Sean Horn
About Sean Horn
Sean Horn serves as the Principal Customer Site Reliability Engineer at Chef Software, where he has worked since 2017. He has a background in systems administration and customer advocacy, with previous roles at Chef Software, Convergys, and Taleo.
Work at Chef Software
Sean Horn has been with Chef Software since 2012, initially serving as a Support Engineer Customer Advocate for five years. He transitioned to the role of Senior Customer Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) from 2015 to 2017 before becoming the Principal Customer SRE in 2017. In his current role, he has led initiatives to improve engineer onboarding training and structure at the Belfast Support location. He has also contributed to the company's knowledge base and documentation efforts, making significant improvements to the Zendesk knowledge base.
Education and Expertise
Sean Horn earned a Bachelor's degree in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Maryland, completing his studies between 2000 and 2005. His educational background has provided him with a strong foundation in technology and systems administration, which he has applied throughout his career in various roles, including as a Unix Systems Administrator and Senior UNIX Engineer.
Professional Background
Before joining Chef Software, Sean Horn worked in several technical roles. He served as a Unix Systems Administrator at Convergys for seven months in 2004. He then worked as a Senior UNIX Engineer at PharMerica from 2004 to 2006. Following that, he held the position of Lead SysAdmin at Taleo from 2010 to 2012. His diverse experience in system administration and customer support has shaped his approach to customer reliability engineering.
Contributions and Initiatives
Sean Horn has made notable contributions to Chef Software, including the development of a practical candidate testing system in AWS for hiring purposes. This system presented candidates with real-world system administration challenges to evaluate their problem-solving skills. He has also amplified the value of Chef products by integrating customer feedback into engineering processes, which has enhanced overall customer satisfaction.
Public Speaking Engagements
Sean Horn presented a talk on service reliability at ChefConf 2018. During this presentation, he demonstrated resilience by continuing despite a demo failure, showcasing his commitment to the principles of reliability and customer service in technology.