Jessica Paradise

Ten years flying through clouds.
Now I want to build them.

Cloud engineering · AWS Certified (SAA-C03) · ATP captain · Austin, Texas

jessica.paradise@protonmail.com  |  github.com/jessicaparadise  |  gitlab.com/jpara57  |  linkedin.com/in/jessicaparadise  |  jessicaparadise.com

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Career route, from the flight deck to cloud architecture:
  1. Airline pilot and jet captain, 2017 to 2026.
  2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, 2026.
  3. AWS Certified Developer – Associate, exam October 2026. This is the current leg.
  4. AWS Certified Developer – Associate, 2026.
  5. B.S. Computer Science at WGU, expected August 2027.
  6. Destination: cloud architect.

About

I’m a former pilot and jet captain moving into cloud engineering. I hold the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification

10+ years of safety-critical operations: incident response under pressure, strict runbook discipline, and calm ownership when systems fail. I’m completing a B.S. in Computer Science at WGU.

What carries over

On the flight deckIn the cloud
Diagnosing abnormal situations in real timeIncident response and debugging
Checklists and strict SOPsRunbooks and infrastructure as code
Post-maintenance check flightsValidating changes before release
Risk managementLeast-privilege security
Coordinating dispatch, maintenance, ATC and crewWorking across teams to ship

Skills

Certifications

Projects

Landon Hotel

Containerized Spring Boot and Angular app · WGU D387

  • Added multithreading to a Spring Boot back end to serve welcome messages in English and French at the same time.
  • Built time-zone conversion and multi-currency pricing into the Angular front end.
  • Wrote a multi-stage Dockerfile that builds and runs the full app in a single container, keeping the final image small.

Built with Java, Spring Boot, Angular and Docker.

App
  1. Angular
  2. Spring Boot
Build
  1. Multi-stage Dockerfile
  2. Single container

Vacation Booking REST API

Spring Boot and MySQL · WGU D288

Request
  1. Angular
  2. REST API
  3. MySQL
  • Built a Spring Boot REST API connecting an Angular front end to a MySQL database, mapping eight JPA entities to an existing schema.
  • Wrote a transactional checkout service and endpoint that validates each order and saves the cart and its items together.
  • Debugged Hibernate 7 upgrade issues, including a retired MySQL dialect and a stale-object error on new carts.

Built with Java, Spring Boot, JPA/Hibernate, MySQL and Angular.

Parrot Ice Drones

Spring Boot inventory app · WGU D287

App
  1. Thymeleaf
  2. Spring MVC
  3. Inventory
  • Customized a Spring Boot MVC inventory app with Thymeleaf pages, startup data seeding, and a Buy Now flow that updates stock.
  • Built a custom validator that enforces minimum and maximum inventory levels, backed by unit tests.

Built with Java, Spring Boot, Thymeleaf and JUnit.

ESP32 IoT device

PCBWay-sponsored hardware build · In progress

Build
  1. KiCad design
  2. PCBWay fab
  3. ESP32 board

Designing a custom PCB in KiCad for an ESP32 device. Earned a PCBWay manufacturing sponsorship for the build.

Built with ESP32 and KiCad.

Serverless cloud resume

The site you’re reading.

Site
  1. Route 53
  2. CloudFront
  3. S3
Counter
  1. API Gateway
  2. Lambda
  3. DynamoDB
Deploy
  1. GitHub Actions
  2. S3

A globally distributed static site on S3, CloudFront and Route 53, with a serverless visitor-counter API. Every change ships through a GitHub Actions pipeline.

Visitors so farCounting…

Counted live by API Gateway, Lambda and DynamoDB when this page loaded.

Built with S3, CloudFront, Route 53, API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB and GitHub Actions.

Experience

2026 – present · Austin, TX

Software Engineer (part-time)

Early-Stage AI Startup (Stealth)

  • Helping build an AI supplier-sourcing product from the ground up, focused on its cloud infrastructure and security.
  • Built the data-collection pipeline, using Firecrawl to scrape and structure supplier data.
  • Moving the pipeline from local machines onto AWS and setting up the AWS infrastructure it runs on.
  • Securing the platform with least-privilege IAM access, secrets management, and protection of collected supplier data.

Apr 2024 – Apr 2026 · Seattle, WA

Captain, Phenom 300

JNP Aviation

  • Sole operator and final decision-maker for a single-pilot jet, diagnosing and resolving abnormal situations in real time.
  • Owned the full aircraft management program: maintenance coordination, inspections, and readiness tracking.
  • Ran post-maintenance functional check flights, validating that repaired systems met spec before return to service.

Jul 2023 – Dec 2023

First Officer, B-767 / B-757

Air Transport International

  • Operated heavy jets on international cargo and Department of Defense missions; handled international flight planning.

Oct 2021 – Jan 2023

Captain, Phenom 300

Solairus Aviation

  • Delivered reliable, on-schedule service to private clients as the single point of accountability for each operation.

Nov 2018 – Oct 2021

Captain and Second in Command, Phenom 300 / Legacy 450 / 500

Flexjet

  • Worked in a high-tempo, 24/7 operation with strict adherence to standard operating procedures.

Jan 2017 – Aug 2018

First Officer, Q400

Horizon Air

  • Built crew resource management (CRM) and checklist discipline across high-frequency, multi-leg airline schedules.

Education