Jeffrey Davis
Galesburg
Summary
Engineering leader with dual expertise in Software Development and Data Engineering, known for transforming fragile systems into stable, scalable platforms and elevating engineering teams to high performance. Proven track record of modernizing complex Microsoft and hybrid architectures, improving system performance by up to 90%, reducing outages and deployment failures by 90%, and accelerating delivery cadence from weeks to hours. Experienced in leveraging Azure cloud environments, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile methodologies to drive organizational risk reduction and cross-functional collaboration. Dedicated to fostering engineering cultures rooted in accountability and technical excellence, with a focus on directing architectural strategy, mentoring leadership, and driving business-aligned technical roadmaps.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Data Engineering Team Dev Lead
Accelerant Insurance
London
05.2023 - 02.2026
- Stabilized a fragile global SQL/SSIS ecosystem, eliminated chronic production failures, and built a high-performing engineering team that delivered faster, safer, and more predictable releases.
- Upgraded the SQL Server/SSIS environment to eliminate bottlenecks, reduce outages by 90%, and support global 24/7 operations.
- Reduced deployment failures by 90% and manual release effort by designing CI/CD pipelines, branching strategies, and automated release processes.
- Improved global support coverage and reduced incident response time by 90% by establishing SQL/SSIS support standards, monitoring, and operating procedures across UK/US teams.
- Elevated team capability by mentoring engineers in SSIS architecture, SQL performance tuning, and DevOps best practices; authored documentation and delivered training.
- Strengthened system stability by partnering with Solution Architects and Azure Engineers to optimize SQL Server performance by 60% and align with future-state architecture.
- Reduced production downtime by 75% by using AI to help identify and resolve SQL Agent failures, ETL issues, and release deployment challenges.
Lead Senior SQL Developer
Gallagher Bassett
Rolling Meadows
11.2021 - 05.2023
- Increased deployment reliability by 75% and reduced manual effort by 100% by implementing CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, Octopus Deploy, and Visual Studio.
- Improved system performance by 90% and maintainability by refactoring SQL Server databases and SSIS packages, standardizing code, and eliminating legacy components.
- Transformed a legacy state reporting system into a stable, scalable platform and accelerated delivery through modernization and CI/CD adoption.
- Resolved critical system issues by architecting redesigned modules integrating SQL, SSIS, and C# XML components.
- Reduced QA cycle time by 50% and increased throughput by 30% by improving collaboration with QA and DB teams and optimizing test environments.
- Co-designed a Self-Service Data Feed platform that empowered business users with analytics capabilities.
Senior Data Engineer / Accidental DBA
IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union
Moline
10.2017 - 02.2022
- Accelerated a major financial core conversion by dynamically generating SSIS packages with BIML to integrate 1 TB of data from multiple systems into a new data warehouse in less than 3 hours.
- Delivered an enterprise Analytics Data Warehouse using star schema modeling and SSIS pipelines, enabling Power BI dashboards and enterprise reporting.
- Built the organization’s first enterprise data warehouse, modernized analytics capabilities, and stabilized SQL Server environments that previously suffered from reliability issues.
- Enhanced system reliability through DBA responsibilities including installation and backup management.
- Increased team capability by 60% by mentoring and cross training staff in T-SQL, SSIS, data modeling, and performance tuning.
- Improved delivery cadence from weeks to days by introducing Agile (Scrum/Kanban) practices.
- Supported 5 year modernization strategy by advising leadership on Azure migration strategies from insights gained at multiple Microsoft-sponsored conferences.
Information Technology Consultant
Marathon Consulting LLC
Virginia Beach
09.2011 - 10.2017
- Delivered end-to-end .NET and SQL Server solutions for clients in healthcare, government, and financial services.
- Modernized legacy systems by architecting and developing .NET applications, SQL Server databases, SSRS reports, and SSIS packages.
- Replaced multiple DTS packages with a single SSIS package to import mainframe data, reducing import time from 4 hours to 10 minutes, improving data integration efficiency by over 90%.
- Replaced a quarterly reporting system of 80 Microsoft Access databases with a single SQL Server database and SSIS package, reducing report production time from 1 week to less than 2 hours, improving reporting efficiency by over 85%.
- Improved analytics capabilities by designing and implementing star schema databases and SSAS solutions.
- Enhanced delivery predictability and reduced build failures by installing and configuring automated build servers, source control systems, and deployment pipelines.
- Mentored junior developers and guided leadership on modernization strategy to strengthen client engineering teams.
- Delivered high-value solutions across multiple industries, modernized legacy systems, and enhanced client engineering teams through mentorship and leadership.
Education
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) - Computer and Information Science, Computer Programming
ECPI College of Technology
Virginia Beach, VirginiaSkills
Data Engineering & Architecture
SQL Server SSIS SSRS SSAS PostgreSQL Oracle Snowflake Informatica Kingsway Soft Data Modeling ETL Pipelines
Languages & Frameworks
T‑SQL C# ASPNET MVC LINQ JavaScript JSON HTML/CSS Bootstrap Entity Framework
Cloud & DevOps
Azure Azure DevOps AWS CI/CD Git Octopus Deploy Red Gate Infrastructure Automation Monitoring & Observability
Leadership & Delivery
Technical Leadership Mentoring Modernization Strategy Risk Mitigation Agile/Scrum/Kanban Road Mapping Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Tools & Platforms
Visual Studio SSMS Dataverse SharePoint Power BI ServiceNow Jira Workfront MS Project Confluence MIRO Visio
Prior Leadership Experience
- Managed multiple .NET development teams (4–20+ engineers) delivering enterprise-scale applications and services to over 50 pharmaceutical companies and 500+ automotive dealerships.
- Improved performance and maintainability by modernizing legacy systems into modern .NET platforms.
- Strengthened engineering culture by establishing development standards, code quality practices, and modernization roadmaps.
- Partnered with product and business teams using Scrum to align delivery with organizational goals.
Certification
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900)
- Exam 761: Querying Data with Transact-SQL
- SQL Intersection Conferences: Azure Migration, SQL Performance Tuning, Machine Learning & AI
- MVC Training Course
Emerging Skills & Ongoing Training
Go (Golang), Python, Bash, PowerShell, Markdown, Microsoft Fabric, Azure AI Foundry, Generative AI Development, Data Bricks, Advanced Snowflake
Affiliations
Band Leader, The Jammers 18 Piece Dance Band; 2018 - Present
Timeline
Data Engineering Team Dev Lead
Accelerant Insurance
05.2023 - 02.2026
Lead Senior SQL Developer
Gallagher Bassett
11.2021 - 05.2023
Senior Data Engineer / Accidental DBA
IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union
10.2017 - 02.2022
Information Technology Consultant
Marathon Consulting LLC
09.2011 - 10.2017
Associate of Applied Science (AAS) - Computer and Information Science, Computer Programming
ECPI College of Technology