# Matt James

IT & Security Systems Engineer

- Email: matt.aaron.james@gmail.com
- Phone: +1 (205) 386-0178
- Web: https://mattaaronjames.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-james33/
- GitHub: https://github.com/CowboyMatt
- Location: relocating to the Washington, DC metro (Northern VA / MD). Available within one month.
- Looking for: a fast-growing company that needs IT and security to keep up.
- Work authorisation: U.S. citizen. Clearance-eligible, no active clearance held. U.S. person for ITAR-controlled work.

## Summary

I build and run IT and security for fast-growing companies. I was the first IT hire at a SaaS company, designed and built IT and security from the ground up, and mentored the IT team as it grew past 300. Today I am an IT engineer at a regulated fintech that grew from 200 to over 300 in the past year. I use AI every day to build scripts, and hold a Master's degree, CISM, Security+, and AWS Solutions Architect. Outside work I built and launched TensorFit, an AI fitness app.

## Experience

### CreditorWatch, IT Systems Engineer (10/2025 to current, Melbourne)

- Engineers the company's identity, endpoint, network and SaaS systems, handles tier 3 escalations, and mentors the IT team. Scaled IT as headcount grew from 200 to over 300 in a year.
- Manages Entra ID, including SSO and SCIM for the SaaS stack, Conditional Access, MFA, Entra ID Protection, access reviews, and access requests through Jira Service Management.
- Administers Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing and LiteLLM for company access to Claude, reviews AI tool requests against the acceptable-use policy, and enforces it with Netskope web filtering and DLP.
- Automated onboarding, offboarding and account provisioning with n8n and Microsoft Graph, and defined the offboarding data retention and mailbox handover process.
- Manages the Mac and iPad fleet with Iru and Apple Business Manager, creating and deploying configuration profiles and device certificates, enforcing patching and FileVault encryption, and scripting installs in Bash.
- One of the primary Netskope administrators, managing firewall, web filtering, DLP, and Private Access for remote staff.
- Manages CrowdStrike Falcon Complete MDR, responding to alerts, IOCs, phishing, and compromised accounts, and trains staff on 1Password and password best practices.
- Runs hardware procurement, asset inventory, and device lifecycle, and negotiates pricing and signs vendor contracts.
- Administers Microsoft 365, Exchange Online and email security, Slack, Zoom, and Atlassian (Jira, Confluence, JSM), and tests AvePoint backup restores.
- Redesigned the Melbourne office network and Wi-Fi on UniFi with VLANs, firewall rules, and dual-ISP WAN failover.

### ROLLER Software, IT Officer / Security Specialist (09/2021 to 10/2025, Melbourne)

- Joined as ROLLER's first IT hire and built IT and security from the ground up as the company grew from 60 to over 300 people across five offices in four countries, mentored new IT hires, and wrote the IT knowledge base.
- Administered Google Workspace for 300+ users as primary admin, including org units, groups, shared drives, Admin console security, and GAM lifecycle automation.
- Consolidated identity on Entra ID, connecting 40+ apps via SSO and SCIM, enforcing Conditional Access and MFA, and automating HRIS-driven onboarding and offboarding.
- Managed SaaS procurement and licensing through Zluri, tracking usage and seats across 40+ apps, and negotiated pricing and signed vendor contracts.
- Brought an unmanaged Mac and Windows fleet under Iru and Intune with Automox and CrowdStrike, scripting patching, security baselines, and compliance reporting in Bash and PowerShell.
- Set laptop hardware standards and the refresh cycle, and rebuilt asset tracking in Jira Asset Management.
- Rolled out Claude and ChatGPT Enterprise, administered Slack, and owned email security, rolling out Abnormal Security, configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and handling phishing incidents.
- Took ROLLER through SOC 2 Type 1 on Vanta, writing the policies and audit documentation, setting up change management, and running KnowBe4 security awareness and 1Password training.
- Built out the Melbourne and Sydney offices, including UniFi networks with VLANs and firewall rules, Zabbix monitoring, comms rooms and racks, and Zoom Rooms.

