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Jared
Needell

Senior Enterprise Systems & Automation Engineer
Cloud · IAM · SaaS Platform Operations · AI-Assisted Engineering

AWS Okta Terraform Kubernetes Google Workspace SSO / SCIM Python Datadog GitHub Actions Claude · Copilot · Cursor
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About Me

Engineering that
reduces toil at scale

I'm an enterprise systems and automation engineer with 10+ years building and operating cloud platforms, identity infrastructure, and SaaS tooling at scale. My core drive is simple: find the manual work, automate it away, and leave systems more reliable than I found them.

At Rithum, I own the full stack of platform and identity operations — from multi-account AWS infrastructure and Kubernetes environments to Okta/Entra ID lifecycle automation, Google Workspace administration, and cross-functional SaaS integrations. I treat every repeated task as a bug to be fixed.

On the enterprise systems side, I've administered Google Workspace at scale (1,000+ user organizations) for over a decade — progressively automating provisioning through Admin SDK integrations, Python, and PowerShell rather than manual admin console work. I've administered Slack identity integrations and API-driven workflows including SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning via Okta, and HRIS attribute sync, and integrated the ADP Workforce Now API to eliminate HR-to-IT handoffs. When a product doesn't have native integration support, I build it with their API.

I use Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor daily to write better code faster, generate runbooks, accelerate IaC development, and cut through operational complexity — including deploying Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to connect Claude to internal tooling and APIs.

AI-Assisted Engineering — Daily Practice

AI tooling is part of my regular engineering workflow — IaC generation, incident runbooks, script review, documentation, and troubleshooting support. I use it to move faster and produce better-documented, more consistent work.

Claude GitHub Copilot Cursor Runbook Generation IaC Acceleration Prompt Engineering
Jared Needell
10+
Years Experience
Significant
IT Ticket Reduction
Reduced
Helpdesk Toil
AI
Daily Practitioner
Technical Skills

The stack I operate in

Deep expertise across cloud, identity, automation, and AI tooling — with a focus on service ownership and operational leverage.

☁️
Cloud & Platform Engineering
AWS EC2S3IAM LambdaEKSCloudFormation AzureKubernetesDocker VMwareMulti-account
🔐
Identity & Access Management
OktaOkta Workflows Microsoft Entra IDActive Directory SAMLSCIMSSO RBACGPODUO 2FA ConductorOne (IGA) Identity GovernanceLifecycle Automation Okta → Entra ID Migration
🏢
Enterprise Systems & SaaS
Google Workspace AdminAdmin SDK Google Vault Slack APISlack Bot Development ChatOps JIRA AutomationBoomi (iPaaS) NetSuiteREST APIs Webhook IntegrationsService Ownership Internal Tooling
📦
Infrastructure as Code
TerraformCloudFormation AnsibleGitHub Actions CI/CD PipelinesIaC Modules Deployment Automation
⚡
Automation & Scripting
PythonPowerShell BashREST API Integration AWXJenkins API ADP Workforce Now APIConductorOne API Event-driven Automation Runbook Automation Workflow Orchestration
📊
Observability & Incident Response
DatadogSplunk ExtraHopAlerting Pipelines MTTD/MTTRIncident Triage Post-Incident Review
🤖
AI-Assisted Engineering
ClaudeGitHub Copilot CursorRunbook Generation IaC Acceleration Prompt Engineering Documentation Automation
Experience

