Dieudonne Madishon NGAYA
Summary
Certified Cassandra Engineer with 17 years of total IT experience, including 6+ years specializing as a Cassandra Admin-Architect. Proven expertise in administrating, tuning, and architecting DataStax Enterprise (DSE) and Apache Cassandra environments across multi-datacenter setups and cloud-native platforms like AWS, GCP, and Kubernetes. Expert in high-availability cluster design, performance optimization, and integrating NoSQL systems with Spark, Solr, and RDBMS engines.
Overview
1
1
Certification
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
Cassandra Engineer / Admin-Architect
GE Aviation
Cincinnati, USA
04.2017 - 07.2026
- Managed and optimized a 70-node production, QA, and DEV cluster across multi-datacenter environments using DSE, Solr, and Spark.
- Engineered automated provisioning and upgrade workflows for DSE clusters (versions 4.8 to 6.x) using custom shell scripts.
- Containerized and deployed Cassandra workloads on cloud-native architecture using Kubernetes, AWS EKS, and GCP.
- Implemented real-time cluster monitoring systems using Prometheus and Grafana dashboards, resolving indexing and validation bottlenecks.
Apache Cassandra Admin-Architect
Charter Communications
Maryland Heights, USA
11.2016 - 02.2017
- Reduced database service level agreement (SLA) response times from 10 minutes to 2 seconds for a client base of 23 million end users.
- Boosted end-user productivity metrics by redesigning and administering core computing environments, hardware, and system configurations.
- Enhanced network and system configurations across multi-node setups to increase overall operational efficiency.
- Streamlined customer experience infrastructure to achieve elevated end-user satisfaction benchmarks.
Cassandra Admin / Architect
Kroger
Blue Ash, USA
02.2016 - 10.2016
- Delivered Tier-1 production support and capacity planning for mission-critical retail applications on DSE and Apache Cassandra clusters.
- Developed an automation framework using Linux shell scripts to execute seamless cluster installations and multi-version upgrades.
- Configured DSE Search (Solr) and analytics (Spark) along with Prometheus and Grafana monitoring tools on DSE 6.7.
- Mentored junior engineering resources on NoSQL data modeling, secondary indexing, and JVM proactive tuning using Flame Graphs and Nodetool.
Cassandra & Relational Database Administrator
UTC Aerospace Systems
Monroe, USA
09.2014 - 06.2015
- Architected, installed, and monitored high-availability production Cassandra databases while maintaining stringent CI/CD deployment standards.
- Enforced hardware capacity planning, routine security patching, and comprehensive disaster recovery procedures across cross-functional teams.
- Executed daily database administration, tuning, and backup strategies for enterprise Oracle and DB2 UDB engines.
- Defined non-functional requirements and development strategies to ensure system uptime and SLA adherence.
NoSQL & RDBMS Database Administrator
BNP Paribas
Paris, France
03.2013 - 06.2014
- Designed data models and deployed DataStax Enterprise across multi-datacenter configurations using Vnodes and SingleToken architectures.
- Executed cluster maintenance procedures, including adding, removing, decommissioning, and rebalancing nodes.
- Administered backup, cleanup, and point-in-time recovery strategies for enterprise financial transaction systems.
- Conducted continuous performance tuning and query optimizations for high-throughput transactional database workloads.
Database Administrator
Natixis
Paris, France
03.2011 - 03.2013
- Migrated high-volume OLTP financial transaction processing systems from legacy Oracle databases to Apache Cassandra.
- Supported daily operational workflows for Sybase, Oracle, and SQL Server systems processing over 14 billion in daily financial volume.
- Executed complete version migrations for Sybase data servers across development, UAT, and production environments.
- Managed end-to-end database administration, covering backup strategies, system recovery, and schema performance tuning.
Database Consultant
Société Générale
05.2010 - 03.2011
Database Consultant
Natixis
01.2007 - 12.2009
Database Consultant
AGF Group Allianz
01.2003 - 12.2006
Education
Diplôme d'études Approfondies (Master's Degree Equivalent) - Demography
University of Bordeaux
Talence, FranceSkills
- Apache Cassandra & DSE Administration
- Performance Tuning & Diagnostics (JVM, Nodetool, Flame Graphs)
- Cloud Native Orchestration & Migration (Kubernetes, AWS EKS, Docker)
- DSE Search (Solr) & DSE Analytics (Spark) Integration
- Big Data & Distributed Computing (Hadoop, Hive, Spark, Sqoop)
- Automation & Shell Scripting (Linux, Python, Bash)
- NoSQL Schema Design & Data Modeling (CQL, Erwin Data Modeler)
- Multi-Datacenter Replication & Disaster Recovery Planning
- RDBMS Administration & Migration (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, Sybase)
- System Security & Role-Based Access Control
- Cross-Functional Communication
- Incident & Crisis Management
- Strategic Problem Solving
- Mentorship & Technical Leadership
- Architectural Vision & Planning
- Cross-Team Collaboration
- Adaptability & Continuous Learning
- Time Management & Prioritization
- Stakeholder Alignment
- Attention to Detail
Certification
- Apache Cassandra 3.x Administrator Associate Certification, 12c35105-7bff-4d90-8184-a040506bb7c8
- DataStax Certified Professional on Apache Cassandra, fe6320a8-b808-4935-b4c5-87044e122b23
- Apache Cassandra 3.x Developer Associate Certification, 78cbdd82-b439-4445-beee-0d0953dff59c
- IBM Certification in Big Data and Hadoop
- IBM Certified Database Administrator
Timeline
Cassandra Engineer / Admin-Architect
GE Aviation
04.2017 - 07.2026
Apache Cassandra Admin-Architect
Charter Communications
11.2016 - 02.2017
Cassandra Admin / Architect
Kroger
02.2016 - 10.2016
Cassandra & Relational Database Administrator
UTC Aerospace Systems
09.2014 - 06.2015
NoSQL & RDBMS Database Administrator
BNP Paribas
03.2013 - 06.2014
Database Administrator
Natixis
03.2011 - 03.2013
Database Consultant
Société Générale
05.2010 - 03.2011
Database Consultant
Natixis
01.2007 - 12.2009
Database Consultant
AGF Group Allianz
01.2003 - 12.2006
Diplôme d'études Approfondies (Master's Degree Equivalent) - Demography
University of Bordeaux