Contact Details

Ted Gulesserian

email: theolicious@gmail.com


Education


B.S. in Chemistry (ACS track) May 1996 Ursinus College, Collegeville, PA

Minored in Biology and Computer Science


Technology Exposure


Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, DevOps, CI-CD, Jenkins, SpringMVC, ReactJS, Spring Data Rest, Spring Batch, Neo4j, extJS, JPA/Hibernate, Postgres Stored Procs, AWS RDS, MongoDB, Elastic Search, JMS, GXT, GWT, JSON, JAX-RS Web Services, Google GUICE AOP, SOAP, J2EE, Tomcat, Eclipse, Together J, Java Threads, Java Servlets, JSP, EJB, JAAS, LDAP, Captcha, Erwin, XML, Unix (linux/solaris/cygwin), ksh, bash, PHP, XML, Regular Expressions, JDBC, Oracle, Akamai CDN, IIS, MS-SQL Server, Javascript, Webtrends, mySQL routines, SQLServer, Oracle PL/SQL


Experience


Rocket Pharmaceuticals | 10/2021-

Associate Vice President - Head of IT | 10/2021-

tldr;

ERP and Data Warehouse Management

  • Data Warehouse Development : Integrated SOAP API with Java Spring Boot and Postgres to develop inventory and budget forecasting reports, enhancing supply chain insights. Enabled Power BI dashboards for improved data visualization and utilized Azure Container Instances for efficient web-based report delivery.
  • ERP Platform Updates : Delivered mission-critical changes to Oracle Netsuite, aligning the system more closely with organizational needs and stakeholder requirements ensuring warehouse operations could manage the inventory, and manufacturing can track drug production.

Infrastructure Development and Cloud Migration

  • BioInformatic Platform Development : Enabled handling of large volumes of data output from lab equipment like Next Gen Sequencers (NGS) on the cloud leveraging Azure Batch, Azure Function App and Blob Trigger bindings to increase efficiency and data management capabilities, improving the company’s ability to assess drug quality independently without using external vendors.
  • Azure Cloud Migration : Enhanced business continuity, security, and scalability by moving servers to a cloud platform. Nearly halved the on-prem footprint.

Information Security and Compliance

  • Infosec Initiatives : Ensured robust cybersecurity through endpoint observability expansion and establishment of regular internal audits.
  • Compliance with FDA GMP and SOX : Ensured adherence to regulatory standards by collaborating with auditors and solidifying change management processes, protecting the company from potential sanctions and reputation damage. Helped mitigate an inherited Significant Deficiency finding by auditors.

Process Improvements and Agile Implementation

  • JIRA Ticket Management and Agile Coaching : Enhanced the IT team's productivity and project management efficiency through the coaching and adoption of Agile methodologies.
  • IT Processes Documentation : Streamlined recurring activities such as new hire onboarding/off-boarding and audits via JIRA workflows and automations, reducing inefficiencies and potential for errors.

Knowledge and Resource Management

  • Confluence Platform Adoption : Streamlined IT operations through a centralized knowledge management platform, fostering improved communication and knowledge sharing. Created / Contributed to 4000+ knowledge management articles.
  • Helpdesk Team Expansion : Improved support for a growing number of employees/contractors, enhancing overall user experience and productivity.

System and Equipment Integration

  • Scientific Equipment Onboarding : Enabled both clinical (GMP) and non-clinical R&D teams to leverage new tools, improving their research capabilities.

Leadership

  • Scaling with Demand : Grew the IT Department to support an organization that expanded from ~80 employees to ~300
  • Career Progression Help : Provided mentorship to help members of the org grow into bigger roles with more responsibilities.
  • Cross Pollination of Knowledge : Provided webinars where a nationally distributed team got the opportunity to learn about topics in IT outside of those typically needed for their individual responsibilities.

Sony Music Entertainment Inc. | 08/2019-10/2021

IS&T Director : Cloud Solutions Architect | 08/2019-10/2021

tldr;

Team Leadership and Operations Enhancement

  • Team Leadership : Led a high-performing team in the modernization of the company's media transcoding solutions, ensuring increased productivity and up-to-date tech practices.
  • Career Progression Help : Provided mentorship to help members of the org support each other by rewarding and nurturing a sharing culture which ensured top performing talent stayed with the team.
  • Educating the IT Org on Emerging Technologies on the Cloud : Led informative sessions on various topics, including log aggregation with ElasticSearch. This initiative improved the team's technical acumen, enabling them to leverage cutting-edge cloud solutions for enhanced system performance, increased efficiency in troubleshooting, and comprehensive data analysis, thus driving innovation and operational excellence in the organization.
  • Operations Best Practices and Cloud Native Architecture Evangelization : Reduced Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and outage windows, enhancing system reliability and minimizing disruption. Paved the way for the company to transition from legacy platforms to a cloud-native architecture, promoting scalability and efficiency.

