Prabhu Govindasamy Varadaraj is a seasoned DevOps and Data Engineering professional with over 18 years of experience and extensive expertise in the banking and payments industry. Currently serving as a Software Engineer (DevOps) at First Citizens Bank, Prabhu specializes in cloud infrastructure management, continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD), container orchestration, and data engineering solutions.
Prabhu's career in technology began at Cognizant Technology Solutions, where he worked with major clients including Intuit, eBay, and Apple. His journey then led him to Red Oak Technologies supporting Apple, followed by roles at Shiminto Inc and Silicon Valley Bank, before joining First Citizens Bank in March 2023. At First Citizens Bank, Prabhu plays a crucial role in the data team, focusing on integrating data systems following bank mergers and acquisitions. He designs and implements data integration workflows, resolves data compatibility challenges, and ensures data security while facilitating seamless integration between legacy systems and core banking infrastructure.
With deep knowledge in AWS cloud infrastructure, Prabhu manages data engineering services including Lake Formation, Glue, S3, Lambda, and DynamoDB. He has implemented CI/CD pipelines using GitLab and Jenkins, built data-driven pipelines for automated data processing, and developed Infrastructure as Code using Terraform. As a Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) and HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate, Prabhu has extensive experience with container technologies and orchestration, creating Docker containers and developing playbooks for deployment across multiple environments.
Prabhu's monitoring expertise includes Splunk, Grafana, Prometheus, and other tools, enabling him to create effective dashboards and alerts for system monitoring. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated strong leadership skills as a team lead and scrum representative, collaborating effectively with management and development teams to gather requirements, implement solutions, and resolve complex technical issues. His commitment includes 24/7 production support and handling server maintenance and release management, highlighting his dedication to operational excellence.
Prabhu holds a Master's degree in Power Electronics and Drives and a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Anna University, India. His professional certifications include Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), HashiCorp Certified Terraform Associate, Splunk Power User Certification, Splunk User Certification, and Sun Certified Java Programmer. He remains passionate about creating resilient and flexible automation around best practices, standardizing processes, and continuous improvement in the DevOps and data engineering domains.