Senior Software Engineer • Educator • Problem Solver
Engineering observability platforms & data pipelines | Kubernetes infrastructure at scale | Teaching complex concepts simply
I'm a Senior Software Engineer based in Austin, Texas, currently working at WP Engine where I've been for over 11 years. My career path is unique: I blend deep technical expertise in site reliability engineering, observability, and cloud infrastructure with a strong educational background, having taught mathematics at the K-12 level.
At WP Engine, I engineer DBT data models and pipelines for uptime/bandwidth calculations in BigQuery, develop observability platforms with Grafana, Looker Studio, and PagerDuty, and manage enterprise Kubernetes infrastructure including GKE cluster upgrades, vulnerability remediation, and cost optimization with Terraform across multi-cloud environments.
What makes me different? I don't just build complex systems - I can explain them in ways anyone can understand. I've spent years breaking down complex concepts for students, which means I excel at documentation, mentoring developers, and bridging the gap between technical and non-technical stakeholders. I've up-skilled 2 engineers in Terraform, Kubernetes, and Python by developing practical, hands-on training modules and interactive Jupyter notebooks.
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commit 8f4a2b9c1d6e3f7a5b8c9d2e4f1a6b3c7d8e9f0a (HEAD -> main) Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Mon Oct 3 09:00:00 2022 -0500 Senior Software Engineer at WP Engine - Engineered DBT data models and pipelines for uptime/bandwidth calculations in BigQuery with automated orchestration generating SLI metrics - Developed observability platform with Grafana/Looker Studio dashboards and PagerDuty alerting enabling rapid root cause analysis and SLI/SLO monitoring - Managed enterprise Kubernetes infrastructure including GKE cluster upgrades, vulnerability remediation, cost optimization, and Terraform automation across multi-cloud environments - Up-skilled 2 engineers in Terraform, Kubernetes, and Python by developing practical, hands-on training modules and interactive Jupyter notebooks commit 3e7b1f4c9a2d8e6f0b5c1a7d4e9f2b8c3a6d1e5f Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Wed May 20 08:30:00 2020 -0500 Software Engineer, Reliability at WP Engine - Debugged and resolved GKE pod degradation collaborating with Google to identify COS node issue causing pod ready times for short-lived workloads to steadily increase, migrating to Ubuntu nodes eliminating manual node cycling - Built farm uptime SLI/SLO monitoring with DataStudio dashboards and BigQuery calculations for platform reliability tracking - Maintained Jenkins infrastructure performing upgrades, plugin updates, node migrations, and documenting incident RCAs - Authored 23 technical documentation pages for uptime monitoring, incident response, and operational runbooks commit 7d2e9f1a4b6c8e3f5a0b7c2d9e4f1a6b8c3d5e7f Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Fri Nov 17 10:00:00 2017 -0600 Associate Software Engineer, Reliability at WP Engine - Led Jenkins migration from AWS to GCP deploying infrastructure with Terraform/Ansible and integrating SumoLogic/Datadog monitoring across all nodes - Maintained Django service aggregating Jira/GitHub metrics for engineering OKR tracking and visualization - Co-lead Kubernetes adoption assisting engineering teams with workload migrations - Developed testing and monitoring frameworks creating smoke tests and operational runbooks reducing infrastructure maintenance overhead commit 2b5c8e1f4a7d9e3f6b0c2a8d5e1f4b7c9a3d6e2f Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Mon Jan 15 09:00:00 2012 -0600 IT Support Engineer at Bazaarvoice - Provided global IT support across 9 offices, deploying Mac/Windows images and administering enterprise systems (Active Directory, Exchange, Office 365, WebEx, Cisco UCM) commit 9a3d6e2f5b8c1e4f7a0d3b6c9e2f5a8d1b4c7e9f Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Thu Jun 14 10:30:00 2010 -0400 Genius at Apple Store Sagemore - Apple Certified Mac Technician providing hardware/software support and customer service commit 4f7a0d3b6c9e2f5a8d1b4c7e9f2a5b8c1d4e7f0a Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Mon Aug 18 08:00:00 2008 -0400 High School Mathematics Teacher at Lindenwold High School - Taught mathematics to diverse student populations, developing curriculum and integrating technology into classrooms commit 1e4f7a0d3b6c9e2f5a8d1b4c7e9f2a5b8c1d4e7f Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Wed Aug 16 08:00:00 2006 -0500 6th Grade Mathematics Teacher at Pearce Middle School, Austin ISD - Taught middle school mathematics, honing communication skills that now help bridge technical and non-technical stakeholders commit 6c9e2f5a8d1b4c7e9f2a5b8c1d4e7f0a3d6b9c2e Author: Jason Fowler <toj@toj.dev> Date: Mon Jun 20 09:00:00 2005 -0500 Services Support Representative I at Unisys (TSA, DHS HQ) - Provided technical support for Department of Homeland Security systems
education: - institution: The University of Texas at Austin degree: Bachelor of Science, Computer Science graduation_date: December 2003 certifications: - name: Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) organization: Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) dates: November 2021 - November 2024 - name: Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) organization: Scrum Alliance dates: February 2022 - February 2024 - name: Apple Certified Mac Technician organization: Apple, Inc. dates: October 2010 - November 2012 - name: Certified Mathematics Teacher (K-12) organization: State of New Jersey dates: July 2008 - Present - name: Certified Technology Education (6-12) organization: State of Texas dates: May 2008 - August 2012 - name: Certified Mathematics Teacher (4-8) organization: State of Texas dates: August 2006 - August 2012