James Raulinaitis

Boston, MA

Summary

Leading teams and architecting large scale cloud platform and infrastructure solutions. Proven ability to find innovative solutions that challenge the status quo. Ability to connect with teams and encourage top performance to meet group goals. Operate effectively in a fast, ever-changing environment to meet or exceed deadlines and budget constraints.

Highlights

• 20+ years of IT infrastructure experience: Network, Data Center, Cloud
• Public Cloud Certifications and Experience: AWS, Azure, GCP
• Private Cloud Certifications and Experience: OpenStack, VMWare
• DevOps Experience: Terraform, Github, Ansible
• Network Certifications: CCIE #18071 (10+ years, Emeritus), and many more

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Highlights
• Experience
  • Rakuten
  • Microsoft
  • Presidio
  • GE IT Solutions
  • TriNET Systems
• Education
• Miscellaneous

Experience

Rakuten

Director, Cloud Platforms and Infrastructure

Current

Sr Manager, Cloud Platforms and Infrastructure

2021 - 2025

Manager, Infrastructure Engineering

2017 - 2021

Principal Infrastructure Engineer

2014 - 2017

• Manage teams of Infrastructure Engineers, DevOps, and SREs in order to deliver high-quality hybrid multi cloud platforms and infrastructure services in leased data centers and cloud.
• Led team to architect and build hybrid cloud solutions over highly available cloud networking and shared infrastructure services model for both AWS and GCP. This resulted in improving SLA from 99.99% to 99.999% SLA of services that were previously only running on DC/Internet.
• Maintain and operate the production-facing cloud infrastructure, overseeing its continuous functionality and performance to support a diverse array of Rakuten products and services across several global data centers, all major public clouds, with connectivity provided by a robust global backbone network.
• Fostered a culture of infrastructure-as-code by implementing training sessions on best practices, leading to a 15% improvement in deployment efficiency.
• Manage staff, including the hiring, goal setting, annual reviews, compensation planning, career development, and adherence to company policy. Implemented performance improvement plans for underperforming team members, resulting in a 30% increase in overall team efficiency. Created career development programs that led to a 40% increase in employee promotions within the department.
• Lead architectural discussions, influence the roadmap, and take ownership and responsibility over projects and systems. Influenced key stakeholders to prioritize projects based on strategic business goals, leading to a 20% decrease in project delivery time.
• Managed budget effectively, reducing overall spending by 10% while still delivering high-quality cloud infrastructure platforms via both private and public cloud.
• Oversaw data center consolidation efforts in the US and EU, resulting in streamlined operations and cost savings of over 20%
• Directed and performed the build-out of a multi-vendor (Cisco, Juniper) network backbone enhancing connectivity and scalability
• Led data center buildouts including rack, power/PDU, structured cabling, and deployment of private cloud (VMware, OpenStack) solutions for compute, network and storage

Microsoft

Senior Network Engineer, Azure Networking (GFS-GNS)

2011 - 2014

• Online Services / Cloud + Enterprise division supporting Microsoft’s online production and cloud products: Azure, Xbox, O365, Bing, Skype, specifically focused on M&A network engineering team (Venture Integration).
• Responsible for providing transitional network engineering support and migration strategies for acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures. Notable projects included, Skype, FAST Search & Transfer (Share Point Search), and Phone Factor (Azure MFA).
• Collaborated with architecture teams and engineering counterparts to develop a standard design for a “Transitional Services Network,” a connectivity framework for ingress and egress traffic across Microsoft data centers for M&A entities.
• Spearheaded the design and implementation of “network infrastructure stamps,” to support the networking requirements of newly acquired property groups, ensuring seamless integration into the Microsoft ecosystem and immediate ROI.

Presidio

Network & Security Architect

2004 - 2011

• Delivered end-to-end solutions to customers for large data centers, LAN/WAN, security, VPN, Wireless, and IP Telephony, ensuring seamless integration and performance.
• Provided pre-sales engineering support to the regional sales team, offering technical expertise and strategic insights to drive successful client engagements and achieve sales targets.

GE IT Solutions

Network & Systems Engineer

2001 - 2004

TriNET Systems

Systems Engineer

2000 - 2001

South Shore Hospital

Technology Specialist Consultant

1999 - 2000

Education

• Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator, Microsoft
• HashiCorp Terraform Training, Udemy
• OpenStack Accelerated Bootcamp, Mirantis
• Juniper JNCIA, Cisco CCNA, CCNP, Wireless, Security, CCIE #18071
• HS Diploma / IT Focused, South Shore Vocational Technical High School

Miscellaneous

• Youth Hockey Coach, USA Hockey Certified Level 4 Coach
• Drums
• Running / Fitness
• Gadgets