Wes Henderson

Staff Systems Engineer

Summary

Automation-focused Systems Engineer with 10+ years of experience in designing, integrating, and optimizing scalable infrastructure in cloud-native environments. Strong Linux advocate with deep technical acumen in automation, DevOps, and systems architecture. Skilled in mentoring, documentation, and fostering cross-functional collaboration. Proven ability to deliver innovative solutions that drive cost savings, reduce incident response times, and elevate organizational resilience.

Skills

  • DevOps
  • Troubleshooting
  • Research
  • Problem Solving
  • CI/CD Pipelines
  • Configuration Management
  • Monitoring
  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  • Microservices
  • Containerization
  • Incident Response
  • Linux
  • Kubernetes (EKS & GKE)
  • Helm
  • AWS
  • GCP
  • GitHub
  • Terraform / CloudFormation
  • Ansible / Chef / Puppet
  • Docker
  • Apache
  • Nginx
  • MySQL
  • Grafana
  • Splunk
  • Mentoring
  • Team Leadership
  • Documentation
  • Communication
  • Adaptability
  • Generalist
  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Python
  • Bash
  • PowerShell
  • Automation
  • REST APIs
  • boto3
  • Fabric

Relevant Experience

Salesforce

Lead Systems Engineer

November 2019-April 2025

• Spearheaded the 'Bring Your Own Key' (BYOK) initiative, securing $6M in recurring revenue and satisfying key enterprise customer requirements.

• Discovered and resolved critical cloud misconfigurations, saving $3M annually in AWS infrastructure costs.

• Orchestrated the seamless onboarding of multiple business units to centralized infrastructure, ensuring full documentation and zero service disruptions.

• Designed and implemented a custom CLI tool for managing asynchronous jobs, significantly reducing MTTR and boosting operational visibility.

• Developed a reusable SRE tooling pipeline that reduced tribal knowledge dependencies and improved incident recovery workflows.

• Facilitated alignment and collaboration across multiple teams to deliver infrastructure projects on time and within budget.

TrueAbility

Deployment Engineer

February 2018-November 2019

• Designed and launched exams for major clients including Google, Elastic, Chef, Linux Foundation, and VMWare, increasing customer base and revenue.

• Mentored junior engineers and built documentation/playbooks, reducing escalations and supporting career development within the team.

• Engineered customized exam environments using Bash and PowerShell, rapidly adapting to client needs across a wide tech stack.

• Contributed to internal infrastructure and codebase supporting AWS and GCP hybrid environments for exam delivery and tooling.

• Created demonstration assessments that expanded company offerings into recruitment-focused products.

Rackspace Hosting

DevOps Engineer

May 2013-December 2017

• Delivered 2–3 custom AWS deployments per week, adhering to compliance standards (e.g., PCI, HIPAA).

• Authored a Python-based automation framework to accelerate builds, cutting deployment failure rates in half.

• Enhanced customer satisfaction by creating custom tools in Bash and Python that streamlined onboarding and troubleshooting.

• Supported knowledge sharing through active contributions to internal wikis and public blog content.

• Acted as a technical liaison to educate clients on distributed systems and DevOps best practices.

Certifications

  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect
  • Red Hat RHCE
  • Red Hat RHCSA
  • Linux Professional Institute Cert 1
  • CompTIA Linux+
  • CompTIA Security+
  • CompTIA Network+
  • CompTIA A+
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2012
  • 2010
  • 2010
  • 2008
  • AWS-ASA-29789
  • 130-119-274
  • 130-119-274
  • LPI000250530
  • COMP001007825623
  • COMP001007825623
  • COMP001007825623
  • COMP001007825623

Education

Northwest Vista College - San Antonio, Texas

Associate of Applied Science in Computer Forensics — 4.0 GPA

• Marketable Skills Achievement Award: Linux RHCT

• Marketable Skills Achievement Award: Information Security & Assurance

Publications

1. Henderson, Wes (December 19, 2015). The Anatomy of an SSH Connection. necrux.com.

2. Henderson, Wes (December 19, 2015). (S)FTP(S) or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love File Transfer. necrux.com.

3. Henderson, Wes (April 28, 2015). Understanding and Adopting a Cloud Mindset for your Emerging Business. Rackspace.

4. Henderson, Wes (April 28, 2014). An Overview Of Disaster Recovery And Mitigation In The Cloud For Emerging Businesses. Rackspace.

Volunteer Work

Huebner Elementary School

Tech Educator

September 2023-Present

• Lead classroom 3D printing demonstrations.

• Conduct Internet safety classes.

• Design and print 3D awards/merch for the school.

Wes Henderson — whendersonii@gmail.com — (210) 589-0628