About

Welcome!

I’m a seasoned technical leader and engineer with over a decade of experience building high-performance, distributed systems in Java on Kubernetes and cloud environments. I excel in fast-paced environments where I can apply my skills in systems architecture, modern DevOps practices, and team leadership.

As a technical leader, I’ve managed cross-functional, full-stack DevOps teams and implemented modern engineering practices like GitOps (FluxCD), OpenTelemetry for observability, and modular Gradle plugin systems to streamline builds. I’ve also led cloud migrations (both to and from), built internal tooling for deployment and report pipelines, and decommissioned large-scale legacy systems after successful client migrations.

Outside of work, I maintain a personal GitOps-powered Kubernetes cluster spanning multiple physical servers, and contribute to various FOSS projects focusing on networking, privacy, and cloud-native tools. I’m the kind of engineer who reads RFCs for fun and spins up clustered services on bare metal because it helps me better understand the systems I work with. I thrive on complex technical challenges, troubleshooting intricate issues, and learning how new technologies can improve systems and processes.

Skills & Expertise

Programming

Java
Python
JavaScript
Go
Rust
C/C++

API

OpenAPI
OAuth2 / OIDC

Clouds

Azure
AWS
Google

Containers

Docker
Podman
Kubernetes
k3s
k3d

Databases

PostgreSQL
MariaDB
Microsoft SQL Server
Oracle
Redis

DevOps

CI/CD
GitOps (FluxCD)
GitHub Actions
Azure DevOps

Frameworks

Spring/Spring Boot
Gradle
Custom Gradle Plugins
Maven

Observability

OpenTelementry
Prometheus
Grafana
Tempo
Loki
Splunk

Projects

External-DNS AdGuard

A Kubernetes External-DNS provider for AdGuard Home. It watches for services and ingresses and if it finds a matching annotation it creates appropriate DNS entries in AdGuard Home.

This was initially created for my home cluster which relied on AdGuard Home at the time. I have since migrated to another DNS solution, though not because of any deficiencies with this project.

Repo: https://github.com/jameswynn/external-dns-adguard

Language: Go

Ghostfolio-Recon

Portfolio reconciliation system for Ghostfolio. Supports pulling portfolios from SimpleFIN, and real estate data from Rapid API.

Language: Rust

Home Lab Cluster

A FluxCD GitOps powered Kubernetes cluster. It spans 5 machines and hosts over 90 services powering my home network.

Notable Features:

FluxCD GitOps - automates deployments
External Secrets - stores most sensitive information securely outside the repo
SOPS - stores remaining sensitive information within the repo
Kured - automated kubernetes upgrades
Prometheus/Grafana Stack - monitoring and alerting

Notable Deployments

Authentik - SSO Platform
CloudNativePG - PostgreSQL cluster management operator
Dragonfly - Redis cluster management operator
Forgejo - Locally hosted GitHub alternative
GoToSocial - ActivityPub social network
NextCloud - Locally hosted Cloud providing personal storage, document collaboration, shared calendars, messaging
Home-Assistant - Cloud-free home automation platform

Junkster Wing

A 3D space shooter leveraging my Spark Game Engine.

Language: C++

SimpleFileWatcher

A simple cross-platform C++ library for monitoring changes in the filesystem. Useful for detecting new files being dropped, or changes to existing files.

Repo: https://github.com/jameswynn/simplefilewatcher

Language: C++

Sneaker Social

A simple social platform for sharing workouts pulled from Garmin. Supports publishing to ActivityPub via the Mastodon API.

Deprecated by Endurain.

Language: Python

Spark Game Engine

A 3D game engine built atop FOSS technologies. It provides 3D graphics, sound, physics, scripting, hot-reloading of resources, and fast deserialization.

This was mostly a learning tool for exploring various facets of game engine design and largely informed many of my professional decisions at the time. Junkster Wing was the only game created on this engine.

Language: C++