Kishore Rajendran
Chief Engineer - SRE
Bangalore
Summary
Versatile DevOps Engineer having 10+ years of experience with with proven expertise in architecting and scaling secure, cost-efficient cloud platforms across enterprise environments. Specializes in Kubernetes orchestration, automated CI/CD pipelines, and cloud migrations on AWS and hybrid infrastructures. Delivered transformative results in DevOps and SRE roles, including multi-million dollar cost savings, reliability improvements, and end-to-end system modernization. Skilled in designing developer productivity frameworks, implementing robust security standards, and mentoring cross-functional teams. Recognized for translating business needs into technical solutions and driving collaboration, performance, and strategic innovation in architect and lead DevOps/SRE positions.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
4
4
Certifications
4
4
Languages
Work History
Chief Engineer - SRE
Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore
10.2023 - Current
- Spearheaded the migration of EC2 jump servers to Kubernetes pods, reducing AWS costs by $1,500 monthly, and improving scalability and maintenance efficiency.
- Delivered AWS cost optimizations totaling $535K in 2024 through S3 intelligent-tiering, EBS volume right-sizing, EKS cluster tuning, and sunsetting legacy components, with additional projected savings of over $1.4M in 2025 from CDN migration and infrastructure simplification.
- Architected and migrated legacy EC2 jump servers and monolith components to Kubernetes-based microservices and pods, cutting error rates by 90% (2.0% → 0.2%) and improving reliability for multi-region DSP workloads.
- Designed and implemented ephemeral per-PR environments, and automated CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions, reducing delivery lead time from 5.4 to 2.01 days, increasing deployment frequency, and strengthening SRE guardrails.
- Pioneered AI/GenAI–driven infrastructure management by delivering Kubernetes Model Context Protocol (MCP) POCs with AWS Bedrock and Samsung Gauss, enabling intelligent problem identification and remediation without invasive platform changes.
- Executed zero-downtime upgrades of 8+ EKS clusters and a major Jenkins upgrade (to 2.5x), sequencing version and security changes to maintain service continuity, CSP/FAS compliance, and audit readiness.
- Re-architected AWS IAM and role-based access controls for ACR, streamlining secure access for 20+ developers, and owning complex blockers across VPN, webhooks, Jenkins pipelines, and EKS during multi-site migrations.
- Designed and deployed Kubernetes Ingress and Route 53-based application exposure frameworks with Okta SSO and GitHub connectivity, resolving critical GitHub-to-ACR connectivity gaps, and enabling large-scale repository and PR migration.
- Led business-critical DSP cutovers (pacing and creative) and Akamai-to-CloudFront CDN migrations for high-traffic hosts, ensuring zero customer-impacting downtime while improving cost efficiency and aligning with AWS-native patterns.
- Hardened cloud security posture via IAM policy tightening, EC2 security improvements, CSP/FAS remediation, CloudFront configuration, and controlled access management, balancing governance with a frictionless developer experience.
- Strengthened platform engineering and MLOps for forecasting and DSP teams by automating pipelines, optimizing infrastructure, and reducing operational toil across on-call, incident response, and infrastructure request workflows.
- Delivered 400+ code commits, 200+ code reviews, and 140+ Jira tickets as Chief Engineer – SRE, mentoring peers, influencing architecture across RI/PI/DSP products, and setting standards for reliability, observability, and cost-aware design.
- Produced and socialized high-quality technical specifications and documentation (ephemeral environments, AI MCP, ACR topology, Creative migration), securing buy-in from local and global SRE groups, and establishing repeatable platform patterns.
Senior DevOps Engineer
NetApp India Pvt ltd
02.2018 - 10.2023
- Led end-to-end design, development, and implementation of DevOps as a Service (DaaS), architecting scalable Kubernetes-based platforms, and orchestrating infrastructure using Rancher to support 200+ clusters and multiple product teams.
- Engineered continuous improvements in DevOps processes, pioneering automated CI/CD pipeline solutions with Jenkins and EC2, and driving the adoption of unit, integration, and system testing best practices.
- Designed and delivered customized Docker images and tailored team-specific Dockerfiles, enabling rapid deployment and maintenance for diverse customer requirements, while enhancing product team agility.
- Championed security and compliance by applying industry standards (CIS benchmarks, Trivy, Kubesec, Falco, Admission Controllers, auditing) to Kubernetes clusters, ensuring a robust security posture for cloud-native applications.
- Developed and maintained Helm charts for NetApp’s DaaS product services—including WebApp, CouchDB, and Jenkins—streamlining deployments, upgrades, and operational efficiency for client environments.
- Conducted research and delivered solutions for new features and bug fixes in internal DaaS tooling, reinforcing platform reliability, and customer satisfaction.
- Drove proof-of-concept projects for AWS cloud migration, exploring and integrating core services (EC2, ELB, Lambda, S3, EBS, Elasticsearch), automating resource management via AWS APIs, and positioning the organization for future-ready cloud adoption.
- Demonstrated advanced troubleshooting and operational capability in managing Kubernetes resources (pods, deployments, nodes, taints, ingress), and scaling enterprise containerized workloads.
DevOps Engineer
HP India
07.2017 - 01.2018
- Researched and identified new technologies and tools helping to grow an agile development environment.
- Worked with software development and testing team members to design and develop robust solutions to meet client requirements for functionality, scalability, and performance.
- Improved code deployment efficiency by automating processes with CI/CD pipelines.
- Maintained version control systems like Git or SVN for seamless collaboration among developers and engineers during project lifecycles.
System Administrator
JSTPL
06.2016 - 06.2017
- Reduced downtime by proactively identifying and resolving potential issues through thorough system monitoring.
- Installed important security and functionality patches to maintain optimal protection against intrusion and system reliability.
- Established effective communication channels between IT support staff and end users, leading to improved issue resolution times overall for over 15 teams.
- Improved security measures by conducting vulnerability assessments and applying necessary patches for over 200 servers.
Linux System Administrator
LLC
06.2014 - 06.2016
- Improved system performance by optimizing Linux server configurations for over 20 servers, implementing efficient backup processes, and performing regular maintenance tasks.
- Implemented monitoring tools for real-time analysis of system performance, allowing for proactive identification of potential issues before they impacted users for over 100 clients.
- Created and serviced administrator and user accounts on Linux-based systems, managing 50+ deployments.
Education
Bachelor of Engineering - EEE
CMS College of Engineering & Technology
Coimbatore05.2014
Skills
Linux
Certification
Certified Kubernetes Administrator – CKA
Timeline
Chief Engineer - SRE
Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore
10.2023 - Current
Senior DevOps Engineer
NetApp India Pvt ltd
02.2018 - 10.2023
DevOps Engineer
HP India
07.2017 - 01.2018
System Administrator
JSTPL
06.2016 - 06.2017
Linux System Administrator
LLC
06.2014 - 06.2016
Bachelor of Engineering - EEE
CMS College of Engineering & Technology