\documentclass[letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage[margin=0.4in,top=0.3in,bottom=0.25in]{geometry}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage[hidelinks]{hyperref}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[scaled]{helvet}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{microtype}

% Clean sans-serif type scale
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}
\renewcommand{\normalsize}{\fontsize{9.5}{11.4}\selectfont}
\renewcommand{\large}{\fontsize{11.5}{12.6}\selectfont}
\renewcommand{\Large}{\fontsize{16}{17.4}\selectfont}
\renewcommand{\small}{\fontsize{8.8}{9.6}\selectfont}
\normalsize

\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}

\titleformat{\section}{\fontsize{11}{12}\selectfont\bfseries\uppercase}{}{0em}{}
\titlespacing*{\section}{0pt}{6pt}{4pt}

% Bullet rhythm and hanging indent
\setlist[itemize]{nosep,leftmargin=0.3in,labelsep=0.08in,label=\textbullet,topsep=1pt,parsep=0pt,partopsep=0pt,itemsep=3pt,before={\parfillskip=0pt plus .2\textwidth},after={\parfillskip=0pt plus 1fil}}

% Job entry helper
\newcommand{\jobentry}[3]{%
  \textbf{#1}, #2 \hfill \textbf{#3}\par
}

\begin{document}

\begin{center}
  {\Large\bfseries Ashar S. Ahmed}\\[2pt]
  Software Engineer \textbar\ U.S. Citizen \textbar\ \href{mailto:ashar@aahmed.org}{ashar@aahmed.org} \textbar\ \href{https://github.com/asharahmed}{GitHub}
\end{center}

\vspace{3pt}

\section{Summary}
Software engineer with 4+ years building Python backend services, cloud applications, and data pipelines on AWS. Experienced designing REST APIs and microservices, processing high-volume real-time and batch telemetry data, and shipping production systems with Terraform, Docker, and CI/CD. Comfortable across distributed systems, event-driven architectures, and relational/NoSQL data stores (PostgreSQL, DynamoDB). Holds AWS Solutions Architect \& Developer certifications; builds with a secure-by-design mindset (CISSP).

\section{Technical Skills}
\textbf{Languages:} Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, SQL, PL/SQL, Bash, PowerShell\\
\textbf{Cloud / Infrastructure:} AWS (IAM, S3, DynamoDB, CloudWatch, CloudTrail), Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Terragrunt\\
\textbf{Backend / APIs:} REST APIs, microservices, event-driven architectures, message/streaming pipelines, GitHub Actions CI/CD\\
\textbf{Data:} PostgreSQL, DynamoDB, Oracle Database, SQL Server; real-time \& batch data pipelines; Apache Spark (PySpark); stream and log processing\\
\textbf{Observability:} Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, structured logging, metric instrumentation\\
\textbf{Practices:} Agile development, secure SDLC, automated testing, code coverage gates, policy-as-code (Checkov)

\section{Professional Experience}

\jobentry{Technical Contractor}{Mercor Intelligence, San Francisco, CA}{May 2026 -- Present}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Provide technical expertise and structured feedback to a frontier artificial intelligence lab, supporting the training and evaluation of large language models
  \item Assess model outputs for accuracy, reasoning quality, and specification adherence across software engineering and general-knowledge domains
\end{itemize}

\vspace{4pt}
\jobentry{Cyber Security Advisor}{Dr.\ Shariq Mumtaz Medicine Professional Corporation}{Jan.\ 2023 -- Present}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Designed Python backend automation and microservices for endpoint configuration, telemetry collection, and compliance reporting across a distributed fleet of macOS and Windows devices
  \item Built real-time, event-driven data pipelines that ingest and correlate high-volume identity, endpoint, and network telemetry; cut detection latency (MTTD) from days to under 1 hour
  \item Automated policy deployment and configuration management across distributed endpoints; standardized baselines reduced unsolicited traffic by \textbf{80\%}
  \item Designed internal tooling and KPI dashboards (Python, Prometheus/Grafana) enabling data-driven tracking of risk, SLAs, and remediation
\end{itemize}

\vspace{4pt}
\jobentry{Software Developer}{Department of Industry, Canadian Digital Service}{Feb.\ 2021 -- Jan.\ 2022}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Built and deployed secure AWS infrastructure (IAM, S3, DynamoDB, CloudWatch) via Terraform/Terragrunt; managed NoSQL data stores and enforced policy-as-code scanning with Checkov across all modules
  \item Designed and shipped backend services and request-validation APIs that eliminated bot-driven abuse across all form endpoints without adding user friction
  \item Implemented CI/CD quality gates and automated testing, increasing code coverage from \textasciitilde20\% to \textbf{85\%}; reduced client-reported data incidents from 4--5 to 1--2 per cycle
  \item Awarded the \textbf{Directors' General Award of Merit} for delivery impact on national spectrum operations
\end{itemize}

\vspace{4pt}
\jobentry{Software Developer Intern}{National Research Council of Canada (NRC)}{Sept.\ 2020 -- Dec.\ 2020}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Developed full-stack data applications on Oracle Database powering research data pipelines across multiple NRC divisions
  \item Engineered PL/SQL stored procedures and SQL-based automation to replace manual batch workflows, eliminating \textasciitilde10 hrs/week of manual processing
\end{itemize}

\section{Projects \& Publications}

\textbf{QR-CLI} \textbar\ \href{https://qr-cli.dev/}{qr-cli.dev}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Built and published a cross-platform Node.js CLI that generates QR codes as ASCII art with PNG export; fully offline, MIT-licensed, distributed via npm and GitHub
\end{itemize}

\textbf{Tally Habit Tracker} \textbar\ \href{https://tally.aahmed.ca/}{tally.aahmed.ca}
\begin{itemize}
  \item Built and published a privacy-first iOS habit tracker (Swift/SwiftUI, SwiftData, WidgetKit, Live Activities, CloudKit sync) with three habit types, flexible scheduling, streak heatmaps, inline notification actions, and Google Reminders import; zero telemetry, no third-party SDKs
\end{itemize}

\section{Education}

\textbf{Master of Science (M.S.) Cybersecurity \& Information Assurance} \textbar\ Western Governors University \hfill Awarded 2024\\
\textbf{Bachelor of Computer Science (BCompSci)} \textbar\ Dalhousie University \hfill Awarded 2024

\section{Certifications}
AWS Certified Solutions Architect \& Developer - Associate \hfill Awarded 2022\\
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) \hfill Awarded 2026\\
Systems Security Certified Professional (SSCP) \hfill Awarded 2023

\end{document}
