Network & Linux Engineer Resume

Pooja Vadlakonda Network & Linux Engineer

Madison, WI, US +1-469-***-**** *******************@*****.*** LinkedIn

SUMMARY

Network & Linux Engineer with 4+ years of experience in enterprise networking, Linux system administration, and high-performance research computing across on-prem and AWS environments. Experienced in BGP/OSPF routing, VLAN segmentation, firewall management, and Linux server administration, including Apache, Nginx, and Tomcat. Proven ability to maintain secure, high-availability infrastructure with 99.9% uptime through monitoring and automation. Security Engineer with strong Linux expertise and hands-on experience in vulnerability management, patch validation, and secure system hardening. Experienced in analyzing security advisories, implementing remediation strategies, and developing automation tools to enhance system security posture.

EDUCATION

Master’s in computer and information Science May 2025

University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

Bachelor of Sciences, Computer Science Aug 2022

Sarojini Naidu Vanita, Mahavidyalaya, TS, India

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Networking Protocols: TCP/IP, UDP, ICMP, ARP, OSPF, BGP, RIP, EIGRP, STP, DNS, DHCP, NAT, PAT

IP Addressing: IPv4/IPv6, Subnetting, VLSM, Supernetting, CIDR

LAN/WAN Technologies: VLANs, Ethernet, MPLS, Metro Ethernet, VPN (IPSec, SSL), SD-WAN

Network Devices: Cisco Routers & Switches, Access Points, Firewalls, Load Balancers

Security & Access: ACLs, Port Security, MAC Filtering, WPA2/3, RBAC, SSH, MFA

Monitoring & Simulation Tools: Wireshark, Nmap, NetFlow, SNMP, Syslog, SolarWinds, Nagios, Cisco Packet Tracer, GNS3, EVE-NG

Operating Systems: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, CentOS, Solaris, Windows Server (2019/2022), macOS, Cisco IOS

Automation & Scripting: Python (Basics), Bash (Intro), Ansible (Foundational), Git (CLI)

Cloud & Virtualization: AWS VPC, Azure VNets, Subnets, Route Tables, Security Groups, EC2, VMware ESXi, VirtualBox, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS

Documentation Tools: Microsoft Visio, Excel, Network Diagrams, Configuration Files, Change Logs

System Administration: User & Group Management, SSH, LVM, Disk Management, Patch Management, Cron Jobs, Backup Systems, LDAP, NFS, NIS

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Nov 2025 - Present

System Engineer II

Lead Linux system administration and research infrastructure support for 50+ faculty and researchers across CCR and SAGE centers.

Deploy and manage Linux clusters, macOS, and Windows systems (65+ endpoints), ensuring secure, high-performance computing environments.

Audited open-source packages for common vulnerabilities including buffer overflows, injection flaws, and improper input validation.

Applied static analysis tools to identify insecure coding patterns.

Administer user accounts, SSH access, firewalls, backups, and shared storage systems for large climate research datasets.

Manage connectivity and account provisioning for remote IBM supercomputing clusters, supporting HPC workloads and large-scale model execution.

Implemented continuous security monitoring (ISCM) using AWS logging services to detect and respond to security incidents.

Designed and enforced IAM roles, policies, and least-privilege access models

Configured and monitored AWS CloudTrail for audit logging

Implemented AWS GuardDuty for threat detection and alerting

Experience supporting Risk Management Framework (RMF) processes

Reviewed and secured RESTful APIs using authentication and authorization mechanisms

Assisted in API gateway configuration and access policy enforcement

Developed secure automation scripts in Python with input validation, exception handling, and secure API authentication practices

Analyzed and remediated open-source vulnerabilities (CVEs) in Linux-based environments.

Performed root-cause analysis of security advisories and validated patch integrity before deployment.

Participated in vulnerability lifecycle management including identification, patch testing, and release validation.

Reviewed and secured RESTful APIs using authentication and authorization mechanisms

Contributed to development and maintenance of System Security Plans (SSP) and security compliance documentation for cloud environments.

Install and maintain scientific tools, compilers, libraries, and analytical software (MATLAB, ArcGIS, NCL) for research computing.

Manage Linux-based web servers and public data portals, ensuring secure access and research data availability.

Collaborate with campus IT and research leadership on infrastructure planning, system security, and long-term computing strategy.

Designed and optimized storage and backup strategies to support large-scale climate data processing workloads.

NTT DATA, USA Jan 2025 – Oct 2025

Network Engineer

Configured VLANs and trunk ports across 200+ Cisco switches, improving network segmentation and reducing broadcast traffic in production environments.

Implemented OSPF and BGP routing between AWS and on-prem infrastructure, reducing failover recovery time by 40% and improving cross- site reliability.

Secured microservices communications using TLS encryption

Configured VPC security controls, NACLs, and private subnet architectures

Managed Linux systems including package updates, repository management, and kernel patching in Ubuntu/Debian environments.

Automated configuration backups for 150+ network devices using Ansible, strengthening disaster recovery and minimizing manual errors.

Monitored 300+ devices using SolarWinds, NetFlow, and SNMP, proactively identifying link failures and performance bottlenecks to ensure high availability.

Implemented cloud security controls aligned with NIST 800-53, FISMA, and RMF frameworks to support secure infrastructure deployments.

Implemented secure S3 bucket policies and access controls

Conducted security control assessments and remediation tracking

Assisted in Authority to Operate (ATO) documentation support

Analyzed security logs, audit trails, and system metrics to proactively identify threats and improve security posture.

Supported implementation of Zero Trust security architecture by enforcing least-privilege access controls and identity-based authentication.

Ubuntu, Debian (package management, system hardening, kernel updates, apt repositories, patch management)

Implemented secure coding practices in Python automation scripts to prevent privilege escalation and input manipulation.

Enforced port security policies and SSH access controls across 150+ switches, achieving 100% audit compliance.

Supported maintenance windows and post-deployment validation, maintaining zero SLA violations.

Arista Networks, Bangalore Mar 2021 - Aug 2023

NOC Engineer

Monitored 500+ network devices in 24/7 operations using SolarWinds and Wireshark, maintaining 99.9% uptime across global data centers.

Troubleshot Layer 1–3 network issues including routing instability, DNS failures, TCP/IP connectivity, and BGP/OSPF disruptions, achieving 97% SLA adherence.

Designed secure IAM policies, RBAC access controls, and authentication mechanisms to protect cloud resources.

Performed daily device health checks, configuration backups, and firmware upgrades during maintenance windows to reduce incident volume and minimize MTTR.

Executed remote diagnostics and incident resolution procedures, lowering ticket re-open rates and improving operational stability.

PROJECTS

Robotics Process Automation (2021 - 2022)

Engineered a Python-based bot to calculate scores, percentages, and grades for over 2,000 students, improving accuracy by 90% and reducing manual effort by 75% in academic record processing.

Integrated auto-email and SMS triggers using SMTP and API calls, simulating real-time alert systems with <10s response time, modeled after enterprise-grade network monitoring and incident frameworks.

Automated 12+ repetitive workflows including data validation, result publishing, and report generation—achieving a 70% gain in operational efficiency and eliminating repetitive administrative bottlenecks.

Contact this candidate