Stefan James

Cloud Security · IAM · DevSecOps · AI/ML

Cloud Security Engineer / Principal

James Consulting Group LLC

• Federal subcontract engagements and commercial retainer advisory for funded technology companies covering AWS security posture, vulnerability management, IAM governance, cloud monitoring, and AI/ML security assessment.
• Administered AWS Security Hub and GuardDuty with 90%+ compliance; enforced critical finding remediation within 14 days.
• Performed AI platform security assessment for a federal agency across enterprise Databricks; conducted SAT assessments validating 65+ checks aligned to NIST 800-53 Rev 5, IRS 1075, FedRAMP High, and DASF v3.0.
• Led vulnerability scan compliance across 5,000+ federal endpoints with 94% closure rate; automated POA&M creation cutting audit prep time by 50%.
• Integrated Jenkins with SonarQube (SAST/DAST), blocking 600+ vulnerabilities in pre-production; conducted IAM access reviews for over-privileged roles and risky trust policies.

DevSecOps · CI/CD · Vulnerability Assessment

DevSecOps Engineer

Infor

• Executed cost optimization replacing DBProtect with Nessus Manager for database scanning, achieving $204,834 in cost savings while improving reporting and operational efficiency.
• Integrated SonarQube SAST into Jenkins CI/CD pipelines, blocking 600+ critical security defects in pre-production.
• Developed automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Terraform, and GitLab across Infor AWS environments.
• Conducted vulnerability assessments with Nessus, Qualys, DBProtect, and AquaSec; performed security control assessments and third-party vendor risk reviews; documented SSPs, SARs, POA&Ms, and ATO packages.

AWS · Cost Optimization · NIST Baseline

Cloud Security Analyst

VEA — Veterinarian Exam Assistant

• Executed AWS cost optimization by identifying and terminating unneeded instances, reducing monthly AWS costs by 90% ($12K+ annual savings).
• Configured and deployed AWS instance scheduler using CloudFormation, Lambda, CloudWatch Events, and customized scheduling rules.
• Assessed AWS-hosted systems reviewing IAM, S3 bucket policies, and CloudTrail logging against NIST 800-53 Rev 4 baselines; performed Nessus scans and security artifact reviews.

RMF · Continuous Monitoring · ACAS

IT Security Specialist

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute · Bethesda, MD

• Supported via Alta IT Services, Medical Science & Computing, and Grove Research Solutions contracts.
• Performed ACAS/Nessus vulnerability scans across Windows and Linux; conducted continuous monitoring using NIST 800-137; supported NIST SP 800-53 and FISMA within the RMF process.
• Implemented firewall blocks on malicious domains, emails, URLs, hashes, and IOCs; managed Active Directory provisioning; led infrastructure deployments including enterprise VoIP rollout.

SIEM · Security Assessments

Information Security Specialist

USPTO · Arlington, VA (via Collabera, Inc.)

• Monitored SIEM and logging environments with Splunk for security events, threats, and intrusions.
• Conducted security assessments of implemented controls; performed Active Directory and Exchange administration; reviewed USPTO technical documentation for security-standards compliance.

IT Support · Access Control · Patching

IT Specialist

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) · Beltsville, MD

• Supported implementation of a custom web application converting paper personnel folders to electronic format, later deployed as e-OPF across the federal government.
• Managed user accounts, permissions, and access rights; provided technical support; deployed server and OS patching and maintained IT asset inventory.