Platform Integration, Serverless Solutions, and New Services

  • AWS Batch Serverless Solution and Telestream Platform Integration : Massively increased company's transcode capacity and optimized data handling and partner deliveries, accommodating larger workloads and improving service delivery.
  • New Transcode Services Introduction : Expanded the company's capabilities with upcoming audio formats, staying ahead of the curve and offering innovative solutions.
  • Micro Service Migration : Segmented a monolithic code base into smaller purpose focused libraries using JAVA Maven child-parent relationship to allow for independent focused development teams improving development efficiency and speed, enhancing code maintainability, improving scalability, facilitating specialization and reducing risk.
  • Container Platorm Orchestration On-Boarding : Deployed the company’s transcoder platform on Kubernetes using HELM scripts, enhancing scalability, availability, and resource efficiency of the system, ensuring uninterrupted service and improved operational cost-effectiveness.
  • Cloud Infosec : Ensured safe transition to a micro-service architecture without additional risks utilizing services like WAF and Role Based IAM, safeguarding business integrity and security.

Monitoring, Pipeline Optimization, and Automated Testing

  • Centralized Monitoring and CI-CD Pipeline Optimization : Enhanced visibility across the digital supply chain and streamlined deployment processes, enabling faster issue detection, resolution, and feature releases.
  • Containerized Integration Tests Introduction : Streamlined and improved the reliability of the testing process as part of the CI-CD pipeline, enhancing product quality and delivery speed.

Data Management, Planning, and Service Catalog

  • AWS Aurora Data Warehouse Construction and Centralized Transcode Services Product Catalog : Introduced a unified source of information for service availability and deprecation plans, improving transparency and planning. Provided insights into transcode performance history, allowing for better computing demand anticipation and capacity planning.

EPAM Systems | 11/2018-08/2019

tldr;

Solution Architect | Client: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Histopathology Image Management Platform

System Planning and Vendor Selection

  • Onboarding of New COTS System : Assisted a pharmaceutical client to streamline Histopathology workflows by planning the onboarding of a new COTS system, improving efficiency and productivity.
  • Vendor Selection Assistance : Provided the client with vendor selection criteria, ensuring the most suitable and cost-effective technology was chosen for their needs.

Infrastructure Planning and Integration Documentation

  • Infrastructure Plan Presentation : Presented an infrastructure plan for new proposed systems, facilitating a clear understanding of the technology and process involved.
  • Detailed Integration Documentation : Developed comprehensive documentation for the implementation of the solution, enabling a smooth and efficient set up of the new system.

Integration Design and Approval

  • Custom Solution Approval : Received panel approval for a solution that includes both COTS and custom components, validating the effectiveness and suitability of the proposed solution.
  • Feasibility Tests Execution : Conducted feasibility tests for key components of the integration solution, ensuring the technology used is compatible and meets the requirements.

R&D Vivarium Wireless Data Capture Solutions

  • Wireless Data Capture Tools : Provided a solution for wireless data capture tools for Oncology research, enhancing the accuracy of weight and size measurements and improving data collection efficiency.
  • Speech-to-Text POC : Created a proof of concept using Google (GCP) speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs for dictating measurements in the lab, potentially simplifying data entry and boosting lab productivity.

AMELIA | 2/2017 - 11/2018

tldr;

Solution Architect | 1/2018 - 11/2018

Worked closely with customers to gather requirements for system integrations with IPSoft’s IPCenter ticketing system with robotic process automation. Helped clients craft solutions that are custom tailored to their needs using provided specifications, functional and technical design specifications for integrations improving IPsoft’s ability to resolve their customer’s IT support tickets with efficiency.

Senior Engineer | 2/2017-1/2018

Worked as a senior engineer on a Java Spring / Hibernate application with MySQL backend that was built ground up with scalability in mind, implementing a Service Oriented Architecture, with Apache ActiveMQ at its heart. Identified and fixed difficult to track bugs in an otherwise mature platform, such as an issue that would surface very infrequently because of a race condition. Worked on client integrations, improving IPsoft’s ability to resolve their customer’s IT support tickets with efficiency.


The Street | 2/2015 - 2/2017

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Technical Lead: RateWatch Business Unit | 2/2016-2/2017

Bank Rate Reporting Project : Midrange (IBM AS/400) -> Cloud Based Managed Service (Postres) Database Migration

Took a lead role as a Solutions Architect to develop a data migration plan for transitioning a large homegrown application off a legacy mainframe (IBM AS/400 running IBM i OS), utilizing a change data capture (CDC) platform. This strategic move significantly reduced the operational and maintenance costs associated with the legacy system, boosted overall system performance, and ensured business continuity by mitigating risks linked with outdated technology

Bank Rate Data Collection Application : Spring Boot / ReactJS

Took a lead role to enhance a SOA web page change detection and scraping system that uses MongoDB to manage state, RabbitMQ for inter-process communication, and Elastic Search for centralized log management and analysis.

