WILL A. SOTO

AWS Cloud Engineer | US Navy Veteran

Providence, RI | sotowilmeralberto@gmail.com | 857-544-6474 | linkedin.com/in/iamwillsoto | github.com/iamwillsoto

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

AWS Cloud Engineer with experience designing secure, scalable, and cost-effective AWS infrastructure, automating deployments with Terraform and CloudFormation, and building reliable CI/CD workflows. Strong background in cloud security, infrastructure standardization, and operational reliability, with a focus on delivering resilient solutions aligned with business needs.

EXPERIENCE

HD SUPPLY | Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Jun 2024 – Present

• Designed and deployed highly available, scalable AWS infrastructure using EC2, VPC, S3, and RDS, improving application uptime by 99.9% and reducing latency by 25% across multiple production environments.
• Automated infrastructure provisioning and configuration management using Terraform and AWS CloudFormation, decreasing deployment time by 60% and minimizing human error in production rollouts.
• Implemented CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and AWS CodePipeline, resulting in a 40% faster release cycle and improved code quality through integrated testing and rollback strategies.
• Deployed and managed containerized applications using Docker, Amazon ECS, and Kubernetes, achieving seamless scaling and reducing container orchestration issues by 30%.
• Monitored system health and performance using AWS CloudWatch, Prometheus, and the ELK Stack, proactively identifying and resolving issues, leading to a 45% reduction in incident response time.
• Strengthened cloud security posture by enforcing IAM policies, implementing AWS KMS, configuring security groups, and conducting monthly vulnerability assessments, reducing potential risks by 70%.
• Drove cross-functional delivery of cloud solutions aligned with business priorities, contributing to the launch of 3 mission-critical applications in under 6 months.

LEVELUPINTECH | Cloud Engineer

Feb 2024 – Oct 2024

• Designed and deployed secure AWS VPC architectures to enhance cloud network security, resource isolation, and overall performance.
• Automated infrastructure provisioning and Jenkins deployments using Terraform, significantly reducing manual errors and improving scalability.
• Developed and maintained CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and Docker, accelerating code delivery and ensuring consistent deployment standards.
• Migrated a dynamic website to AWS S3 with CloudFront distribution, implementing Lambda functions for serverless tracking and optimizing user interaction analytics.
• Created and executed Bash and Python (Boto3) scripts for EC2 lifecycle management, automating routine tasks and improving system reliability.
• Managed user access controls and enforced permission policies on Linux (Ubuntu) systems, strengthening OS-level security and reducing unauthorized access incidents.

VERIZON | Cloud Support Engineer

Jan 2021 – Mar 2024

• Migrated over 120 on-premises workloads to AWS using EC2, S3, and AWS Database Migration Service, reducing infrastructure costs by 35% and improving system reliability.
• Developed and maintained infrastructure as code (IaC) using Terraform and CloudFormation, standardizing deployments across environments and reducing configuration drift by 90%.
• Implemented secure VPC architectures, including subnetting, routing, NAT gateways, and security group policies, enhancing network performance and reducing cross-region latency by 20%.
• Orchestrated containerized applications using Docker and Amazon ECS, improving deployment speed and environment consistency for development and production pipelines.
• Established monitoring and logging solutions with AWS CloudWatch, AWS X-Ray, and Grafana, reducing troubleshooting time by 50% and improving system observability.
• Enforced robust IAM policies and integrated AWS KMS for data encryption, strengthening security controls across cloud environments.

LIFE TIME FITNESS | IT Service Desk Technician

Sep 2014 – Aug 2020

• Primary escalation point for enterprise IAM across 1K+ users and 6 locations, administering Active Directory lifecycle, VPN/SSO authentication in ServiceNow.
• Resolved LAN/WAN issues including VPN, DNS, DHCP, and endpoint configuration across enterprise infrastructure.

UNITED STATES NAVY | Boatswain's Mate

Jan 2010 – Mar 2014 | USS Lake Champlain (CG-57), San Diego, CA

• Executed mission-critical operations under strict safety, compliance, and readiness standards.
• Maintained operational discipline in high-risk environments requiring procedural accuracy and rapid decision-making.
• Coordinated across engineering, navigation, and command teams to ensure successful mission execution.

SKILLS

Cloud Platforms: AWS (EC2, S3, RDS, VPC, Lambda, DynamoDB, CloudFront, Route 53, API Gateway, IAM, CloudTrail, AWS Config, AWS WAF, AWS X-Ray), Azure

IaC: Terraform, AWS CloudFormation, Ansible

CI/CD & DevOps: Jenkins, GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline, Git, Bitbucket, Docker, Amazon ECS, Kubernetes

Monitoring: CloudWatch, Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Datadog

Security & Networking: AWS KMS, GuardDuty, AWS Inspector, Secrets Manager, IAM, VPC Design, Routing, Network Security, Infrastructure Optimization

Scripting & Systems: Python (Boto3), Bash, Linux

Databases: MySQL, DynamoDB

AI Services: Amazon Bedrock, Rekognition, Transcribe, Polly, AI-Enabled Automation

CERTIFICATIONS & RECOGNITION

• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate | Dec 2025
• AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate | Jul 2025
• AWS Certified AI Practitioner | Jan 2026
• CompTIA Security+ | Apr 2025
• CompTIA Network+ | Feb 2026
• AWS Community Builder | 2026 – Present

EDUCATION

Western Governors University | B.S. Cloud and Network Engineering