Erfan Aljanabi

Technical Lead · Kubernetes · GKE · Cloud Infrastructure · GitOps · Observability

Infrastructure and automation professional with hands-on experience supporting Kubernetes platforms, cloud and on-premises environments, GitOps workflows, monitoring and observability systems, Linux infrastructure, and software test automation.

Location: Austin, Texas Status: USA Citizen Email: erf.jan.us@gmail.com Phone: +1 (512) 508-9167
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Education & Certifications

Education
The University of Texas at Austin
Certificate Program in Cybersecurity Professional
Austin, Texas · 2019–2020
University of Technology
BSc. in Control and Systems Engineering – 4 Years, Graduated.
Baghdad, Iraq · 1998–2002
Certifications
Certified Kubernetes Application Developer
CKAD · Linux Foundation · 2026
Credential ID: LF-0sorfx0qn6
Certified Kubernetes Administrator
CKA · Linux Foundation · 2026
Credential ID: LF-59j61d8y14
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA · 2020
Credential ID: COMP001021743027
Cisco Certified Network Associate
CCNA · Cisco Inc. · 2021
Certification ID: CSCO13726122

Professional Experience

Dell
Technical Lead (contract)
USA Remote
Oct 2025 – Present
  • Supported internal Kubernetes infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform (GKE), including cluster installation, maintenance, upgrades, and migration of nodes and applications from on-prem to GKE.
  • Built and managed monitoring and observability systems for Kubernetes clusters and VMs using the Prometheus stack. Responsibilities included installation, configuration, upgrades, rule creation, alerting strategies, and seamless integration.
  • Implemented and managed GitOps workflows for Kubernetes-based applications using ArgoCD, Helm, and source control tools like GitHub and Bitbucket.
  • Onboarded and maintained many CNCF projects such as cert-manager, External Secrets, Traefik, Istio (service mesh), chaos-mesh, Kiali, etc. to deliver reliable infrastructure and observability solutions.
AMD
Senior Test Automation Engineer (contract)
USA Remote
May 2023 – Oct 2025
  • Developed and executed test plans to validate software functionality against business and technical requirements.
  • Performed functional, regression, performance, and security testing while identifying, tracking, and resolving defects with development teams.
  • Collaborated in Agile development and CI/CD environments to support software quality and release readiness.
  • Validated applications deployed in Linux and Kubernetes environments using Helm, while supporting deployment verification and configuration validation.
  • Utilized Prometheus for basic application and infrastructure monitoring during testing and contributed to test automation and continuous quality improvement.
IBM
AIX Linux System Engineer (contract)
Austin, Texas
Apr 2021 – May 2023
  • Supported automated infrastructure provisioning for development teams across on-premises and AWS environments using Kubernetes, EKS, Helm, and the Prometheus monitoring stack.
  • Maintained Linux-based systems and provided infrastructure support to ensure reliable development environments.
  • Served as the Linux Subject Matter Expert (SME), mentoring new team members and supporting technical knowledge sharing.
Google
Data Analyst (contract)
Austin, Texas
Aug 2018 – Apr 2021
  • Analyzed and reviewed high-volume content using internal tools, performing data validation and policy compliance verification to maintain platform quality.
  • Investigated complex issues through root cause analysis, documented findings, and collaborated with cross-functional engineering and operations teams to resolve escalations.
  • Improved operational efficiency by leveraging technical workflows, data analysis, and process optimization while maintaining high accuracy and quality standards.

Technical Skills

AREA FOCUS TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES
Cloud Platforms Cloud infrastructure Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Containerization & Orchestration Containers and Kubernetes platforms Kubernetes (GKE, EKS), Docker, Helm
GitOps & Infrastructure as Code Declarative delivery and automation Argo CD, GitOps, Terraform
Networking & Service Mesh Connectivity and traffic management Istio Service Mesh, Traefik, Kubernetes Networking, Ingress, DNS, TLS/mTLS
Observability & Reliability Monitoring, alerting, and resilience Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, Kiali, Chaos Engineering, Chaos Mesh
Security & Policy Management Cluster security and governance Kyverno (Kubernetes Cluster Policies), Kubernetes RBAC, cert-manager, External Secrets Operator, Cybersecurity
CI/CD & Version Control Source control and delivery pipelines Git, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, CI/CD Pipelines
Operating Systems System administration Linux (RHEL, Ubuntu, CentOS, Debian), AIX
Programming & Automation Scripting and automation Python, Bash/Shell
“References will be submitted upon request”