Technical Lead: The Deal business unit | 2/2015 –2/2016

Team Management and Modernization Efforts of Structured Deal (M&A, VC Funding etc) Data Management Platform

  • Offshore Team Management : Successfully managed an offshore team, improving project execution and reducing operational costs.
  • Application Modernization : Modernized an internal data aggregation application, increasing efficiency and enhancing user experience.

Performance Optimization and Database Management of Customer Facing Connections Finder Web-Based Application

  • Performance Optimization : Optimized slow-performing web service calls, enhancing system performance and user experience.
  • Database Query Optimization : Modified and optimized database calls and Neo4J Cypher queries. This resulted in fewer trips to the database, faster query responses, better use of indices, and overall improved application performance.

Security Enhancement of Web Facing Application

  • Security Framework Transition : Transitioned from a custom homegrown security framework to the hardened Spring Security framework. This move enhanced the system's security and credibility while reducing the potential risk of data breaches. Also introduced features like IP Authentication and role switching capabilities, providing flexibility in access control and improved protection against unauthorized access.

Sony Music Entertainment Inc. | 1/2003 - 2/2015

tldr;

Systems Architect 1/2012 –2/2015

Application Migration and Framework Upgrade

  • Weblogic Version Migration : Upgraded several applications from older to newer supported versions of Weblogic, improving compatibility, security, and maintenance.
  • Framework Upgrades : Upgraded several frameworks (Spring, Struts, Hibernate etc), enhancing compatibility and system performance.

System Architecture and Performance Enhancement

  • Java Application Segmentation : Segmented a large Java application into smaller distributed modules and restful services, increasing system uptime, performance, and reducing cross-system dependencies.
  • Secure Infrastructure Development : Isolated several applications into their own network segments during a data center migration, improving infrastructure security.

System Monitoring and SLA Compliance

  • Data Interchange System Monitoring : Implemented monitoring jobs to catch issues and built auditing tools for cross-system messaging, ensuring SLA compliance.

Data Interchange Improvement and Automation

  • ETL Processes Replacement : Guided finance teams to move away from ETL processes towards SOAP web services for data interchange with SAP, enhancing efficiency and interoperability.
  • Deployment Workflow Automation (CI-CD) : Automated previously manual build processes, enabling push-button automated deployments, and simplifying development workflows.

Database Reorganization and Cloud Integration

  • Database Consolidation : Helped consolidate and reorganize the database, removing inconsistencies and simplifying processes in the Digital Supply Chain.
  • Cloud Integration Support : Assisted several groups in integrating with Amazon's cloud offerings, enhancing secure communication and cooperation with the company's internal systems.

Data Feed Management and Proof of Concept Creation

  • Data Feed Ingestion : Provided XSDs, messaging endpoints, and ingestion code for new data feeds into the Digital Supply Chain database, enhancing data management.
  • High-Volume Transaction P.O.C. : Built a P.O.C. environment using SymmetricDS to handle high volumes of database transactions, demonstrating feasibility and benefits of a potential AWS Redshift solution.

Senior Engineer | 1/2003 -12/2011

Development of In-House Content Management System

  • Java/JSP/EJB/Vignette Development : Worked on a content management system that managed all U.S. websites for the company, streamlining content delivery and management.
  • Taglibs Creation and Struts Framework Use : Created taglibs for content delivery page developers and wrote content management screens using the Java Struts framework, enhancing productivity and efficiency of content development.

Digital Assets Distribution System Maintenance

  • Java/JSP/EJB System Maintenance : Maintained a system to distribute digital assets to online resellers using Java/JSP on Weblogic with EJBs and the Java Struts/JSTL framework, ensuring effective distribution and availability of digital assets.
  • Struts Migration : Assisted with migration off Struts by converting screens to use GWT and GWT-RPC using GXT/ExtGWT for a rich UI, improving user interface and experience.

Change Data Capture and Messaging

  • Data Aggregation System Maintenance : Maintained a system that aggregated data from upstream sources, queued in staging tables via triggers, and piped via XML messages over JMS downstream, improving data integration and availability.

Web-Based Application Security Enhancement

  • SQL Injection and Other Vulnerabilities Mitigation : Worked on removing SQL Injection as well as XSS and CSRF vulnerabilities from a public facing website, enhancing the security of the website and protecting sensitive data.
  • Single Sign-On (SSO) Migration : Migrated user logins to be managed by central corporate Active Directory LDAP servers, enhancing user management efficiency and security.

Real Time Supply Chain Visibility

  • Real-Time Supply Chain Visibility System : Developed a system providing real-time and historical visibility into the status of products in the supply chain, improving business decision-making and operational efficiency.

Computer Extension Professionals | 6/2001 – 10/2002

Vignette Engineer - Client: Aventis Pharmaceuticals | 6/2001 – 10/2002

Worked as a contractor with a Vignette architect role at Aventis to design a backbone for managing content on 6 disease portals using JSP, EJB’s and Vignette. Built content delivery pages for 3 of the disease portals, that utilized a hierarchical navigation and provided personalization, user profiles, calendaring and community functions.