John Ricklefs

Infrastructure & Data Center Deployment Engineer|Hardware & Linux Troubleshooting|Field Operations Leadership

20+ years keeping other people's infrastructure running — from racking and RMA'ing the first 6,000 Linux servers of a hosting fleet, to leading nationwide fiber and network hardware deployments today. Hands-on with hardware, firmware, and Linux troubleshooting, structured deployment validation, and the field teams that make it happen.

Email me LinkedIn 📍 Based in Blue Springs, MO
20+
Years of infrastructure experience
05
Infrastructure & data center roles
12+
Vendor & hardware platforms
08
Certifications held
01 / About

Twenty years in, one deliberate pivot

Twenty years keeping other people's infrastructure running — starting on the data center floor, then two decades in the field on service-provider networks, and now turning back toward the racks themselves.

Infrastructure engineer with 20+ years of hands-on experience spanning data center hardware deployment and large-scale service-provider networks. Managed the installation of 6,000+ dedicated Linux servers early in career, and has since led nationwide network site builds, hardware and firmware troubleshooting, and structured deployment validation for Conexon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and CenturyLink. Skilled in vendor coordination and RMA management, cross-functional field-team leadership, and technical documentation.

Able to quickly learn and adapt new compute technologies. Eager to obtain new professional level certifications quickly in pursuit of company goals. Foundationally passionate about server and network hardware and architecture.

02 / Experience

Where I've worked

Jul 2022 –
Present

Network Engineer

Conexon — Kansas City, MO
  • Lead the multi-vendor configuration and deployment of newly networked rural cities nationwide, providing hands-on technical direction to operations and management teams.
  • Migrated two cities from Adtran to Calix E9 OLT PON infrastructure — executed 700+ lines of configuration in 2.5 hours with under 5 seconds of customer-facing traffic impact.
  • Designed and implemented infrastructure software and hardware changes using structured pre-checks, post-checks, validation steps, and rollback procedures to minimize service impact.
  • Owned responsibilities over the equipment at the Netrality 1102 Grand data center downtown to lead many successful hardware replacements and software upgrades to the Juniper MX480 core router.
  • Configured and supported network hardware across Cisco, Juniper, Calix, Adtran, A10, BlueCat, Ubiquiti, StarTech, Tarana and Fortinet platforms.
  • Tested and deployed Tarana 6 GHz fixed wireless hardware, including configuration and service validation.
  • Mentored and provided technical guidance to Tier I/Tier II personnel on complex technical escalations.
  • Documented troubleshooting and configuration procedures for network elements across departments.
Nov 2015 –
Jul 2022

Network Engineer

T-Mobile — Overland Park, KS
  • Configured, maintained, and troubleshot carrier-grade Cisco CRS, GSR 12K, ASR 9K, Juniper MX480 MX960 and Ciena aggregation hardware across international infrastructure.
  • Performed over $1 billion in break/fix fiber and hardware replacements during tenure.
  • Performed equipment maintenance and software upgrades, troubleshooting exceptions and minimizing disruption during structured change windows.
  • Coordinated with vendors to diagnose issues, manage RMAs, and resolve hardware and network problems.
  • Served as an IP Core network resource, partnering with cross-functional transport and outage management teams to maintain service reliability and drive issue resolution.
  • Trained personnel across multiple departments on operations, troubleshooting, and procedures.
Jan 2010 –
Nov 2015

Technician II

Sprint — Overland Park, KS
  • Investigated and resolved infrastructure and hardware alarms across servers, PBX switches, and call-management systems.
  • Managed outages and coordinated change-control activities across multiple technical departments.
  • Supported the public safety datalink platform, configuring Juniper MX480 routers.
  • Created and maintained technical documentation and troubleshooting knowledge-base articles.
Jan 2009 –
Jan 2010

Service Assurance

CenturyLink — New Century, KS
  • Monitored alarms from servers, network devices, databases, intercom call center devices, and other custom WILY alarms, paging the appropriate fix agents based on severity.
  • Created tickets on valid alarms and enterprise client issues using HP OpenView and BlueZone.
  • Monitored website functionality by running and updating scripts with iMacros and DéjàClick.
  • Managed outage bridges for issues affecting large numbers of clients, coordinating multiple fix agents toward timely resolution.
  • Answered help desk calls on issues ranging from password resets and VPN troubleshooting to complete software/hardware failure.
Dec 2006 –
May 2007

Data Center Technician

1and1 Web Hosting — Lenexa, KS
  • Managed the installation of 6,000+ dedicated Linux web hosting servers with any OS the client needed.
  • Performed BIOS upgrades, RAID controller troubleshooting, and hardware testing for RMA processing.
  • Managed ticketing systems to resolve issues and documented recurring problems in the internal wiki knowledge base.
  • Implemented script-based server deployment to install baseline router and switch configurations.
03 / Skills

What I work with

Data Center & Hardware

Server racking & installation BIOS / firmware upgrades RAID controller troubleshooting RMA & vendor coordination Linux server deployment

Network Platforms

Cisco CRS / GSR 12K / ASR 9K Juniper MX480 / MX960 Ciena Calix Adtran A10 Fortinet Tarana fixed wireless

Operations & Tooling

Change & outage management Pre/post-check validation & rollback HP OpenView / BlueZone Scripted deployment (iMacros, DéjàClick) BlueCat / Ubiquiti / StarTech

Field & Team Leadership

Tier I/II mentoring Cross-functional coordination Technical documentation Multi-department training
04 / Background

Education & certifications

Education

Metropolitan Community College — Kansas City, MO
AAS, Computer Science & Information Systems (CSIS) · 2006–2008
Completed CCNP and Network Security coursework.
Summit Technology Academy — Lee's Summit, MO
2004–2006
Superintendent's Honors Scholarship; graduated top of class; earned five technical certifications.

Certifications

  • NVIDIA-Certified Associate: AI Infrastructure & Operations (NCA-AIIO)Held
  • NVIDIA-Certified Professional: AI Infrastructure (NCP-AII)In progress
  • JNCIA — Juniper Networks Certified AssociateHeld
  • CCNA — Cisco Certified Network AssociateHeld
  • CompTIA Network+Held
  • CompTIA Server+Held
  • CompTIA A+Held
  • CompTIA i-Net+Held
  • CompTIA Linux+Held
05 / Contact

Let's talk infrastructure

Open to data center deployment, field engineering, and infrastructure roles. Based in Blue Springs, MO — available for nationwide travel and site work.

[email protected] linkedin.com/in/jvricklefs 📍 Blue Springs, MO