Vijaya Karthick Swaminathan
Bengaluru
Summary
- CKA and CKAD-certified Site Reliability Engineer with over 7 years managing development and production Kubernetes clusters on AWS EC2, Azure VMs, and on-premise servers—backed by over 16 years of total IT experience from QA roots.
- Results-driven, specializing in end-to-end Kubernetes operations, including cluster upgrades, security, troubleshooting, and monitoring for optimal uptime.
- Expert in Ansible, Python, Bash/Shell, and Terraform IaC across AWS, Azure automation, and IaaS management (networking, storage, databases, logging), complemented by PMP and ITIL Foundation certifications, with proven excellence in vulnerability remediation, cert rotations, on-call support, and analytical problem-solving for reliable infrastructure.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
8
8
Certifications
Work History
Offshore SRE Lead
UST
Bangalore
06.2024 - 09.2025
- Managed the Kubernetes cluster lifecycle, including provisioning and decommissioning in response to application team demands.
- Led patching and upgrade initiatives across Kubernetes clusters to maintain security and performance standards.
- Directed container deployment, scaling, and lifecycle management within Kubernetes environments.
- Supported application teams in successfully deploying and optimizing their workloads on Kubernetes.
- Monitored Kubernetes infrastructure health using Grafana dashboards and Splunk log analytics.
- Partnered with development teams to diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve production incidents swiftly.
- Mentored junior team members.
- Authored comprehensive documentation covering system configurations, runbooks, and disaster recovery strategies.
- Deployed automation frameworks and tools to accelerate deployment workflows and operational efficiency.
Offshore SRE
UST
Bengaluru
10.2019 - 04.2024
- Kubernetes cluster provisioning/decommissioning
- Patching and upgrading of Kubernetes clusters.
- Vulnerability management and fixes.
- Cluster certs and SSL certs lifecycle management.
- Orchestrating deployment, scaling, and management of containers in Kubernetes clusters.
- Assisting users in deploying their applications.
- Monitoring the Kubernetes platform using Grafana and Splunk logs.
- Automated deployment processes to enhance efficiency and reduce manual errors.
Onsite Associate SRE
UST
Alpharetta, GA
09.2018 - 08.2019
- Collaborate with customer teams on incident response, troubleshooting, and cluster upgrades.
- Monitor production systems in real time, perform root-cause analysis, and execute runbooks for rapid recovery during outages.
- Automate repetitive tasks using Shell, Ansible, or Python scripts, and implement monitoring solutions and automation tailored to client environments (AWS, Azure, or on-premise).
- Conduct capacity planning, vulnerability fixes, cert rotations, and postmortems to minimize downtime of the Kubernetes clusters.
Onsite Support Team member
UST
Alpharetta, GA
09.2017 - 08.2018
- Monitor cloud dashboards and alerts for issues in EC2 VMs, networking, storage (e.g., EBS), and services, triaging via CloudWatch.
- Respond to support tickets by diagnosing problems (e.g., kubectl logs on EC2 clusters), restarting services, or applying quick fixes, like scaling resources.
- Perform routine health checks, optimize costs through right-sizing instances, and document incidents for knowledge bases, or escalations to SREs.
Collaborate on deployments, run basic automations (Shell/Ansible scripts), update documentation, and track metrics, like resolution time. - Monitor alerts and dashboards for issues in Kubernetes clusters or AWS EC2 resources, logging incidents in tools like Jira or ServiceNow.
- Respond to user tickets via email, chat, or phone, performing initial diagnostics (e.g., kubectl logs, pod restarts), and resolving common problems.
- Escalate complex issues (e.g., cluster upgrades, NetworkPolicy failures) to SREs, while documenting steps and updates.
- Update knowledge base articles, run routine health checks, and follow up on resolved tickets for customer satisfaction.
Onsite QA Manager
UST
Jacksonville, FL
04.2015 - 08.2017
- Team Management: Supervise onsite QA engineers/testers, assign test cases for software releases, and conduct daily stand-ups to track testing progress across sprints.
- Test Planning & Execution: Develop onsite test strategies, create and maintain test cases for functional, regression, and integration testing, and oversee manual and automated test runs
- Defect Management: Triage bugs found during on-site testing, coordinate with developers for fixes, and verify resolutions before production deployment.
- Client Quality Assurance: Participate in client demos/acceptance testing on-site, document quality metrics (defect density, test coverage), and address immediate customer quality concerns.
- Process Improvement: Standardize QA checklists and reporting templates for onsite teams, analyze test results to identify recurring defects, and implement preventive measures.
- Documented all testing processes including bug tracking reports, test cases and test scenarios.
- Analyzed customer feedbacks and complaints to improve product quality as well as user experience.
- Communicated effectively with stakeholders on project progress, risks and solutions.
Onsite QA Lead
UST
Jacksonville, FL
12.2013 - 03.2015
- Led quality assurance team to ensure compliance with industry standards.
- Developed and implemented testing strategies for software applications.
- Coordinated with development teams to identify and resolve defects.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to define quality metrics and benchmarks.
- Collaborated closely with development teams to ensure product stability before release.
- Supervised a team of QA Engineers in executing all phases of testing activities.
- Performed root cause analysis for identified issues, tracked progress and reported results.
- Developed and implemented test plans, strategies, and processes to ensure quality assurance of products.
Offshore QA Engineer
UST
Bangalore
08.2009 - 10.2013
- Developed test plans and scripts for software applications.
- Executed manual and automated testing procedures on various platforms.
- Analyzed defect reports and provided feedback to development teams.
- Participated in design reviews to ensure quality standards were met.
- Reviewed and updated documentation for testing processes and results.
- Conducted root cause analysis on defects to improve product quality.
- Mentored junior QA engineers on best practices and testing methodologies.
- Developed test plans and strategies for QA testing.
- Participated in daily stand-up meetings to discuss progress on projects and tasks assigned.
- Identified and documented any defects found during the course of testing.
- Worked closely with development teams to ensure quality assurance standards were met throughout the project life cycle.
Education
Master of Computers Applications -
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, India04-2007
Post-Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications -
Alagappa University
Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, India04-2005
Bachelor of Computers Applications -
University of Madras
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India04-2003
Skills
- Kubernetes
- Docker
- Helm
- AWS
- Azure
- Ansible
- Terraform
- GitOps with Flux v2
- Bash scripting
- Prometheus
- Grafana
- Git
- GitLab
- JSON
- YAML
- Microservices
Certification
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA)
Timeline
Offshore SRE Lead
UST
06.2024 - 09.2025
Offshore SRE
UST
10.2019 - 04.2024
Onsite Associate SRE
UST
09.2018 - 08.2019
Onsite Support Team member
UST
09.2017 - 08.2018
Onsite QA Manager
UST
04.2015 - 08.2017
Onsite QA Lead
UST
12.2013 - 03.2015
Offshore QA Engineer
UST
08.2009 - 10.2013
Master of Computers Applications -
Bharathidasan University
Post-Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications -
Alagappa University
Bachelor of Computers Applications -
University of Madras