Southeast Michigan · Open to leadership roles

Infrastructure depth.
Leadership direction.

I lead technology through the moments that matter: complex incidents, infrastructure change, cross-functional delivery, and the long operational work after go-live.

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Leadership operating system active

Technology
leadership

Tier 3Final escalation leadership

DirectorMunicipal IT leadership

2018–NowProgressive infrastructure career

Selected systems

Built across the full technology stack.

Enterprise infrastructure at work. Complex systems in the lab. The same discipline across both.

01

Infrastructure

Enterprise systems that stay dependable.

Windows and Linux servers, VMware and Hyper-V, Microsoft 365, Exchange, Active Directory, networking, backup, and disaster recovery.

Reliability · Recovery · Scale

Explore the thinking

Challenge

Keep business-critical systems dependable while upgrades, migrations, and operational change continue around them.

Approach

Work from architecture through escalation: isolate risk, make ownership clear, document the path, and stay engaged after go-live.

Leadership value

Technical depth that supports sound decisions, credible planning, and calm execution when the stakes rise.

02

Applied AI

AI and LLM systems built in the lab.

Hands-on experimentation with AI infrastructure, language models, automation, and the operational work required to turn new technology into something useful.

Evaluation · Automation · Operations

Explore the thinking

Challenge

Separate useful AI capabilities from novelty, then understand what it takes to operate them responsibly.

Approach

Prototype in a controlled lab, test practical workflows, and evaluate the infrastructure, integration, and support implications.

Leadership value

A grounded perspective on emerging technology—close enough to the work to ask better strategic questions.

03

Software systems

A custom Kotlin and Java game platform.

An independently operated, multi-layer platform where Kotlin and Java application code meet versioned data, client behavior, release engineering, and live operations.

Kotlin · Java · Platform engineering

Explore the thinking

Challenge

Evolve a living software platform where application logic, legacy client behavior, derived data, infrastructure, releases, and users all intersect.

Approach

Trace failures across boundaries, replace weak assumptions with evidence, and build safeguards around the parts automation should never change blindly.

Leadership value

Firsthand product ownership: balancing forward motion, technical debt, operational risk, and the discipline required to keep a live system supportable.

Selected engineering field notesPublic abstraction

01 / Compatibility

An early client strategy cleared one visible failure but exposed a deeper protocol mismatch. I changed the architecture around the proven translation layer instead of extending a workaround that could never reconcile the full system.

02 / Recovery

A native interface kept arriving incomplete because essential generated artifacts were treated as disposable—and an automated cleanup reinforced the mistake. I traced the full chain, recovered the source of truth, and made the fix durable.

03 / Safe automation

Large content imports now move through revision-aware mapping, provenance, protected custom areas, and staged review. Generated output is treated as evidence to inspect, never permission to overwrite handcrafted work.

04 / Runtime resilience

A launch path failed only when independent Java processes chose the same local resource. I isolated the hidden shared assumption and introduced bounded allocation and retry behavior without destabilizing the upstream dependency.

05 / Release evidence

Compilation is only the first checkpoint. Release readiness includes packaging derived data, clean startup, service health, connectivity, and an exact behavior-level smoke test before promotion.

Names, identifiers, and implementation-sensitive details intentionally omitted.

Current build surface

Still close to the work.

Leadership is stronger when it stays connected to how systems are actually built, tested, released, and supported. These environments keep that connection active.

josh@lab:~/systems$learn --build --operate

01

Active environment

Home lab

A controlled proving ground for infrastructure patterns, automation, recovery thinking, and the operational details behind reliable systems.

InfrastructureAutomationResilience

02

Active exploration

AI + LLM

Hands-on evaluation of language-model workflows and the practical engineering required to turn emerging capability into useful operations.

Applied AIWorkflowsOperations

03

In development

Custom game platform

A Kotlin and Java system spanning application code, versioned data, client compatibility, release engineering, infrastructure, and the realities of a live service.

KotlinJavaSystems thinking

Career progression

From the service desk to the leadership table.

Every step added a wider view of the system: users, infrastructure, architecture, delivery, risk, and organizational priorities.

2025–Present

Brightworks IT

Systems Engineer, Tier 3

Final escalation point for complex infrastructure, systems, networking, and application issues; leads migrations, upgrades, deployments, and implementation projects.

2024–2025

City of Ecorse

Deputy Director of Information Technology

Technology leadership across infrastructure, projects, support operations, governance, security policy, risk, and organizational priorities.

2023–2024

RootLogik

Systems Architect

Solution architecture, infrastructure planning, systems integration, distributed-team coordination, client leadership, VMware, automation, and Java technologies.

2021–2023

NeverBlue IT

Senior IT Technician

Advanced systems and network support, operational automation, technical projects, documentation, and escalation ownership.

2018–2021

Northville Public Schools · Taylor School District

IT Technician

Front-line technology support, device deployment, account administration, classroom systems, documentation, and disciplined escalation.

The next chapter

Ready to lead broader technology outcomes.

Targeting Director of IT, Senior IT Manager, and technology project leadership opportunities where strategy and execution belong in the same room.

01Lead through ambiguity

Bring structure, ownership, and calm to complex technical work.

02Translate across the room

Connect business priorities, technical reality, and delivery decisions.

03Stay accountable after launch

Treat adoption, support, and operational stability as part of delivery.

Start a conversation

Building reliable systems—and stronger teams around them.

Open to Director of IT, Senior IT Manager, and technology project leadership conversations.

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