David J. Meier

David J. Meier_

DEV/NET/SEC/OPS/ETC

Email:
[email protected]
Locale:
Minneapolis, MN

Hello_

I am an experienced security architect, practitioner and consultant. I thrive on building value driven solutions. Integrity of vendors I represent is imperative: I won't recommend or stand behind products I wouldn't buy. Off the shelf products are one thing but I also have decades of real-world experience working with open-source and strive to continually expand on that knowledge base. I started my career in advanced networking solutions and continue to leverage that core within a broad focus of cybersecurity. I've leveraged automation and objective methodology in every role I've taken on. I pride myself on being a trusted advisor to many - both past and present. My ethos is defined by timeliness, quality, honesty, innovation, transparency and a continually diverse & up-to-date skill set. I'm often times overly verbose, I'd like to think that's a positive quality. I'm outspoken when I need to be, but find that listening is often a better initial strategy. I embrace learning new technology and I enjoy writing just as much as reading.


About_

This isn't a traditional resume. This is me in a nutshell and my goal with this format is to break out of the traditional model and focus on: skills, experience and personality.

education

University of Wiconsin - Stout

1999 - 2003

Bachelor of Science, Telecommunications Systems

  • Cisco NetAcad Campus
  • Baldridge Quality Award, 2001

Lifetime Certifications

  • AWS CSAA
  • CCNA, CCDA, CCNP, CCDP, CCIE (written)
  • CISSP
  • CEH
  • PCNSE
  • DoD Secret Clearance

Q&A with David

What am I up to? 🤔

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I've been working in technical pre-sales, advisory and consulting roles for the last couple of decades. I'm well versed in delivering hands-on, deep, technical solutions as well as discussing strategic vision with leadership. I'd like to think of myself as a Swiss Army Knife but beyond that I always go the extra mile to know technical aspects in-depth.

The TL;DR?
Jack of all trades, but still provide mastery of quite-a-few.

Where have I been? 🗺

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I've worked as an individual contributer, a consultant and sales engineer. I've worked for, and with, some of the most reputable brands in the world but I've also worked for a number of startups you've never heard of. I'll gladly talk about any of my past. But... The Internet isn't the same as it used to be. I don't keep a public history, especially on LinkedIn, for numerous privacy, algorithmic and data retention & collection reasons. And, also to protect former clients.

Am I trustworthy? ✅

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I'd like to think so. I've held a government clearance in a former life and have worked on classified projects. Beyond that I have a network of past and present colleagues that will also vouch for me. I'll always be on time.

Notable work experience? 💻

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  • Designed and implemented robust, security centric solutions for over 20 years - I've always had a strong pulse on what's modern.
  • Replaced underperforming technology through quantitative and qualitative methodologies to get to the most objectively positive solution as possible. I've saved some of the largest global brands many millions of dollars this way.
  • Been known to leverage programmatic orchestration/automation frameworks and tooling in the name of efficiency and efficacy.
  • Have worked in and around most public & private compute and orchestration platforms.
  • Knowledgeable in advanced IP architectures: have done much design and engineering with network resilience and security for mission critical systems - including IPv6.
  • Wide knowledge of the cybersecurity landscape: vendor solutions, threat modelling, security tools, frameworks and ethical hacking/penetration testing/reverse engineering/social engineering.
  • Proponent of DevOps via CI, total quality management, Kaizen, OODA and other iterative and continuous tooling and process - yes, I'm a William Deming and Gene Kim fan.
  • Well versed in modern operating systems. Linux is my kernel of choice, it runs my desktop.

Things you've worked with? 👨‍🔬

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Let's play Buzzword Bingo! Including, but not limited to...


ACME, API, AWS, Ansible, Arch, Azure, BGP, Bash, C4ISR, CIEM, CNAPP, Caddy, Centrify, CloudFlare, CloudFormation, Containers, DKIM, DMARC, DOCSIS, Data Science, DigitalOcean, Docker, Elastic, FastAPI, Firewall, Flask, Fly, Fortinet, GCP, Git, HTML, HTMX, IAM, IPsec, IPv4, IPv6, KVM, Kali, Kubernetes, Linux, MPLS, Mitre Att&Ck, Mitre D3FEND, NDR, NGFW, NIST, Nginx, OSPF, Open Source, OpenAPI, OpenVPN, Packer, Palo Alto Networks, Pandas, Proxy, Python, REST, Routing, SAML, SASE, SIEM, SOAR, SPF, SSH, SWG, Splunk, Switching, TLS, TTP, Tailscale, Terraform, Traefik, Ubuntu, VMs, VMware, Windows, Wireguard, ZSH, ZTNA, and Zero Trust to name a few.

Are you a recruiter? 🤝

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Please read this.


My simple ask is that you have read my profile before contacting me AND you let me know that you have done that by pasting the following key into any communications (email subject line or body) or it will ignored and discarded: r5pHuGkAgZv9c5S.


Follow the instructions and I will most definitely respond to you!

notable skills

ip networking 90%

cloud 80%

python 70%

containers & vms 80%

automation tooling 70%

timeliness 100%

secure architectures 90%

linux/unix 80%

windows 60%

reverse engineering 40%

pen testing 50%

curiosity 100%

Get in touch_

Connect:
LinkedIn
Locale:
Minneapolis, MN
Email:
[email protected]