Hey There! I'm Theo M.

But you know that, right?
Chief Executive • Chase

Summary

Last Updates:
PDF: 2023-11-16
Website: 2023-11-16
I'm a Linux and Windows Engineer with skills in systems administration, and application development. I enjoy connecting people with technology solutions that are easy to use, affordable, and sustainable over time.

Most recently I've been working on Quantumm with my current employer, empowering people, businesses, and governments alike to have more accountability and security when they spend their money.

Personally, I maintain a highly available Red Hat OpenShift cluster, a Petabyte Project, and various other services without which I don't think I could survive.

About Me

  • I'm experienced in developing programmes for the financial sector, having spent the last few years learning a lot about the financial sector, including how card networks tick.
  • I'm well versed with various Red Hat based distributions, from Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SELinux, to CloudLinux and LVE Manager, to building a slimmed and hardened kernel, I've done it all.
  • I'm comfortable working with a range of virtualization technologies in large-scale environments. My personal favourite is Proxmox for its ease of management, but in a pinch, give me an ESXI, OpenStack, or Hyper-V cluster and I'll do just fine.
  • I'm experienced in various rapid deploy and configuration management technologies like Ansible, Red Hat Kickstarts, and Debian Preseeds. I'm also well versed in building my own iPXE chain, which I use extensively in a few projects I've developed over the years.

Niblets

  • The Developer of the ird-validator Ruby gem
  • The Developer and maintainer of Browser.JS, a tool to bypass censorship
  • A huge fan of Kubernetes and especially OpenShift
  • An avid gamer - ask me about what I like to play!

History

  • Chase
    Westport, New Zealand • 2021-2023 • Chief Executive Officer
    At Chase, I performed roles across infrastructure, code, financial services, staffing, and contract negotiations. In this role I grew Chase from a small startup to the midsize company it is today.


    Key Contributions
    • Deployed infrastructure for Chase - Including, but not limited to Active Directory, OpenShift, and our own custom web deployment platform
    • Wrote unit tests for the Quantumm® Software, speeding up the development lifecycle for our developers
    • Negotiated and implemented financial support services, including card issuance, and leveraged contracts to grow business further

  • M6 Securities LLC
    Utah, United States • 2020-2021 • Senior DevOps Engineer
    As the Senior DevOps Engineer for M6 Securities, I performed roles across both infrastructure and software, bringing new workflows and improving the software development lifecycle. In this role I implemented new functionality to our CRM, enhanced resiliency, and enhanced security by deploying security standards in line with ISO 27018, ISO 27031, and ISO 27040.


    Key Contributions
    • Implemented automated resiliency controls, bringing uptime and stability of our CRM software to "six nines" (99.9999% uptime)
    • Implemented and rolled out enhanced security controls on running webapps by deploying Red Hat OpenShift (4.x), and implementing RBAC best practices
    • Implemented ISO standards 27018, 27031, and 27040
      • ISO 27018:2019
        • Code of practice for protection of personally identifiable information (PII) in public clouds acting as PII processors
      • ISO 27031:2011
        • Guidelines for information and communication technology readiness for business continuity
      • ISO 27040:2015
        • Storage security

  • McDonald's
    Rangiora, New Zealand • 2020 • Crew Member
    As a Crew Member, I performed roles across the front counter, kitchen, drive-thru and McCafe. I assisted customers with ordering, incorporating suggestive selling and promotion of special deals. In this role, I maintained food safety standards, keeping the restaurant clean and sanitised.


    Key Contributions
    • Reported unexpected food temperature drop, ensuring critical equipment faults get uncovered promptly
    • Supported my team during busy periods, providing encouragement and offering additional assistance
    • Met and exceeded customer expectations and regularly received positive feedback

  • Online Republic
    Auckland, New Zealand • 2018-2019 • DevOps Engineer
    As the DevOps Engineer for Online Republic, I performed roles across infrastructure and software, improving practices and functioning as the gatekeeper for weekly rollouts of the Cruise software. In this role I was responsible for ensuring that code that was deployed did not affect production, as well as maintaining "four nines" (99.99%) uptime


    Key Contributions
    • Implemented new infrastructure for web content handling, bringing requests per second from 200 to well over 12000
    • "Gatekept" by reviewing and preventing bad commits from making it into production
    • Improved CI/CD and enabled vulnerability scanners to notify and auto-deploy fixes to critical infrastructure further protecting from outages

  • ezyVet
    Auckland, New Zealand • 2018 • Software Developer
    As a Software Developer I worked closely with customers to resolve issues in the ezyVet software, as well as implementing new features that were requested from time to time. During my time with ezyVet, I also assisted in onboarding several new large clients, ensuring they had an unparalleled "go live" experience.


    Key Contributions
    • Reduced memory impact on client workstations by over 80%, allowing clients to keep ezyVet open for longer
    • Implemented new supporting modules for X-Rays to automate importing patient records into ezyVet
    • Validated X-Ray import modules by designing and integrating PHP unit tests into the CI/CD pipeline

Contact Me

You made it! If you'd like to get in touch, here's what you need to know.
Email: <your name> [at] theom nz
Phone: +64 27 525 8549