curriculum vitae

My CV

View my professional resume and experience

Solutions architect · Infrastructure and automation · hello@zaharaschaefer.com

Career Summary

I build and run infrastructure for small teams: Proxmox hosts, container clusters, storage, backups, monitoring, and the automation that ties tools together. Most of my work is making systems that someone else can operate after I leave.

Experience

Principal Engineer

LayerEight Solutions · 2021 to present

Oversaw the full-scale design, implementation, and maintenance of LayerEight Solutions' internal infrastructure. Focused on building resilient, scalable, and secure environments, incorporating DevOps practices and automation to ensure uptime and efficiency. Managed Kubernetes clusters, handled infrastructure monitoring, and developed custom internal tools to optimize resource utilization.

Key Projects:

Infrastructure Migration: Migrated legacy virtualized environments to containerized systems using Kubernetes, enabling better resource management and scalability.
Monitoring and Logging: Implemented centralized monitoring using Prometheus and Grafana, and established logging with Elasticsearch, Logstash, and Kibana (ELK Stack), improving real-time alerting and troubleshooting efficiency.
Network Security Enhancements: Configured Cloudflare for web application security, protecting services from DDoS attacks and providing SSL termination.

Director of IT

Client · 2022 to present

Oversee all IT and integrations across the company's tech stack, ensuring smooth operation, security, and automation of internal and external systems. This includes actively monitoring and troubleshooting infrastructure, developing and integrating tools, ensuring backups, and recommending new technologies to improve operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities:

Monitoring and security: Watch the company's infrastructure, and keep automated backups, firewalls, and access controls in place.
Tools and integration: Build and maintain tools such as the affiliate dashboard, and run automations in n8n.
Client onboarding: Replaced a manual intake form with an automated onboarding workflow.
CRM and marketing automation: Connected ActiveCampaign with ClickFunnels and n8n for lead capture, nurturing, and reporting.
n8n: Moved business automations from Zapier to self-hosted n8n.
Third-party integrations: Connected Google Workspace, RingCentral, and OnceHub across departments.
IT support: Troubleshoot infrastructure issues and keep systems running.

Key Achievements:

Moved business automations from Zapier to self-hosted n8n.
Replaced a manual intake form with an automated onboarding workflow.
Set up automated backups, monitoring and access controls.
Connected the phone system, Google Workspace and scheduling tools across departments.

Systems Architect (Ceph Cluster)

Freelance Opportunities · May 2022 to Jun 2022

Led the design and deployment of a Ceph storage cluster for production environments using Cephadm and Ansible. Delivered an architecture plan, including RBD volume exposure for Hetzner Cloud and AWS.

IT Professional (Server Maintenance & Troubleshooting)

Freelance Opportunities · Jan 2022 to Oct 2022

Provided IT support for troubleshooting and maintaining virtualized environments, primarily using Proxmox and pfSense. Diagnosed server freezes and tightened security protocols.

Full-Stack Web Developer

Freelance Opportunities · Sep 2021 to Jan 2022

Developed and launched full-stack applications using React, Firebase, and Google Cloud Functions, delivering secure, scalable web platforms. Focused on building real-time capabilities and backend systems for client projects.

2D/3D Game Asset Creator & Website/Discord Bot Developer

Virtual X · Aug 2019 to Mar 2021

Played a key role in asset development and community management for Virtual X, creating 2D/3D game assets, developing a custom Discord bot, and managing backend website features.

Key Contributions:

Game Asset Development: Created detailed 2D/3D assets using 3ds Max 2019 & 2022 and Photoshop 2015 for modeling and texturing.
C# Object Scripting: Automated game object behaviors in C# using Unity, integrating mechanics into the game environment.
Discord Bot Development with Node.js: Developed a custom bot in discord.js (Node.js) offering features like moderation (mute, kick, ban), viewing game balances and achievements, and showcasing in-game profiles for players.
Website Management: Managed the admin dashboard and community interaction features, with backend built using PHP and SQL, tying the site into the game's ecosystem.
Payment System Integration: Integrated PayPal and Patreon for subscriptions, donations, and in-game purchases.