Operational Cloud Operations Engineer · Greater Lansing, MI

I keep systems running that can't afford to go down.

Today I help run the AWS and Kubernetes infrastructure behind Kyriba, a platform that manages more than $51 trillion in payments a year. Before that I kept automotive assembly lines online, launched sixteen retail and production sites, and supported 200+ client offices. 13 years in IT, from the help desk to production cloud.

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nikolas@ops: ~
kubectl describe engineer nikolas
Name:
Nikolas Bretschneider
Role:
Cloud Operations Engineer
Uptime:
13y in IT
Platforms:
AWS, Kubernetes, Linux, Windows Server, VMware
Tooling:
Rancher, Argo CD, Helm, Ansible, Splunk
Compliance:
SOC, SWIFT, HIPAA, PCI
Certified:
VCP-DCV 2023
Status:
Running ●
13yrsin IT, from Tier 2 support to cloud operations
1,600+devices managed through Microsoft Endpoint Manager
~500users on a domain I built from a 20-person workgroup
16retail and production facilities brought online

What's riding on the infrastructure

The platform I support at Kyriba manages about $1.6 million in payments every second.

Since you opened this page: $0

$51T+in payments managed every year
3.6Bbank transactions processed every year
10,000+banks reachable through one connection
99.99%uptime SLA

Platform figures from Kyriba's published 2026 materials. Per-second figure is the annual total averaged over a year.

What I bring

An engineer who has owned every layer, and a leader who has built IT from scratch.

Production reliability

I lead root cause analysis on live incidents by reading application logs, Kubernetes events, Linux logs and metrics together, then work with engineering, QA and support to resolve them within SLA.

Kyriba · global financial applications

Every layer of the stack

Hardware, networks, Active Directory, VMware, Linux and cloud. I have run each of them myself, so I can follow a problem past the layer where it first shows up.

Help desk → sysadmin → IT manager → cloud ops

Security and compliance

SOC and SWIFT patch validation and audit evidence, HIPAA and PCI environments, and a rewritten cybersecurity policy that qualified the company for insurance.

Kyriba · Dakkota · Strategic Computer Solutions

Building and leading IT

Grew a company from a 20-person workgroup to a 500-user domain, moved the whole office remote in the pandemic, and trained 30+ support reps along the way.

Skymint Brands · Teleperformance

Experience

Thirteen years, five roles, steadily up the stack.

  1. 2013Tier 2 Support & Team LeadTeleperformance
  2. 2014IT Systems AdministratorStrategic Computer Solutions
  3. 2018IT ManagerSkymint Brands
  4. 2022IT Systems Administrator IIDakkota Integrated Systems
  5. 2023 – nowCloud Operations EngineerKyriba
Jun 2023 – Present
Kyriba
Cloud Operations Engineer
Treasury and payments platform used by 4,000+ organizations in 170 countries, including 1 in 4 Fortune 500 companies.
  • Run production and pre-production infrastructure across multiple global data centers on AWS and Kubernetes for business-critical financial applications.
  • Lead root cause analysis for production incidents and resolve high-priority issues within SLA alongside engineering, DevOps, QA, database and support teams.
  • Administer large Kubernetes environments with Rancher, Argo CD, Helm and kubectl, diagnosing scheduling, storage, networking and startup failures.
  • Support SOC and SWIFT compliance through OS patch validation, remediation and audit evidence across Linux and Windows.
  • Automate operational work with Bash, PowerShell and Ansible, and contribute to Git-based infrastructure-as-code through reviews and merge requests.
  • Administer Linux across Amazon Linux, Ubuntu, RHEL and CentOS, and manage TLS/SSL certificates for customer-facing services.
  • Monitor and troubleshoot with Splunk, and support secure customer file transfer on ProFTPD/SFTP.
AWSKubernetesRancherArgo CDHelmLinuxAnsibleSplunk
Mar 2022 – Jun 2023
Dakkota Integrated Systems
IT Systems Administrator II
  • Virtualized infrastructure for a large-scale automotive manufacturer and built the computing infrastructure behind its assembly lines.
  • Managed 1,600+ devices through Microsoft Endpoint Manager and Windows patching through SCCM.
  • Ran virtualization backup and data retention for disaster recovery with Rubrik and Veeam.
  • Helped rewrite the company cybersecurity policy to qualify for insurance, and audited compliance against customer standards.
  • Evaluated AWS, Azure and Google Cloud to move the company off physical infrastructure.
VMware vSphereIntuneSCCMRubrikVeeamSharePoint
Nov 2018 – Feb 2022
Skymint Brands
IT Manager
  • Scaled IT from a 20-employee workgroup to a ~500-user domain network.
  • Designed and ran a Class A network with 3,000+ concurrent connections on Meraki SD-WAN.
  • Led network and PC rollout for sixteen new retail and production facilities across Michigan, on schedule with the launch teams.
  • Moved 100% of office staff to remote work during the pandemic.
  • Built a SharePoint Online intranet with 3+ TB of company data and rolled out phishing-awareness training company-wide.
Meraki SD-WANOffice 365SharePoint OnlineActive DirectoryCloudflarePOS
Mar 2014 – Nov 2018
Strategic Computer Solutions
IT Systems Administrator
  • Independently supported 200+ client sites.
  • Specified, ordered and built PCs and servers fitted to each client's business.
  • Managed Active Directory and Group Policy for multiple clients, and built Class B networks.
  • Kept clients HIPAA compliant and hosted eCommerce sites to PCI requirements.
Windows ServerActive DirectoryGroup PolicyHIPAAPCI
Sep 2013 – Jan 2014
Teleperformance
Tier 2 Support Rep & Team Lead, Google project
  • Troubleshot Google products and filed bug reports directly with subject-matter experts at Google HQ.
  • Trained and mentored 30+ Tier 1 support reps.

Toolbox

What I work with.

Cloud & containers

AWS EC2SSMEKSKubernetesRancherArgo CDHelm

Systems

RHELUbuntuAmazon LinuxWindows Server 2012–2025vSphere 7ApacheMS SQL

Automation

BashPowerShellAnsibleGitInfrastructure as code

Microsoft 365 & identity

Active DirectoryExchange OnlineSharePointIntuneSCCMM365 security

Network & observability

LAN/WANMeraki SD-WANVPNDNSTLS/SSLSplunkSolarWinds

Practice

Root cause analysisSecurity auditingPolicy writingDocumentationHelp desk leadership

Credentials

Certification and education.

VCP
DCV

VMware Certified Professional, Data Center Virtualization 2023

Credential ID VMW-03209319F-03145780

AAS

Washtenaw Community College

Associate of Applied Science, Occupational Studies

Contact

Hiring for cloud operations, infrastructure or IT leadership?

I'd like to hear about it. Email is the fastest way to reach me, and my full résumé is one click away.

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