Karl Kern – Lead Infrastructure Engineer
To sum it up, The National Archives is a great place to work.
Why did you join The National Archives?
I worked as freelancer before and changed between software development and system administration/management and at the time I thought I need to change to a role which allowed me to concentrate on one aspect of IT. The National Archives looked like a challenge and offered exactly that; a place where I can bring in my wide experience but focus on one facet – infrastructure and DevOps.
What type of work do you do?
I joined the National Archives over four years ago now and started right at the beginning of migrating our services into the Cloud.
This was a great opportunity to define the role of a Lead Infrastructure Engineer and help TNA securing its’ digital future, providing vital services to the public and across the government.
I’m responsible for our Cloud infrastructure including DevOps. My team is responsible for many legacy applications and services as well as being involved in new projects which is sometimes challenging but being surrounded by great colleagues and the possibilities to constantly expand my knowledge make up for it. The potential of personal development, working together and being supported by everybody is one of the biggest benefit.
What’s it like working at The National Archives?
Working here is never boring and can’t be called monotonous. We often liaise with external suppliers, work across the directorate and other government departments, having to adapt to different requirements of projects quickly and take ownership of our work.