Where I've built things

Senior Platform & Infrastructure Engineer
Rithum
Feb 2015 — Present
Holly Springs, NC
Platform Ownership & Automation
  • Owned and operated AWS infrastructure across multi-account environments, establishing reusable Terraform IaC modules that standardized deployment patterns across engineering teams.
  • Eliminated manual deployment toil by building GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines enabling consistent, auditable infrastructure releases with minimal human intervention.
  • Automated hybrid Kubernetes (EKS) and VMware platform operations, reducing operational overhead and improving environment consistency across on-prem and cloud workloads.
Identity & Access Management
  • Served as company-wide Okta owner — built and maintained SAML app integrations for internal systems, enforced RBAC policies, integrated DUO 2FA, and owned the full SSO/SCIM provisioning stack.
  • Led enterprise identity migration from Okta to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) — including SAML app re-configuration, user lifecycle continuity, and zero-downtime cutover planning.
  • Deployed ConductorOne for Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) — used the ConductorOne API with custom scripting to build an IaC-style approach to managing and versioning IGA resources, enabling self-service access to privileged systems. Significantly reduced IT ticket volume from Engineering teams and saved substantial helpdesk labor annually.
  • Automated user lifecycle workflows (joiner/mover/leaver) using Okta API + Python/PowerShell, meaningfully reducing manual helpdesk workload and improving audit traceability through automated, traceable lifecycle events.
  • Managed enterprise Active Directory (DNS, DHCP, GPO) and drove progressive migration toward cloud-native identity systems.
Enterprise Systems & SaaS Operations
  • Administered Google Workspace across 1,000+ user environments for 10+ years — progressively automating user lifecycle, mailbox, and group management through Okta/Entra ID, Admin SDK integrations, and Python/PowerShell scripting orchestrated via AWX and Jenkins. Shifted provisioning from manual IT tickets to event-driven automation, improving audit traceability and eliminating provisioning lag.
  • Supported multiple audit cycles as the Google Workspace technical SME — partnering with Legal and compliance stakeholders to configure retention rules, Vault policies, and eDiscovery workflows for regulatory requirements, litigation readiness, and discovery requests.
  • Administered Slack identity integrations and automation workflows — configured SAML SSO and SCIM provisioning via Okta, automated HRIS-to-Slack attribute sync for user and group assignment, and built event-driven ChatOps workflows via the Slack API.
  • Built PowerShell middleware bridging Active Directory with Google Workspace and Slack — reading AD attributes, transforming data, and pushing role assignments and group memberships to both platforms via API. Anything requiring more than one admin console change became a candidate for automation.
  • Built custom Slack bots integrating the Slack API with JIRA Automation and AWS — enabling event-driven deployment notifications and change release workflows for Platform Engineering, replacing manual team handoffs with automated in-channel triggers.
  • Designed and implemented ADP Workforce Now API integration with SCCM and Active Directory — automating the full employee lifecycle including onboarding, offboarding, and org changes propagating automatically across AD and downstream SaaS applications. Reduced manual helpdesk workload by 20%, freeing the team to focus on higher-complexity work.
  • Implemented Boomi iPaaS integration between NetSuite and internal business systems — demonstrating iPaaS workflow design, connector configuration, and enterprise data pipeline operations.
Observability & Incident Response
  • Designed monitoring and alerting pipelines across Datadog, Splunk, and ExtraHop — improving MTTD for platform incidents and reducing alert noise from false positives.
  • Led incident response for platform-level outages, owning triage, root cause analysis, stakeholder communication, and post-incident remediation across cloud and identity systems.
AI-Assisted Engineering
  • Daily practitioner of AI-assisted engineering using Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor to accelerate Terraform/IaC development, Python scripting, incident runbook generation, and operational documentation.
  • Built a custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) server as an API wrapper using AI-assisted development — enabling Claude to query internal systems directly and prototype AI-augmented operational workflows.
  • Applied AI tooling to code review, refactoring legacy automation scripts, and generating structured troubleshooting guides — meaningfully compressing time-to-resolution for complex operational problems.
Junior Systems Engineer
CMIT Solutions of Monroe
Aug 2013 — Feb 2015
Rochester, NY
  • Managed infrastructure across server, network, and cloud environments for 100+ SMB clients.
  • Consulted on technology modernization projects improving business resiliency and operational performance.
IT Infrastructure Contractor
Condor Capital Management / Highpoint Solutions
2012 — 2013
New Jersey
  • Provided technical consulting for infrastructure modernization projects in finance and healthcare sectors.
Applied AI & Automation

Projects that eliminate toil

Hands-on work at the intersection of AI tooling, identity automation, and platform engineering.

🔌

Custom MCP Server — API Wrapper for Claude Integration

Built a custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) server using AI-assisted development — wrapping internal APIs to enable Claude to query operational data directly. Demonstrated how natural language can serve as an interface to existing tooling without requiring a full platform build.

MCP Claude REST API Workflow Automation
⚡

AI-Accelerated IaC Development

Integrated Claude and GitHub Copilot into the Terraform and IaC development workflow for module scaffolding, security validation, and documentation generation — compressing the time from requirements to first working draft and improving consistency and inline documentation coverage across module patterns.

Terraform Claude GitHub Copilot Cursor
📋

Automated Runbook & Documentation Generation

Established an AI-assisted workflow using Claude and Cursor to convert incident post-mortems and tribal knowledge into structured runbooks, escalation playbooks, and onboarding guides. Improved operational knowledge coverage for platform and IAM systems with significantly less engineering time than manual authoring.

Claude Cursor Runbook Automation Documentation
🧩

ConductorOne IGA-as-Code

When ConductorOne lacked native IaC support, built a custom solution using the ConductorOne API and scripting to define, deploy, and version-control IGA resources as code. Enabled self-service access to privileged systems — reducing access provisioning lead time from weeks to seconds and significantly cutting IT ticket volume from Engineering teams.

ConductorOne API IGA Python IaC Patterns Identity Governance
Credentials

Certifications & Education

Certifications
☁️
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator
Associate · Active
🔬
CompTIA A+
Active
🏥
HIPAA Privacy & Security Training
Completed
Education
Rochester Institute of Technology
BS, Information Technology
Networking, Security & Systems Administration
December 2014
Contact

Let's connect

Open to senior platform engineering, enterprise systems, and SaaS automation roles — especially where AI tooling, IAM depth, and operational leverage matter.

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