily involved in cloud computing strategies, and building a framework for large scale deployments. For example, on this website, I utilize the following technologies and strategies:
  • Amazon EC2 Micro Instance for the server (Average Server Cost: $30/month)
  • Postgresql for the Database
  • Git for SCM
  • Ruby on Rails based site
  • Rspec and Cucumber for Testing
  • Custom git post-receive headers for automatic deployment
  • Apache, mod_passenger/mod_ssl for the web server
  • Amazon's Simple Notification Service for handling the communication between git, apache, and mod_passenger
  • LinkedIn's API and oAuth framework
  • Salesforce for Lead Management (automatically fed from LinkedIn)
  • twillio for SMS notifications on new contacts/leads/messages
This is something that I've written, tested, and am comfortable with, and I would be more than happy to share the source code with you if you're interested in learning more about me. I do have many gists that are available for you to peruse, along with an open source project that I maintained as part of my support position at one of my previous employers.

My preference is to be a telecommuter; I have a nice home office set up with redundant internet connections (and coming soon: a backup generator to provide redundant power). I live in an area with service from all three major cellular providers, and have access to a college campus when needed. I am within a 60 minute drive to two airports in the region, and I'm as comfortable in a suit speaking to a customer that I am being in shorts working around the office. I'm also comfortable with limited on-site work if telecommuting is out of the option. Unfortunately, at this time, due to a personal conflict, relocation is not an option that I am willing to consider.

I do come with references for most (if not all) of my projects and positions. This is what one manager said about my work at his company:

Ian's primary task was working with demanding customers and ensuring that their projects were completed as close to on time and on budget as humanly possible. Regardless of the situation, customer, or attitude, Ian went in and ensured a quick and accurate turn around for these customers, performing multiple tasks in a hectic working environment. He showed a great ability to work under pressure, meet the customer's deadlines, and find (or sometimes create his own) logistical solutions to ensuring that the right people, materials, hardware, and software were at the right place at the right time — ensuring the highest satisfaction of all the stakeholders.

Here's another email that I received from a CTO from another company:

Thanks, Ian, for quick and thorough response to this and the previous email. It appears that your "Linux Geek" tag is well-deserved. Wear it proudly.

I am immediately available to work on any short or long term project (either directly as a W-2 Employee or Corp-to-Corp/1099) or any full-time, salaried employment.