Dakota Gallimore

Senior Cloud Engineer at Zenimax Online Studios

8+ Years Experience Wake Forest, NC (Remote/Hybrid) Kubernetes & Containerization AAA Gaming Infrastructure Technical Leadership CI/CD Pipelines Multi-Cloud

Experience

Senior Cloud Engineer with GameOps Leadership Responsibilities
Zenimax Online Studios
July 2023 - Present

Leading GameOps technical initiatives for unannounced AAA MMO, establishing Infrastructure as Code standards and CI/CD workflows. Implemented configuration-driven systems for game servers and game realms. Containerized and orchestrated backend game servers on Kubernetes, achieving 99.9% uptime while mentoring 4+ engineers on cloud-native practices.

Kubernetes CI/CD Container Orchestration Team Leadership Game Operations Game Architecture
Senior Cloud Engineer
Zenimax Online Studios
July 2021 - July 2023

Deployed and maintained global Azure infrastructure using Terraform/Pulumi for AAA MMO supporting multi-region game realms. Architected a distributed, tiered environment (game realm) management system, ensuring environments are deployed and managed dynamically and efficiently. Built enterprise observability platform integrating Splunk/Datadog and engineered custom Golang auto-scaling controllers across multiple Kubernetes clusters.

Infrastructure as Code Golang Splunk/Datadog Multi-Cloud Game Development Distributed Systems
Senior Cloud Engineer
1901 Group
September 2019 - July 2021

Constructed RKE/K8s cluster designs for multi-cloud deployments while ensuring Kubernetes workloads conformed to best practices. STIGed Kubernetes clusters in accordance with DISA specifications leveraging OPA. Designed and automated business processes and infrastructure with Terraform (IaC) and Golang. Implemented container-based CI/CD pipeline using self-hosted GitLab, Jenkins, and Harbor. Aided teammates in implementing Kubernetes monitoring stack using Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki. Ran exploratory proof of concepts for implementing multiple service mesh technologies like Istio and Linkerd.

RKE/Kubernetes DISA STIG/OPA Terraform Golang GitLab/Jenkins/Harbor Prometheus/Grafana Istio/Linkerd
Application Developer II
1901 Group
December 2017 - September 2019

Converted legacy Oracle applications into a microservice based architecture on AWS. Helped architect and implement ATF's new AWS-based software infrastructure. Developed multiple MEAN CRUD applications with underlying networking communications using SocketCluster and Socket.io. Deployed applications into OpenShift clusters across clearance boundaries, ensuring secure cross-domain operations.

AWS Microservices MEAN Stack SocketCluster/Socket.io Oracle OpenShift Federal Compliance
CEO / Founder
Dreams.Build
August 2012 - December 2017

Coordinated with startups to define software offerings in 23 countries. Helped clients coordinate go-to-market strategies while maintaining crowdfunding platform built on WordPress using Stripe for payment processing in multiple currencies. Performed day-to-day operations required to run company. Developed guidelines for mobile and web-based experiences on the platform. Met clients on-site to blueprint and prototype their creations.

WordPress Stripe Payments Multi-Currency Go-to-Market Strategy Client Relations UX Guidelines 23 Countries

Portfolio

Many enterprise projects cannot be publicly displayed due to confidentiality agreements. Available for detailed technical discussions during interviews.

Dreams.Build

Dreams.Build

Global Crowdfunding Platform

Rewards-based crowdfunding platform servicing projects in 23 countries, allowing creators to host digital files and monthly charity donations.

WordPress Global Scale Payment Processing
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Visual Language Learning

Visual Language Learning

Google Glass Application

Innovative language learning app using Google Glass platform for real-time image translation and contextual learning.

Google Glass Android Computer Vision
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Protofy

Protofy

WYSIWYG Editor for Android

Visual Android layout editor allowing developers to create draft XML layouts completely offline with drag-and-drop interface.

Android UI/UX XML Generation
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A.M.P

A.M.P.

Activity-Based Music Player

R&D Android application that learns user activities and automatically plays appropriate music based on detected movement patterns.

Android Machine Learning Sensor Processing
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Education

B.S. in Software Engineering
University of Virginia's College at Wise
2009 - 2015

Comprehensive software engineering program with focus on system design, development methodologies, and project management.

B.S. in Computer Science
University of Virginia's College at Wise
2009 - 2015

Strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, programming languages, and computer systems architecture.

Continuing Education
Udacity
2016 - 2023

Numerous courses completed ranging from Android development to Machine Learning and Self-Driving Cars.

Don't take my word for it, take theirs

"I have known Dakota Gallimore for all of his life. Dakota's depth of character is one of his most distinguishing features. He is honest, trustworthy, reliable, and will always make every effort to fulfill his commitments. He is extremely bright, well educated and dedicated to his career. Dakota will not disappoint!"

Judy Simpson
Retired CEO of Precision Staffing

"We created an interactive language translation app for Glass, and Dakota was the founding engineer. I hadn't known Dakota prior, but when I met him I was very impressed with his passion for technology and altruism... it was clear that he had the talent and compassion to build great products and build great teams."

Tommy Mehl
REDI Global Technologies

"Dakota walked the talk. He listened, he acted upon suggestions, he took the time to explain technical (and sometimes not so technical) gubbins that were beyond us... Dakota gets Nine out of Nine Dragons from us."

Dom Perry
President of Nine Dragons Publications

Published Papers

Within my career, I've worked with fellow programmers to have papers published in Software Engineering and R&D Google Glass.

Incorporating Software Maintenance in a Senior Capstone Project

International Journal of Cyber Society and Education: 2015

This paper presents a software engineering capstone project conducted by students at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. The work of the students is documented in this paper. Unlike previous capstone projects conducted at this university, however, this one uses methods commonly found in agile development and is an adaptive maintenance development effort.

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Feeling Glassy: An Analysis of Developing for Google Glass

The World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Applied Computing: 2014

Google Glass is considered a front-runner of mobile computing. It functions as a wearable device that, as the name suggests resembles a pair of glasses, but the abilities of the device prove that this is no ordinary pair of spectacles. Understanding that this device stands to be the new and, currently, unrivaled device for the future of mobile computing, those with the ability to program for it stand to enter into a market that has limitless potential. The proposed paper serves as an analysis of the development process and attempts to outline the pieces that are required for both Android and Glass.

2017 NOTE: Unfortunately Google Glass was eventually cancelled for the consumer market by Google but has returned as an enterprise only solution.
View Paper

Certifications

AWS Solutions Architect
AWS Solutions Architect 🔄 Renewal Planned 2025
CKAD
Kubernetes Application Developer 🔄 Renewal Planned 2025