Vitali Khlebko
Candiac,Canada
Summary
Software engineer with 25+ years’ experience, evolving from backend and distributed systems developer into a DevOps and cloud engineering leader. Combines deep programming expertise with advanced skills in cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes, CI/CD automation, and secure systems design. Proven in bridging development and operations to deliver scalable, high-performance, and compliant solutions, while guiding teams through modernization and best-practice adoption.
Overview
29
29
years of professional experience
Work History
Data Protection Engineer – HashiCorp Vault & Secure Infrastructure - Contract
National Bank Canada
10.2021 - Current
- Core member of Data Protection team with primary ownership of HashiCorp Vault in a highly secure, PCI-compliant banking environment.
- Designed and automated Vault-related workflows using containerization, GitHub Actions, Ansible, Jenkins pipelines, and Bash/jq scripting.
- Integrated Vault across internal banking teams, enabling secure and seamless secret management.
- PKI backend setup with strict compliance to security standards, thorough documentation, and controlled delivery.
- Built CI/CD pipelines to deploy infrastructure and applications to AWS EKS using Terraform and Helm.
- Served as team’s Terraform & Bash scripting SME, providing solutions to improve reliability, automation, and compliance.
- Led infrastructure improvement initiatives — introduced configuration drift control by transitioning from Ansible to Terraform and importing all existing configurations.
- Enhanced configuration & secret management with Mozilla SOPS, streamlining workflows and reducing operational overhead.
- Collaborated with infrastructure and cluster operations teams to maintain secure, stable, and compliant environments.
Technical Lead – AWS Microservices & Kubernetes Modernization - DevOps/SRE
Wise Systems, Inc.
09.2020 - 10.2021
- Spearheaded modernization of product microservices: led migration from direct-to-EC2 deployment to containerized, Kubernetes-managed infrastructure (Amazon EKS), introducing best practices for reliability and scalability.
- Devised and executed migration strategy: assessed current architecture, performed cost/risk analysis, and defined cluster/network topologies to support future growth.
- Served as tech expert: managed DevOps and engineering efforts, coordinated zero-downtime migration (Kubernetes MVP), and promoted DevOps-business logic separation.
- Enabled operational excellence: developed internal tooling (VPNs, secrets management), streamlined deployment layers (EKS clusters, TLS/certificates, proxies), and improved configuration management, inspiring data-driven workflows.
- Advanced compliance and security: overhauled credentials management for SOC2 objectives, shifting from static secrets to dynamic management via HashiCorp Vault, and integrated AWS/IAM STS with core cloud sub-services (RabbitMQ, MongoDB, RDS).
- Mentored and trained engineers: fostered Kubernetes and CI/CD knowledge transfer, championed abstraction and automation for sustainable delivery pipelines.
Lead DevOps Engineer
Sherweb
06.2017 - 09.2020
- Led all DevOps initiatives across the organization, driving innovation in networking, orchestration, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud architecture.
- Pioneered design and implementation of production-ready clustered application architectures, enhancing scalability, reliability, security, and high availability.
DevOps Engineer – AWS Deployment Automation & Containerized Environments
Razittal Inc
01.2016 - 05.2017
- Consulted on and implemented AWS build & deployment environments, covering Production, Testing, and Development pipelines.
- Containerized all environments using Docker, with orchestration via Docker Machine, Docker Swarm, HashiCorp Consul, and related DevOps tooling.
- Automated deployments: delivered turnkey AWS solutions enabling full deployment via Docker Machine — from source code and data snapshots to live instances.
- Defined deployment schema & network architecture, integrating DNS (Cloudflare), HTTPS certificate generation, and secure networking practices.
- Built AWS integrations using scripting (Python, Bash) and AWS services: EC2, S3, IAM, and CloudWatch (as persistent log aggregation backend).
- Established CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins for automated builds and deliveries, integrating with GIT/CVS and deploying directly to AWS.
- Provided developer enablement: designed convenient cloud-based build & debug environments, with full instrumentation for remote development, debugging, and profiling.
- Delivered team training on Docker, AWS, CI/CD, and modern DevOps workflows to ensure adoption and continuity.
DevOps , Java Server programmer and Architect
Tonerdata.ru
05.2014 - 05.2017
- Designed & deployed complete intranet infrastructure including LAN, pfSense router, OpenVPN, and hybrid VPN network for secure connectivity between on-premise and cloud environments.
- Configured cloud services & networking: VPNs, DNS (Unbound, NSD, Cloudflare), dynamic routing (OSPF), and routing failover for high availability.
- Implemented monitoring & backup solutions using Monit and automated backup to intranet over hybrid VPN; integrated CrashPlan for external redundancy.
- Developed full-stack online solution seamlessly integrated with infrastructure:
- Back-end: Play Framework (Java), RESTful API, Shared-Nothing architecture.
- Front-end: HTML, JavaScript, Bootstrap, Ajax.
- Secure intranet integration enabling remote and onsite order management, isolating public/internal workflows at the network level.
- Engineered robust mailing infrastructure using SendGrid and Mailgun, ensuring secure, reliable, and verified marketing and transactional email delivery.
- Migrated infrastructure to Docker, leveraging advanced networking and automating deployment with Python scripts.
- Deployed production-ready web platform with Cloudflare CDN, nginx, HTTPS, Play Framework (Upstart), health checks (Monit), and automated backup workflows.
Senior Server Programmer
Quatreme Logiciel
05.2013 - 05.2014
- Software Engineer – Multi-Cloud Enablement & Backend Architecture
- Adapted AWS-centric codebase to support multiple cloud providers, storage engines, and messaging queues, increasing portability and vendor flexibility.
