Hey, I'm Jordan 👋🏻

About

I’m a data infrastructure engineer who works mostly on the systems that move and organize data behind the scenes. Lately that’s meant deploying and supporting distributed data platforms in Kubernetes, setting up CI/CD pipelines, and making sure things like storage, access, and observability all fit together the way they’re supposed to.

Most of my day-to-day work involves figuring out how different parts of the stack interact (Kubernetes, Hadoop, Snowflake, object storage, APIs, identity access, etc.) and helping other teams work through issues when things don’t behave as expected. I try to focus on keeping systems reliable, easier to understand, and maintainable long-term.

I enjoy the puzzle solving aspect of this kind of work, and I like collaborating with DevOps, networking, cloud, and governance teams to keep everything running smoothly.

When I’m not working, I’m usually out on the trails riding my mountain bike or exploring spots around the Bay Area!

Projects

Jukeblox
Jukeblox

Originally made in 48 hours for the GMTK Game Jam 2023

Mountain Bike Instagram Page
Mountain Bike Instagram Page

A creative outlet for me to edit and share helmet-cam recordings of my rides

Education

  • Georgia Institute of Technology
    2024
    M.S. Computer Science
    Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Arizona State University
    2019
    B.S. Computer Science
    Arizona State University

Work Experience

  • RR Donnelley
    RR Donnelley (Pleasanton, CA – Remote)
    August 2022 – Present
    May 2024 · Present
    Data Infrastructure Engineer II
    • Serve as a versatile engineer on an agile Data Mesh team, working across platform deployment, APIs, governance, observability, and internal tooling.
    • Deploy, upgrade, and manage Dremio in multiple Kubernetes environments using Helm and GitLab CI/CD, including engine configuration, performance tuning, catalog/storage setup, and troubleshooting.
    • Implement and maintain SSO and OIDC-based authorization for Dremio and Superset, partnering with identity and security teams to resolve access and group-mapping issues.
    • Work across DevOps, networking, and cloud teams to troubleshoot issues involving connectivity, Hadoop/HDFS, Hive, Snowflake, and catalog interactions.
    • Integrate secure APIs into the internal Data Mesh website, enabling users to submit and retrieve queries directly through the UI.
    • Migrate distributed storage and catalog components, assist with version upgrades, and improve Helm/Kubernetes configurations for maintainability.
    • Improve observability by integrating Prometheus/Thanos metrics, refining Grafana dashboards, and exposing audit/query logs, helping reduce troubleshooting time and increasing visibility into platform behavior.
    • Support data governance by improving Collibra domain structures, fixing dataset relationships, and optimizing sync jobs.
    • Build Spark/Iceberg/Polaris examples and notebooks to support analytics and engineering use cases.
    • Contribute to knowledge sharing through Data Mesh Guild posts, documentation, and walkthroughs.
    Aug 2022 · May 2024
    Data Infrastructure Engineer I
    • Built a centralized data catalog providing a unified view of enterprise data assets for teams across the organization.
    • Developed internal APIs to improve governed data access, increasing consistency and usability across applications and analytics workflows.
    • Integrated internal web applications with Data Mesh services to streamline data discovery and improve user experience.
    • Configured ETL pipelines for internal consumers and supported Data Products published to the Snowflake Marketplace.
    • Developed and launched an internal Next.js 14 web application serving as the main hub for Data Mesh activity, featuring real-time API-driven dataset and product statistics.
    • Authored Data Mesh Guild posts to communicate deployments, platform updates, and guidance, improving transparency and alignment across teams.
    • Evaluated and deployed emerging tools (virtualization, visualization, streaming, generative AI) in Kubernetes/OpenStack environments and created demos to support architectural decision-making.
  • USAA
    USAA (Plano, TX – Onsite)
    September 2019 – July 2022
    May 2022 · July 2022
    Tech Lead - Software Engineer II
    • Technical lead for a team of 5+ globally diverse engineers.
    • Created technical designs and product roadmaps to drive reliable, reusable, and scalable solutions.
    • Continued responsibilities listed below as a Software Engineer II.
    Aug 2021 · May 2022
    Software Engineer II
    • Developed small batch data load and model processes using Domino, R, Python, Git CI/CD, and Airflow; first team in the organization to transition business-developed models to IT-supported infrastructure/technology, achieving ~60% reduction in code and ~95% reduction in hours worked monthly (~$84,000 per model/year).
    • Programmed ETL jobs using Python, shell scripts, and IBM DataStage.
    • Developed and maintained data integrity through run time controls over various data hops.
    • Orchestrated data using databases such as Snowflake, Oracle, and Netezza.
    • Visualized financial forecast data using React, D3, Plotly, and Tableau.
    Sep 2019 · Aug 2021
    Software Engineer III
    • Created data pipelines from application databases to enterprise data warehouses.
    • Developed and maintained data integrity through run time controls over various data hops.
    • Programmed ETL jobs using Python, shell scripts, and IBM DataStage.
    • Instructed quarterly courses to bring employees up-to-speed on IBM DataStage and ETL methodologies.