James M. Tolliver
Systems & Network Support Specialist | IT Operations
Hands-on Systems and Network Administrator with extensive background directing emergency operations, regulatory compliance, and incident resolution. Proven expertise designing and deploying secure network infrastructure, managing Active Directory environments, configuring enterprise firewalls, and automating containerized services.
Core Technical & Professional Competencies
Networking & Edge Security
- OPNsense & pfSense Firewalls
- 802.1Q VLAN Segmentation
- WireGuard & OpenVPN Tunnels
- Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI)
- NAT, Dynamic DNS, Subnetting
- Multi-SSID WAP Deployment
Systems & Virtualization
- Windows Server Active Directory
- Group Policy Objects (GPO)
- Organizational Unit (OU) Hierarchy
- Debian Linux Headless Server
- Docker Microservices & Volumes
- Storage Admin & Persistent Mounts
IT Operations & Triage
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Incident Response (NIMS/ICS)
- Hardware & Software Diagnostics
- Remote Access Support
- End-User Enablement & Training
- Vendor & Lifecycle Management
Compliance & Governance
- HIPAA Privacy & Security Rules
- Access Control & RBAC Policy
- Regulatory Compliance Audits
- Risk Mitigation & Corrective Plans
- Incident Logging & Chain-of-Custody
- Technical Documentation & SOPs
Dual-Site Enterprise & Homelab Infrastructure
Interactive architectural breakdown of production firewalls, VLANs, identity domains, and containerized microservices.
How Emergency Command Translates to IT Reliability
Size-Up & Assessment
Emergency: Establish 360-degree scene survey, hazard identification, and victim risk assessment.
IT Systems: Immediate telemetry audit, identifying blast radius, affected VLANs, and business-impact bottlenecks.
Containment & Isolation
Emergency: Structural isolation, utility shutoffs, and perimeter hazard perimeter enforcement.
IT Systems: Isolate compromised hosts via switch port disablement or firewall rule drop; revoke affected AD tokens instantly.
Structured Remediation
Emergency: ICS single-command chain, allocating specialized crews with clear tactical objectives.
IT Systems: Systematic root cause mitigation (patching, route failover, rollback), eliminating guesswork during live outages.
After-Action & Audit
Emergency: Mandatory post-incident debrief, legal telemetry logs, and state-mandated documentation.
IT Systems: Formal Post-Mortem / RCA report, audit log archival, and preventive Group Policy/firewall hardening.
Professional Experience
Emergent Education LLC
Built, secured, and maintained the organization's entire IT infrastructure, serving on-site and remote instructional workflows with zero critical downtime.
- Administered Windows Server Active Directory domain, managing identity lifecycles, permissions, device provisioning, and centralized GPO policy enforcement.
- Configured pfSense edge routing, managed switches, and wireless APs to isolate administrative networks from student-facing learning zones.
- Implemented OpenVPN client profiles for instructors and students, ensuring secure encrypted access to internal resources during remote sessions.
- Delivered full technical support, rapid hardware/software diagnostics, network troubleshooting, and user training.
Smyth County Fire and Rescue
Apply structured Incident Command System (ICS) methodologies to rapidly triage, isolate, and mitigate critical emergencies in dynamic, high-pressure environments.
- Maintain operational readiness across critical emergency telemetry, communication systems, and diagnostic hardware through daily preventative maintenance schedules.
- Author detailed technical incident and compliance reports, tracking causal factors and operational metrics with high legal and procedural accuracy.
- Coordinate inter-agency response protocols and mission continuity during catastrophic physical infrastructure outages.
Town of Saltville EMS
Directed daily operations, resource allocation, and scheduling across multi-disciplinary teams while maintaining strict service availability standards.
- Implemented structured process improvements and digital data-reporting workflows that increased reporting speed and team operational efficiency.
- Managed procurement, technology vendor negotiations, and hardware life-cycle management within annual budget constraints.
- Led preventative maintenance programs for electronic patient care reporting (ePCR) systems and mobile communication gear.
Abingdon Ambulance Service
Enforced regulatory adherence across HIPAA, state, and federal mandates; conducted scheduled internal security and compliance audits to prevent unauthorized data exposure.
- Supervised 24/7 communications dispatch operations and billing personnel (40+ staff), establishing operational workflows, escalation paths, and rapid-response protocols.
- Investigated protocol failures and policy violations, delivering root-cause analysis and corrective action plans that eliminated recurring operational risks.
- Managed strict chain-of-custody documentation, access records, and IT hardware inventory.
Education & Professional Development
FEMA Incident Command
Applied directly to structured IT incident management, rapid containment, triage hierarchy, and root-cause analysis:
FEMA Professional Series
Comprehensive operational executive curriculum focusing on crisis management, planning, and executive leadership:
Technical Target Certs
Targeted and in-progress technical credentials formalizing years of field networking and cybersecurity implementation:
Get In Touch
Available for systems administration, network engineering, and IT operations infrastructure opportunities.