Robert C. Combs
Seattle WA 425-***-**** ***@**********.*** linkedin.com/in/bob-combs
Engineering Leadership
Accomplished Director of Engineering with over 25 years of experience in leading high- performing software engineering teams, designing scalable systems, and driving innovative cloud and enterprise solutions. Expertise in cloud-native architectures, microservices, big data, and machine learning. Proven ability to manage diverse geo-located teams, establish healthy engineering culture and deliver high-quality solutions on time and within budget. Skills and Expertise
Leadership & Team Management: Strong experience in managing and mentoring engineering teams, defining career development paths, and fostering a collaborative and innovative culture. Cloud & Infrastructure: Expertise in cloud-native technologies and platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI), containerization (Kubernetes, Docker), and microservices architectures. Software Development: Expert in modern programming languages (Java, Kotlin, Scala, Python, GoLang) and frameworks (SpringBoot, OpenFaaS). Biig data platforms (Hadoop, Spark, Cassandra, Ignite) ML pipelines using neural nets and LLM. Agile & DevOps: Agile methodologies, CI/CD, automation, and building scalable, efficient development processes.
Product Strategy: product roadmaps, cross-functional teams to deliver complex products, and ensuring alignment with business goals.
Experience
Alitheon
Head of Engineering and Operations 6/2023 – Present SaaS AI machine-vision technology to authenticate, identify, and trace physical objects.
• Transition infrastructure from IaaS to PaaS reducing operations resources and cost.
• Transition from a monolithic architecture to a distributed micro-service platform
• Architected and implemented scalable cloud solutions supporting configurable customer- centric workflows and ERP integrations.
• Completed SOC2 compliance
• People-manager for cross-functional teams including cloud, mobile, and desktop developers. Technologies: AWS, Kotlin, SpringBoot, Android, IoS, Qt, Agile, AWS, OpenShift. Dynata
Director of Engineering 3/2022 – 11/2022
Dynata is a leading provider of online web-based survey production and analysis.
• Spearhead and launched 3 the three most important new projects in the company focusing on templated research frameworks, brand tracking, and creative testing.
• Create processes, standards, and best practices, including CI/CD pipelines, containerization, and infrastructure management.
• Define roadmaps, timelines, and deliverables for survey automation and data analysis products with product management.
Technologies: AWS, K8s, Buildpacks, OpenFaaS, Kotlin, Python, Go. Altoros America
Software Engineering Practice Lead 11/2019 – 2/2022 Altoros specializes in cloud deployments, infrastructure, and microservices.
• Led the software engineering consultancy practice, providing hands-on development and high-level strategic cloud transformations and overall engagement strategy.
• Managed deployed engineering teams at customer sites for cloud-native architecture, software development, creating upsell and lasting engagements. .
• Drove thought leadership through blogs, POV campaigns, and educational materials. Technologies: Azure, Cloudfoundry, Kubernetes, AWS, BlueMix, SUSE, PCF, SpringBoot, Docker, Java, Kotlin, Python, Node.
Oracle
Senior Engineering Manager 2/2017 – 10/2019
• Led a data analytics team in Oracle's Ad-Tech space, processing large-scale web data for advertising optimization.
• Directed a team of engineers across multiple locations and timezones to develop and deliver a web UI, REST APIs, and automated reporting solutions.
• Transitioned applications from AWS to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in off-site cloud fees.
Technologies: AWS, Kubernetes, ECS, EC2, S3, Elasticache, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Java, Scala, SpringBoot, Hadoop, Spark, Ignite.
RAF Technology
Lead Software Architect / QA Manager 2/2010 – 10/2017
• Led a data analytics team in Oracle's Ad-Tech space, processing large-scale web data for advertising optimization.
• Directed a team of engineers across multiple locations to develop and deliver a web UI, REST APIs, and automated reporting solutions.
• Oversaw the migration of applications from AWS to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). Technologies: AWS, Kubernetes, ECS, EC2, S3, Elasticache, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Java, Scala, SpringBoot, Hadoop, Spark, Ignite.
Highland Consulting
Proprietor / Director of Engineering 1997 – Present Consulting firm specializing in enterprise and cloud applications. Technologies: AWS, GCP, OCI, SpringBoot, Java, Kotlin, GoLang, Python, K8s, OpenFaaS, Oracle, Cassandra, Hadoop, Spark, MongoDB.
Personal
Reed College, Portland, OR
Major: Physics
Thesis: *The Search for Chaotic Dynamics within an Internal Combustion Engine* Blogs & Thought Leadership
Cloud Migration - It’s Not Just a Technology Problem: (https://bob6624.wixsite.com/ discussions-on-cloud/post/cloud-migration-it-s-not-just-a-technology-problem) Running a Cloud Foundry Application on AKS: (https://www.altoros.com/blog/running-a- cloud-foundry-spring-boot-app-on-azure-kubernetes-service-aks/)