{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jsonresume/resume-schema/v1.0.0/schema.json",
  "basics": {
    "name": "Zach Howard",
    "label": "DevOps Engineer | Build Systems, Containers & Automation",
    "email": "zachdhoward@proton.me",
    "url": "https://resume.zachtech.ca/devops/",
    "summary": "Engineer with experience spanning software quality, automation, developer tooling, IT infrastructure, and backend systems, plus a self-directed Linux, container and networking background. More than a decade of hands-on work across IT, custom development, QA and DevOps for multiple companies and studios (freelance since 2013).",
    "location": {
      "city": "Oshawa",
      "region": "ON",
      "countryCode": "CA"
    },
    "profiles": [
      {
        "network": "GitHub",
        "username": "zdhoward",
        "url": "https://github.com/zdhoward"
      }
    ]
  },
  "work": [
    {
      "name": "ZachTech",
      "position": "Owner / IT Services",
      "location": "Oshawa, ON area",
      "period": "March 2026 – present",
      "highlights": [
        "Founded ZachTech, a local IT services business, and am building its client base."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Eterio Realities",
      "position": "QC Lead",
      "location": "Victoria, BC",
      "period": "March 2025 – March 2026",
      "highlights": [
        "Built an automated Playwright test suite for the company's web application: 153 tests in 22 files (118 UI, 28 API, 7 visual) with 10 page objects, as of March 2026.",
        "Created repeatable testing workflows to improve consistency across releases.",
        "Worked directly with developers to integrate testing and quality practices throughout development.",
        "Developed internal tooling using Claude Code to improve product knowledge access and debugging workflows."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Electronic Arts",
      "position": "Associate Quality Designer, DevOps (Engineering Workflows)",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "March 2024 – June 2024",
      "highlights": [
        "Created and maintained QA test passes for Frostbite engine changes and validated new features and workflow changes.",
        "Triaged defects, investigated issues with software engineers, and communicated technical findings across teams, including coordinating QA requests with Central QA."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Keywords Studios",
      "position": "QA Specialist, Frostbite Build Tools",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "April 2020 – March 2024",
      "highlights": [
        "Validated changes to internal build systems and developer workflows and created testing strategies for complex engineering systems.",
        "Embedded QA on the Frostbite Build Tools team, working directly with software engineers on internal developer tools and workflows used across AAA game projects.",
        "Directly supported the Engineering Workflows team (about 7 engineers) and worked with Central QA (about 20 people).",
        "Wrote documentation, pioneered remote (work-from-home) technical support for the team, and helped onboard others while Central QA established official procedures."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Mountain West Studios",
      "position": "IT Coordinator",
      "location": "Vancouver, BC",
      "period": "September 2018 – April 2020",
      "highlights": [
        "Developed backend systems for automated video rendering and delivery, and automation for business workflows.",
        "Managed network planning, maintenance and recovery processes and supported internal technical operations."
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Saved By Technology (now Long & McQuade Pro)",
      "position": "Systems Administrator & IT Specialist",
      "location": "Toronto, ON",
      "period": "January 2016 – August 2018",
      "highlights": [
        "Automated product listing and order-processing workflows and managed online sales systems and integrations.",
        "Developed internal software tools and utilities for sales and operational workflows."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "projects": [
    {
      "description": "Designed and run a self-hosted homelab on two Unraid servers: about 40 Docker Compose-managed services, including Authentik SSO (with Postgres and Redis), Nginx Proxy Manager, Cloudflare tunnel and dynamic DNS, and Grafana and Prometheus monitoring."
    },
    {
      "description": "Built and deployed tools.zachtech.ca: a Next.js and React portfolio with an MDX blog, a 13-theme engine and unit-tested client-side crypto and networking tools, on Cloudflare Pages with automatic deploys from GitHub.",
      "url": "https://tools.zachtech.ca"
    },
    {
      "description": "Home network on UniFi gear connecting two Unraid servers, a Raspberry Pi OS host, and other single-board computers and IoT devices."
    },
    {
      "description": "Design and run multi-agent AI development workflows with Claude Code and Codex, assigning models to tasks by strength and managing context to keep output reliable."
    }
  ],
  "skills": [
    {
      "name": "Infrastructure",
      "keywords": [
        "Linux",
        "Docker",
        "Docker Compose",
        "reverse proxies",
        "networking",
        "DNS",
        "VPNs",
        "monitoring with Grafana and Prometheus",
        "Cloudflare",
        "Tailscale",
        "Authentik"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Scripting",
      "keywords": [
        "Bash and PowerShell scripting"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Languages & Tools",
      "keywords": [
        "Python",
        "JavaScript",
        "TypeScript",
        "SQL",
        "REST APIs",
        "Git",
        "GitHub"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Automation",
      "keywords": [
        "Playwright browser automation",
        "API testing",
        "test framework development",
        "workflow automation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "name": "Testing & Quality",
      "keywords": [
        "Test automation",
        "end-to-end",
        "regression and integration testing",
        "test planning and strategy",
        "release validation",
        "defect investigation"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "education": [
    {
      "institution": "Seneca College",
      "area": "Computer Programming & Analysis, 2011 – 2014"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "variant": "devops",
    "keywords": [
      "DevOps",
      "CI/CD",
      "build systems",
      "Docker",
      "Docker Compose",
      "Linux",
      "monitoring",
      "Grafana",
      "Prometheus",
      "automation",
      "Python"
    ],
    "source": "claims verified or confirmed by the candidate"
  }
}