Backend Lead Engineer – Distributed High-Load Java Platform
Sava Transmedia
08.2012 - 05.2013
- Designed and built backend architecture from scratch: developed a high-load, distributed Java application server leveraging Redis NoSQL (with sharding) and in-house distributed storage.
- Engineered communication layer enabling seamless interaction between the Java backend and ActionScript 3 client, creating a flexible, easily adaptable multi-platform API.
- Optimized for performance and scalability: implemented advanced parallelization techniques, achieving sustained high-performance request processing under constant heavy load with near-zero maintenance over months of operation.
- Contributed cross-disciplinary expertise in IP networking, Linux administration, and functional programming to enhance design and architecture decisions.
- Defined development strategy and technical solutions for backend implementation; most were adopted and delivered long-term project benefits.
- Demonstrated rapid technical mastery: delivered a robust, production-ready backend despite minimal prior experience in Java, NoSQL, and sharding by applying transferable skills from functional programming.
- Led and mentored junior developers: coordinated backend tasks and integrated components with Amazon AWS services.
Audio Systems Developer – Real-Time C++ for Gaming Consoles
Electronic Arts
01.2006 - 07.2011
- Collaborated closely with Sound Director to translate creative audio concepts from artists into robust, production-ready code.
- Engineered high-performance audio systems with an emphasis on CPU efficiency, memory optimization, low latency, and uninterrupted I/O streaming.
- Developed and optimized core functionality in C++ ensuring reliability, performance, and portability under tight console hardware constraints.
- Specialized in real-time system programming to meet stringent timing requirements and deliver consistent in-game audio experiences.
- Applied deep knowledge of systems performance, streaming pipelines, and hardware-level optimization to enhance audio fidelity without overloading resources.
Software Engineer – CAD, Vector & Raster Graphics Processing
Cimmetry Systems
01.2005 - 03.2006
- Developed a cross-platform graphics application for viewing and processing CAD, vector, and raster files in both 2D and 3D formats.
- Implemented client-side functionality in C++ and Java, and server-side components in C++, ensuring smooth data exchange and rendering performance.
- Designed and delivered new features based on functional requirements, from architecture to implementation, meeting usability, performance, and compatibility goals.
- Optimized graphical processing pipelines for complex file formats to provide fast rendering and accurate visualization.
- Collaborated with stakeholders to translate technical specifications into innovative, maintainable, and high-quality solutions.
Software Engineer – Print Engine & SVG Architecture
Corel Corporation
01.2000 - 04.2004
- Designed and developed print engine components for Corel’s flagship WordPerfect Office Suite, ensuring high-quality, efficient, and reliable document output.
- Led architectural design for the SVG Viewer project, defining core structures and performance criteria to support scalable and accurate vector graphics rendering.
- Gained deep expertise in XML, SVG, and Microsoft DOM technologies, applying standards-based development for cross-platform compatibility and maintainability.
- Implemented advanced image processing algorithms to improve rendering accuracy, visual fidelity, and performance.
- Resolved major architectural challenges, delivering innovative, reliable solutions for complex system requirements.
- Developed core project components requiring a strong mathematical foundation, bridging theoretical concepts with practical, production-ready code.
Programmer Analyst
Masterwood Ltd.
04.1996 - 12.1999
- Designed and developed client-server applications in Delphi and Visual C++ to support complex information management workflows.
- Created advanced patterning algorithms for the industrial wood-cutting process, optimizing material usage and operational efficiency.
- Applied artificial intelligence techniques to achieve high algorithmic efficiency, enabling intelligent decision-making within production systems.
- Delivered significant cost savings and productivity gains, directly impacting the company’s profitability and resource utilization.
Education
B.Sc. - Computer Science
Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radio Electronics
01.1997
Skills
- Programming Languages: Python, Java, C, C#
- DevOps & Automation: Terraform, Terragrunt, Ansible, Helm, Bash, Python scripting
- Software Engineering & Architecture: SOLID principles, asynchronous processing, multithreading, sharding, event-driven architecture, HTTP APIs, serverless computing
- Networking: IP networking, routing, dynamic routing protocols (OSPF, BGP), load balancing, VPNs, DNS management
- Security: TLS/SSL, VPN, private networking, dynamic credentials management (HashiCorp Vault)
- Proxy & API Gateway: Istio, Traefik
- Containerization & Orchestration: Kubernetes, Docker, AWS Lambda (serverless functions)
- Cloud Providers: AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean (DO), Vultr, On-premises infrastructure
Languages
English
Full Professional
French
Limited Working
Russian
Native or Bilingual
Interests
- Electronics and Circuit Building
- Home automation
- Biking
- Crossfit
Timeline
Data Protection Engineer – HashiCorp Vault & Secure Infrastructure - Contract
National Bank Canada
10.2021 - Current
Technical Lead – AWS Microservices & Kubernetes Modernization - DevOps/SRE
Wise Systems, Inc.
09.2020 - 10.2021
Lead DevOps Engineer
Sherweb
06.2017 - 09.2020
DevOps Engineer – AWS Deployment Automation & Containerized Environments
Razittal Inc
01.2016 - 05.2017
DevOps , Java Server programmer and Architect
Tonerdata.ru
05.2014 - 05.2017
Senior Server Programmer
Quatreme Logiciel
05.2013 - 05.2014
Backend Lead Engineer – Distributed High-Load Java Platform
Sava Transmedia
08.2012 - 05.2013
Audio Systems Developer – Real-Time C++ for Gaming Consoles
Electronic Arts
01.2006 - 07.2011
Software Engineer – CAD, Vector & Raster Graphics Processing
Cimmetry Systems
01.2005 - 03.2006
Software Engineer – Print Engine & SVG Architecture
Corel Corporation
01.2000 - 04.2004
Programmer Analyst
Masterwood Ltd.
04.1996 - 12.1999
B.Sc. - Computer Science
Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radio Electronics
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