Lorcan O'Flynn
Verified Expert in Engineering
DevOps Engineer and Developer
Dublin, Ireland
Toptal member since August 10, 2021
Lorcan is a seasoned AWS Cloud and DevOps Engineer with 15 years of experience helping companies build, deploy, and scale their solutions globally. He specializes in establishing best-practice AWS cloud organizations and creating application delivery pipelines for startups, scaleups, and enterprise environments. His expertise spans AWS DevOps, cloud operations, solution architecture, and infrastructure as code. His deep technical knowledge makes him a valuable asset for any organization.
Portfolio
Experience
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) - 12 years
- Web Security - 12 years
- CI/CD Pipelines - 12 years
- DevOps Engineer - 12 years
- AWS Landing Zone - 10 years
- AWS DevOps - 8 years
- Serverless - 4 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS CloudFormation, AWS DevOps, APIs, Serverless Framework, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK), TypeScript, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AWS Landing Zone
The most amazing...
...project I've worked on was a fully serverless, event-driven platform on AWS. The architecture prioritized developer experience (DevX) and test automation.
Work Experience
Principal Engineer
Firstblox
- Built a 100% serverless platform for a logistics business with an extremely low total cost of ownership, 100% IaC coverage, and 100% continuous integration, and the platform cloud autoscaled seamlessly.
- Created and delivered an AWS cloud platform for a legaltech business with 99% IaC, 100% continuous integration, zero manual application deployments, and zero configuration drift, and 100% of the changes were auditable and traceable.
- Developed a secure and cost-optimized architecture aligned with the AWS Well-Architected framework for a regtech business. Delivered automated and scheduled document parsing with a 100% success rate and 99% IaC coverage.
Head of Cloud Engineering
The Eclair Group
- Developed a globally scalable infrastructure with 100% IaC coverage.
- Architected and developed a multi-tenanted, multi-account, cross-region system architecture for tier-one banks.
- Coordinated feature releases, held scoping meetings, performed code reviews, hired new talent, and worked closely with C-level executives and product owners on the product roadmap.
- Hired and collaborated with data engineers to design and develop data management systems in a microservices environment.
- Created APIs with Python to support the product's analytics offering.
- Developed DevOps pipelines and software delivery capabilities using CI/CD tooling, serverless-based automation, and notifications.
- Designed and developed AuthN and AuthZ capabilities in a multi-tenanted microservices environment.
- Worked with third-party penetration testers to provide test environments, performed remediation steps, and introduced recommended enhancements to the product roadmap and priorities accordingly.
- Ensured that the product infrastructure and architecture were secure at all layers.
Senior DevOps Engineer
NBN Co
- Assumed the role of environment manager across departmental data center servers to standardize and manage environments through automated means via IaC.
- Served as the continuous delivery lead during a company-wide move to a DevOps-style methodology across all departments. This involved working with departments and stakeholders to automate the SDLC of various enterprise-grade COTS products.
- Oversaw the infrastructure design, development, and provisioning on AWS of GoCD CI/CD clusters for multiple departments across the organization.
Experience
Intelligent Robotic Process Automation Platform
I was tasked with transforming the founder’s vision into reality by designing and leading the development of a purely AWS cloud-based architecture. The goal was to support robotic process automation (RPA) initiatives in tier-one enterprises with intelligent automation analytics.
As the 2nd hire, I assumed the role of head of engineering and became the principal architect and technical lead. We built the engineering team from the ground up, hiring and mentoring a cross-functional product team. I instilled best practices in software delivery, fostering a high-performing engineering culture focused on automation, scalability, and operational excellence.
I spearheaded the design and implementation of a fully serverless, multi-tenanted cloud platform, leveraging AWS services to maximize scalability and cost efficiency. The entire infrastructure was managed through Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using CloudFormation, ensuring consistency and repeatability across deployments in Sydney, Dublin, and the United States.
Beyond my technical contributions, I provided ongoing mentorship to the team, fostering a culture of continuous learning and engineering excellence.
Education
Bachelor of Engineering Degree (Hons) in Digital and Software Systems Engineering
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology - Galway, Ireland
Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Computer and Electronic Engineering
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology - Galway, Ireland
Higher Certificate in Electronic Engineering
Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology - Galway, Ireland
Certifications
AWS Certified AI Practitioner
AWS
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional
AWS
AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
AWS
AWS Certified Developer – Associate
AWS
AWS Solutions Architect - Associate
AWS
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
AWS
Skills
Tools
AWS CloudFormation, Ansible, AWS IAM, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon Cognito, AWS CodeBuild, Amazon CloudWatch, Puppet, AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK)
Paradigms
Continuous Delivery (CD), DevOps, Continuous Integration (CI), Microservices
Platforms
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, Amazon EC2, Linux, Apache2, AWS Lambda
Storage
Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Cloud Environments, Amazon DynamoDB, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL, MySQL
Languages
Python, JavaScript, TypeScript
Frameworks
Serverless Framework
Other
AWS DevOps, DevOps Engineer, APIs, CI/CD Pipelines, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AWS CodePipeline, Environmental Design, GoCD, Cloud Infrastructure, AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, Landing Zone Accelerators, Serverless, Web Security, Networking, Amazon RDS, Product Monitoring, Architecture, Product Roadmaps, Code Review, Technical Hiring, Team Leadership, Cross-functional Team Leadership, AWS Landing Zone, AWS SysOps Engineer, AWS Certified Solution Architect, AWS Cloud Architecture, Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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