◇ AVAILABLE FOR IT ENGINEERING ROLES ◇ MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA ◇ CLOUD · CYBERSECURITY · AUTOMATION ◇ AZURE · AWS · DOCKER · PYTHON ◇ AVAILABLE FOR IT ENGINEERING ROLES ◇ MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA ◇ CLOUD · CYBERSECURITY · AUTOMATION ◇ AZURE · AWS · DOCKER · PYTHON
Portfolio · Vol. 01 · MMXXVI

Kirtika Sharma.

Currently Junior Technical Engineer @ Orikan

I build, secure, and support the systems that companies rely on. Based in Melbourne - working at the intersection of cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and hands-on engineering. Deakin graduate, Docker speaker, lifelong learner.

HD
Final year
Bachelor of IT
623+
Community
followers
3yr
In Australia
& growing
Curiosity
for learning
LAT -37.8136° S LON 144.9631° E MELB/AU
00

About the engineer.

I began my Bachelor of IT at Deakin as a girl from India who barely knew technology. Four years later, I was running VMs, investigating cybersecurity incidents, presenting Docker at the Microsoft office, and graduating with multiple HDs - including 97 in my final year.

I'm not here for the marks. I'm here for the growth - that quiet, compounding kind that shows up in how I troubleshoot an outage at 11pm, how I walk into an AWS architecture challenge and present first, how I translate complex tech into simple language for people who are just getting started.

Today I work as a Junior Technical Engineer at Orikan, holding down internal infrastructure, tickets, and the sort of problems that don't announce themselves politely. On the side - community meetups, AWS Cloud Club at UniMelb, SABSA AI architecture forums, and any pizza-adjacent threat hunting workshop I can find.

I care about doing the basics really well. I care about the people on the other side of the ticket. And I'm building toward a career in cloud security that matters.

Cloud

  • Microsoft Azure
  • Amazon Web Services
  • Docker & Containers
  • Cloud Architecture

Security

  • Information Security Analysis
  • Encryption Fundamentals
  • SQL Injection Analysis
  • Threat Hunting · Splunk · Elastic

Engineering

  • Networking Fundamentals
  • Virtual Machines · Linux
  • Full-Stack Development
  • SQL & Databases

Human

  • Technical Communication
  • Public Speaking
  • Customer Service
  • Cross-functional Collaboration
01

Experience & trajectory.

Dec 2025 - Present Full-time · Hybrid

Junior Technical Engineer

Orikan · Melbourne

Supporting internal technical infrastructure and engineering operations. Building on my cybersecurity and networking foundation with real-world systems work - tickets, troubleshooting, and the sort of problem-solving that only shows up on the job.

Jan 2025 - Dec 2025 Full-time · On-site

Front Desk

Accor · Melbourne

First point of contact for a global hospitality brand - managing guest inquiries, bookings, and administrative operations with professionalism and confidentiality. Sharpened the soft-skill layer that makes engineering work land: communication, composure, and accountability under pressure.

Jan 2025 - Oct 2025 Contract · On-site

Well-Being Ambassador

Deakin University · Burwood

Representing student well-being initiatives on campus - running peer check-ins, supporting wellness programs, and being a visible point of trust for students navigating university life.

Jun 2025 - Sep 2025 Internship · Remote

Coding Facilitator

Aubot

Teaching code to the next generation - simplifying programming concepts and guiding young learners through hands-on building. The best way to deepen your own mastery is to help someone else start.

Oct 2024 - Apr 2025 Part-time

Coding Instructor

Junior Engineers

Delivering structured coding curriculum to students, turning complex logic into approachable ideas. Patient, clear, and genuinely invested in whether each student actually understood.

Nov 2024 - Jan 2025 Part-time · On-site

Night Auditor

Accor Careers - Pacific · Flinders

Running hotel operations through the quiet hours - reconciliations, system audits, and being the single point of authority overnight. Independence, precision, and handling whatever the night throws at you.

May 2023 - Nov 2024 Full-time

Manager

Domino's

Leading shifts, coordinating teams, and running operations end-to-end through peak hours. Real operational management - people, time, and accountability - that grounds everything I do now.

02

Selected work.

P/02
Cloud Architecture

AWS Banking Architecture Challenge

Surprise live architecture challenge at the AWS Cloud to Career event at the University of Melbourne. Presented our banking-use-case solution first to the room - clear feedback on both the technical design and communication.

AWS Banking Live Present
P/03
Cybersecurity SIEM

Threat Hunting Lab

Hands-on detection-and-response exercises at Hck4G CON 2025 at RMIT - building detection logic and incident logging across Splunk and Elastic, with a strong focus on detection engineering and threat hunting practices.

Splunk Elastic Detection Eng.
P/04
Security Analysis

SQL Injection Attack Analysis

Certified analysis work breaking down SQL injection attack patterns - understanding how they're crafted, detected, and mitigated. Part of a broader foundation in encryption, information security analysis, and applied offensive thinking.

SQL Web Security Forensics
P/05
Full-Stack Academic

VM & Full-Stack Engineering Portfolio

Through my Deakin degree: running virtual machines, building full-stack applications, managing project lifecycles, and delivering technical reports. Multiple HDs including 97 in final year - translation: the fundamentals are solid.

VMs Full-Stack Reporting
P/06
Networking Foundation

Networking & Cybersecurity Certs

Certification stack across networking fundamentals, cybersecurity principles, and security analysis - the kind of baseline that makes everything else I build defensible from day one.

Networking Security+ Cloud Fund.
03

Speaking & community.

APR '26

"What is Docker, and why does it matter?"

Melbourne Docker User Group · Microsoft Office, Melbourne

Opening talk focused on the basics - because too many people (students and professionals) jump into advanced container topics without a real grasp of what Docker actually is. Feedback confirmed the gap, and the session bridged it.

MAR '26

International Women's Day Panel

Orikan · Melbourne

Hosted by CEO Peter Neale. Shared my journey from international student to technical engineer, alongside an incredible panel of women in tech. Grateful to have moved from the audience to the stage.

APR '26

AWS Cloud to Career Event

AWS Cloud Club · University of Melbourne

Panel insights, a live banking-use-case architecture challenge, and presenting our solution first to the room. A reminder that the best learning happens when you raise your hand before you feel ready.

APR '26

KSUG.AI Australia Meetup #59

Amazon (AWS) · Melbourne Office

Deep sessions on the future of SRE with AI, containerised ELT pipelines, and autonomous AI agents moving beyond software into physical systems. Questions, curiosity, and conversations about cost-aware local-first design.

MAR '26

SABSA Institute Forum - AI Architecture 2026 & Beyond

Collins Square · Melbourne

A morning of learning about enterprise security architecture in the age of AI - security thinking that actually scales, and conversations with the community driving it forward.

NOV '25

Hck4G CON 2025 - Hack of No Nation

RMIT · Melbourne

Hands-on Splunk & Elastic workshop, detection engineering, and a powerful mission: job-ready cyber skills for underserved communities. Pizza and threat hunting - ideal combination.

04

Let's build
something good.

Open to IT engineering, cloud, and cybersecurity roles in Melbourne. Also happy to chat community, mentorship, and the honest question of how to break into tech from zero.

Available for opportunities · Response within 24h