Solutions Architect · Solutions Engineer · Pre-Sales SE
Vanessa Awo
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AWS-certified cloud professional who bridges technical depth and business outcomes. I design production-grade AWS architectures with Terraform IaC, lead discovery sessions, deliver POCs, and translate complex technical decisions into business value — exactly what great SAs and SEs do.
Bridging technical depth and business outcomes — what great Solutions Architects and SEs do
AWS-certified cloud professional targeting Solutions Architect, Solutions Engineer, and Pre-Sales SE roles. I design production-grade AWS architectures, deliver live technical POCs, and translate complex infrastructure decisions into clear business value — the core skill set that makes great SAs and SEs effective.
Hands-on experience across the AWS stack: EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, Lambda, RDS (Multi-AZ), DynamoDB, CloudFront, Route 53, Auto Scaling, ECS, CloudWatch, WAF, and KMS. I build infrastructure as code with Terraform — including full 3-tier architectures, Multi-AZ deployments, and multi-account landing zones with AWS Organizations, Transit Gateway, and IAM Identity Center.
Currently enrolled in the Per Scholas AWS Re/Start program in Seattle, completing my B.S. in Computer Science at WGU, and holding the AWS Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03), ITIL 4 Foundation (PeopleCert), and Linux Essentials (LPI) certifications.
My 3+ years as a Claims Adjuster at Pilot Catastrophe Services and Customer Solutions Associate at Instacart built exactly the skills SA and SE roles demand: managing 100+ concurrent client engagements under SLA pressure, structured discovery and requirements gathering, multi-party negotiation, and translating complex technical decisions into plain business language for non-technical stakeholders. I bring both the technical architecture depth and the consultative communication skills that pre-sales and post-sales SE roles require.
Education
Per Scholas AWS Re/Start (2026) | B.S. Computer Science, WGU (2023–2026) | B.S. Business Mgmt, Univ. of Douala (2019)
Location
Seattle, WA · Remote-Ready · Open to Relocation
Availability
Open to Solutions Architect, Solutions Engineer, Pre-Sales SE, and SRE roles. Remote preferred.
Root cause analysis, troubleshooting, creative solution design under constraints
Experience
Technical depth + 3+ years of real client-facing, high-stakes communication
Cloud Solutions Architect (Projects)
2025 – Present
Independent Cloud Projects | Remote
Designed and deployed a highly available 3-tier WordPress architecture across 3 AZs using Terraform — EC2 Auto Scaling, RDS Multi-AZ, CloudFront + S3 OAC, WAF (OWASP/SQLi rules), and KMS CMK encryption
Built a multi-account AWS landing zone with AWS Organizations, 8 SCPs, Transit Gateway hub-and-spoke, IAM Identity Center (SAML 2.0 SSO), and centralized GuardDuty + Security Hub
Delivered a serverless task management API (Lambda/Python/arm64, DynamoDB, API Gateway HTTP API) with GitHub Actions CI/CD using OIDC — reducing cost by 90% vs EC2+RDS baseline
Documented all projects with Well-Architected Framework analysis across all 6 pillars, demonstrating architecture trade-off reasoning for SA and SE audiences
Claims Adjuster
Feb 2022 – Jul 2025
Pilot Catastrophe Services | Fort Worth, TX
Managed 100+ simultaneous active claims while meeting SLA deadlines and maintaining full compliance with state regulations — mirroring the multi-account, multi-stakeholder cadence of an enterprise SE role
Led structured discovery conversations with policyholders, contractors, and engineers to gather requirements, assess scope, and deliver solutions — directly analogous to pre-sales discovery and POC delivery
Translated complex technical assessments (structural damage, coverage decisions) into plain-language communications for non-technical clients, reducing escalations and improving satisfaction scores
Negotiated multi-party settlements with adjusters, engineers, and contractors — multi-stakeholder alignment under constraint, the same skill SEs use during deal cycles
Leveraged Guidewire, Xactimate, and XactAnalysis to optimize workflow accuracy, cutting manual processing errors and improving audit readiness
Customer Solutions Associate
May 2020 – Aug 2021
Instacart | Remote
Resolved high-complexity customer issues across order fulfillment, account, and platform problems — applying structured troubleshooting to identify root cause and deliver durable solutions
Managed concurrent cases under SLA pressure in a compliance-sensitive environment, maintaining quality and resolution speed simultaneously
Communicated technical platform constraints in plain language to customers and internal stakeholders, building trust during escalations
Identified recurring failure patterns and surfaced them to product and operations teams — the same feedback loop SEs use to improve product-market fit
Operations Systems Associate
Oct 2019 – Apr 2020
Whole Foods Market | Washington DC-Baltimore Area
Managed high-volume order fulfillment workflows, ensuring accuracy and timely delivery across multiple daily transactions
Used internal dashboards and reporting tools to track SLA adherence and identify bottlenecks in real-time operations
Collaborated with tech teams to enhance internal systems and implement process improvements
