Resume
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Brian Kirsten
160 Boylston St #2250, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 USA
(407) 712-4013 brian.kirsten.bss AT gmail.com
Profile
I am an Information Technology professional with over 13 years of experience leading the design, configuration, and building of enterprise applications for large global companies in a variety of industries. I have excellent communication and problem solving skills that enable fellow team members to adhere to project time lines and budgets. Known generally as a team member who wears “many hats”, I am comfortable with IT functions with a large range of complexity including, software setup for non-technical users, database design and theory, object engineering, and server/network configuration.
Technical Expertise
- 5 years building applications with PHP
- 5 years using MySQL, serving as both a DBA and a developer
- Extensive knowledge of LAMP, SSH, Sendmail, BIND and VNC
- 4 years building applications with Java and J2EE
- Competent with AJAX, CSS, XML, REST, XML-RPC, SOAP, web standards, SEO and web security
- Knowledgeable with Amazon S3 and EC2
- Knowledgeable with Google Maps, Analytics, Adwords and Adsense
- 6 years using Oracle, serving as both a DBA and developer
- 8 years installing, configuring, running and tuning Apache, Tomcat, MySQL servers under a variety of loads including a load balanced environment
- 4 years installing configuring, running and tuning Oracle, IBMHTTPD and Websphere under heavy load
- 5 years installing and configuring Sun Solaris
- 8 years installing and configuring a variety of Linux editions
- 4 years building applications with Shell, and Windows batch
Work Environment
- Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS Linux
- Sun Solaris
- Windows Server
- Mac OSX, NetBeans, Eclipse, TextMate, CSSEdit, Subversion and CVS
- Plesk and Webmin.
Work Experience
Senior Developer/ Team Lead, Namemedia Inc
June 2009 – Current
- Currently leads a small team that maintains Namemedia’s Sitemarket products, including Afternic.com and Buydomains.com. Redeveloped Afternic’s PHP code base to improve scalability and decrease development cycle time with a new optimized code base. These benchmarks were achieved with the creation of a unified REST API, which also allows data sharing across other internal systems as well as external partners. Was able to use my years of DBA experience to overhaul the customized search engine with a sharded system and a well-tuned MySQL database. These changes allowed near record traffic to the site during the last half year due to extreme increases in performance and reliability. Recently enhanced the website’s core user experience by developing a hybrid PHP/JSON system using Prototype and a REST service back end.
Senior Developer/ Team Lead, Travelatro LLC
May 2001 – June 2008
- Part of founding team of Travelatro which provides custom software development and IT infrastructure to a variety of clients which are primarily in the travel and real estate industries. I established the best practices and life-cycle management processes for software development for the company. I am also responsible for the budgeting and procurement of the company’s internal and client solution hardware and software.
- Managed the team that was responsible for the design, development, and deployment of Starwood Vacation Ownership’s (SVO) online presence. This large scale project included a Java and Oracle based site running on IBM Websphere that allowed SVO’s 250,000+ owners to make reservations, resell their property, manage their assets, make payments, view news, and many other features that increased owner satisfaction and brand loyalty. We also developed a ground breaking “rule based” reservation system that was a first for the industry and used Java to create otherSVO brand sites and sub-sites that were the key forward facing marketing presence for all of their properties around the world.
- Lead the team that was responsible for a multi-year project in which we launched kiosks for a variety of clients in the hospitality industry. I built the kiosk’s back-end usingPHP , MySQL, Perl, and Windows batch files. They are used to gather leads, collect contest entries, and provide information for local restaurants and services. As part of this project, I used innovative mobileinternet technologies to enable immediate feedback and monitoring in areas without internet connectivity. I also worked with various vendors to ensure the kiosk hardware, such as touch screen monitors, receipt printers, and card readers, were delivered to exact specifications and highest quality.
- Configured 3rd party cloning system, Ghost 4 Linux (G4L), that is used to install and configure necessary software for the custom kiosks. This project drastically reduced the amount of time and cost needed to launch each kiosk system.
- Installed, configured, and managed numerous production, staging, and development MySQL and Apache server environments for internal use as well as for Travelatro’s clients.
- Responsible for the design, security, and quality of Travelatro’s network including working with business partners and third party vendors to ensure maximum up-time of all client sites. This also includes implementation of the firewalls, routers, and DNS. I also manage a load balanced Linux environment for Travelatro’s websites. I was also responsible for domain name registration for websites both inside and outside the United States.
- Managed the back-up policies for all sites using custom scripts and Amazon’s S3 technology.
- Managed several instances of OEMPro, a web based email campaign system, in which I set up lead collection, configured individual marking initiatives, monitored click through statistics, and generated various reports based on client and company needs.
Senior Developer, Interactive Media - January 2001-May 2001
- Worked alongside a team of developers to complete an XML based E-Learning system implemented in ASP, JavaScript and MS SQL Server.
Senior Developer, AAAInternet LLC - September 2000-January 2001
- Developed a variety websites for the company’s clients using ASP, MS SQL Server, JavaScript, VB, and XML.
- Served as an administrator for IIS, Oracle 8i and MS SQL Server.
Senior SQL Programmer/DBA, eLEC Corporation - July 2000-September 2000
- Created a set of automated Data Transformation Services (DTS) scripts to parse large volumes of phone call data received monthly via DAT tape.
- Installed, configured, tuned and maintained the primary SQL Server database.
Senior Internet Developer, Sunterra Corp Internet and Marketing Department - May 1999-July 2000
- Developed Sunterra’s website and database structure using ASP, VB, and Oracle 8i as part of their marking efforts.
- Notable work included developing the online reservation engine and the company’s resort content system.
ASP Programmer/Analyst, Financialweb.com Inc. - Mar 1998-May 1999
- Using ASP, MS SQL Server, Java and VB designed and developed the following systems: Delayed and real time quotes; Financial, Sports, and Weather news; In-House ad banner and logging; Mutual Funds and Stock Shorting websites.
- Gained extensive knowledge of the stock industry (mutual funds, stocks, bonds, options, etc.) while working at the company.
Network Administrator, University of Central Florida - Office of Student Activities (OSA) - Aug 1997-Dec 1997
- Monitored and performed troubleshooting for OSA Macintosh network, developed OSA and Volunteer UCF websites.
- Served as DBA for OSA Filemaker PRO activities database.
Developer, Local Area Networks Inc. - November 1996-March 1998
- Designed and developed Local Area Networks Inc. company website and intranet application in ASP.
- Developed applications for several of company’s clients, and went on-site to perform network cabling installs and well as computer network configuration and setup.
Education
University of Central Florida, Associates of Arts (AA) Degree in Computer Science
Personal Achievements
Founder of Brain Scan Studios, an alternative media publishing company
Writer and creator of “Touch of Death”, an internationally distributed comic book series
Awards
ARDA (American Resort Development Association) Gold Award for Website of the Year in 1999
for Sunterra Resorts website