### Harris HMC, IT Support Specialist Intern (02/2021 to 09/2021, Melbourne)

- Administered Microsoft 365, Entra ID, and Atlassian (Jira and Confluence), managing users and groups, connecting business applications through SSO, and managing the office comms room.
- Administered Windows Server, Active Directory, and Group Policy.

## Featured project: TensorFit (founder and developer, 2026)

An AI fitness coach I built solo in React Native and TypeScript, on a serverless AWS backend (Lambda, API Gateway, S3) defined in CloudFormation. Live on the App Store and Google Play.

- Multi-model AI form analysis: MediaPipe pose extraction on device, then a Claude + Gemini pipeline on Lambda turns joint angles into scored coaching feedback.
- Conversational exercise coach on the same pipeline, with prompt caching to cut repeat-inference cost.
- A coach that remembers user history, so generated workouts and answers build on what the user has logged.
- Secured end to end: JWT-verified identity on every request, Apple and Google sign-in, per-user data isolation, usage quotas and AWS Secrets Manager.

## Frameworks and standards

- SOC 2 Type 1: wrote the policies and procedures and assembled the audit evidence at ROLLER.
- ISO 27001, NIST CSF, MITRE ATT&CK: used day to day for identity, endpoint and vendor controls and for tuning CrowdStrike policies.
- Data residency: Australian tax data must stay onshore; checked for every SaaS and AI tool before approval.
- ITAR / EAR: U.S. citizen, so I meet the U.S. person requirement for ITAR and EAR controlled work.

## Skills

- Identity and access: Microsoft Entra ID, SSO (SAML / OIDC), Conditional Access, MFA, ID Protection, SCIM provisioning and automated user lifecycle, Google Workspace, access reviews and audits, OAuth 2.0, JWT, least privilege, RBAC, 1Password.
- Endpoint and device management: Iru (formerly Kandji), Intune, Automox, OOBE zero-touch enrollment, device certificates (SCEP / PKCS), security baselines and compliance policies, patch management, FileVault, BitLocker, macOS, iPadOS, Windows.
- Security and compliance: CrowdStrike Falcon and Falcon Complete MDR, incident triage and response, Netskope NG-SWG / SSE and DLP, email security (SPF / DKIM / DMARC), KnowBe4, vulnerability and patch management, SOC 2 Type 1, ISO 27001, NIST CSF, MITRE ATT&CK, IT policy and audit documentation, change management.
- Collaboration and SaaS: Microsoft 365, Exchange Online, SharePoint, licensing, Google Workspace and GAM CLI, Slack, Zoom and Zoom Rooms, Jira and Jira Service Management, Confluence, Zluri, vendor management and procurement.
- Automation and scripting: Python, Bash, PowerShell, Claude Code, n8n, Microsoft Graph API, REST APIs and webhooks, GAM CLI, MDM scripting, CI/CD with GitHub Actions.
- Networking: TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPN, VLANs and segmentation, firewall rules, wireless design, UniFi multi-site with RADIUS, dual-ISP WAN failover.
- Cloud and development: AWS (Lambda, S3, API Gateway), Azure, GCP, Linux, Kali, JavaScript / TypeScript, Node.js, React Native, Git.
- AI and agentic tooling: AI acceptable-use governance and tool evaluation, AI licensing and seat management, Microsoft Scout pilot with Entra-governed agent identities, Claude API, MCP, multi-model Claude + Gemini pipelines, OpenClaw, DeepSeek Harness, Ollama local models, pose estimation with MediaPipe.

## Certifications

- CISM, ISACA (2024)
- CompTIA Security+ 701
- CrowdStrike Falcon Administrator
- Microsoft MS-101 (Microsoft 365)
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Associate
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
- GitHub Actions certification

## Education

- Master's degree in Business Information Technology, RMIT University, Melbourne (2021)
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama (2019)

## Beyond the day job

- AI automation tool for ROLLERthon 2024, built with the Claude API to automate Salesforce data extraction, cPanel config and report setup, projected to cut venue onboarding 25% and save 2,000+ hours and $100k annually across 1,000+ venues.
- Founded and ran The Athletes Gun, a Shopify drop-shipping business selling recovery massage guns for athletes.
- Designed and tuned a 210 MH/s Ethereum mining rig.
- Led a university team redesigning the Australian Psychological Society's website, with desktop and mobile prototypes.