Kyle Dunkerley
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In Melbourne.

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Infrastructure leader · Melbourne

Kyle
Dunkerley

I build capable teams and dependable infrastructure.

Associate Manager, Infrastructure Services · DXC Technology

Path · scope grows with every step
  1. 2007LAN AdministratorKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa200+ lab PCs
  2. Mar 2011NOC to on-site supportProphecy Networks, NZSupport, AD, Microsoft 365
  3. 2018Microsoft Solutions SpecialistProphecy Networks, NZIdentity and access
  4. Aug 2019System AdministratorLANtech / Spark, NZMany small clients
  5. 2021–2026WinTel Admin → Team LeadDXC Technology, Melbourne4 engineers, 200+ servers
  6. 2026 → nowAssociate ManagerDXC Technology200+ servers · 6,000+ users
What I’m looking for

What I’m looking for

An internal infrastructure or IT operations leadership role in Melbourne, with responsibility for the people, the platform and its direction.

NowInfrastructure Manager, Melbourne
NextSenior IT management, then CIO at a startup

Right now

I’m looking for an internal IT role with responsibility for both the platform and the people who run it. I’ve led engineers since August 2021, balancing the ticket queue with migrations, lifecycle work and the time people need to learn. I want to bring that experience to infrastructure or IT operations management in Melbourne.

The work that interests me

Give me an estate that needs a clear direction and a team that wants to improve it. I enjoy making the roadmap practical: deciding what needs attention first, explaining why it matters, and helping engineers take ownership of the work.

Where it goes

Over time I want to take on broader technology responsibility, including senior IT management and eventually technology leadership at a startup. The part that interests me is connecting sound engineering decisions to what the organisation needs.

How to reach me

Connect or message me on LinkedIn to talk about a role, the team behind it and the problems you want to solve.

Hybrid estate

A hybrid estate I’m accountable for

Azure and on-premises, running for people in Australia and New Zealand. My job is that it keeps running and keeps getting easier to run.

200+servers across Azure and on-prem
6,000+people depending on it

What I own

My remit covers server reporting, the Level 3 server and infrastructure queue, and part of the Azure environment. I’m the senior escalation point for Level 3 and 4 incidents. That means balancing immediate service needs with the lifecycle and maintenance work that keeps the estate dependable.

How it’s run

Changes go through the change advisory board, incidents are followed by written root cause reports, and disaster recovery is tested every six months. Those routines turn availability from an expectation into work we can plan, review and improve.

Recovery in practice

I’ve used Veeam to restore files and shared-drive permissions. Recovery includes getting people back to the right information with the right access. I work with stakeholders and service providers to coordinate that work and keep responsibilities clear.

How I keep it healthy

Lifecycle work has included upgrades from Server 2012 to 2022 and 2025. We monitor with SolarWinds, ManageEngine and scripts, and moved patching from WSUS to ManageEngine Patch Manager. My focus is making maintenance visible, repeatable and something the team can own.

Choosing a current platform

I’ve set Windows Server 2025 as the direction for new deployments rather than continuing with 2022. Some application teams pushed back because it meant more compatibility testing. I explained the lifecycle and security reasons for staying current, and the overall response was accepting.

What I would rebuild

I’d like to modernise a business application currently delivered through an RDS farm in Azure. I would assess Azure Virtual Desktop, managed database options such as Azure SQL serverless, and availability across zones. Those are design goals for a future rebuild, subject to application compatibility and recovery testing; the aim is better responsiveness and fewer interruptions.

Less infrastructure to maintain

I’d also assess Azure Files with DFS namespaces so people have a consistent route to their files, while reducing the Windows servers we maintain just to host shares. For Hyper-V hosts, I’d prefer Server Core where supported. Each change should reduce routine upkeep without making support or recovery harder.

Team

Four engineers, one team

Two on site and two in the Philippines, all working the same estate. I set priorities, take the hardest escalations, and try not to be the only person who can.

4engineers: 2 on site, 2 in the Philippines

Where I sit

I report to the EUC and WinTel Manager and act as second in command across end-user computing and Windows servers. The team works across on-site and offshore delivery, so priorities and documentation need to make sense wherever someone is working.

How we work

Weekly sprints and a shared Kanban board beside the ticketing system. Living OneNote documentation instead of scattered document versions, plus runbooks, as-built designs and incident reports.

How people grow

A Level 2 service desk engineer in the Philippines joined with no server experience. I mentored him step by step, and he now owns patching end to end in ManageEngine Patch Manager. I also teach Azure, Infrastructure as Code, and how to draft scripts with AI, then review and test them.

Earning trust

Earning the team’s trust was harder than putting the team together. As a younger lead, I had to show experienced colleagues what I could contribute. I laid out a methodical roadmap, followed through on the work and kept making the case that we could improve our part of the estate. Trust grew through that consistency.

What I want people to experience

Someone who works hard, does the right thing by the client and takes responsibility when things get difficult. I set the direction and back the team. When something goes wrong, the buck stops with me.

Toolkit

The tools, and automation the team can read

A Microsoft estate, automated where it counts. Infrastructure as code is only an improvement if more than one person can safely change it.

ARM → BicepAzure deployments, simplified

The problem and the fix

Deployments leaned on advanced PowerShell only its author could safely change. I moved Azure to Bicep, with backup and disaster recovery modules, and documented the scripts for junior engineers.

AI, on purpose

I use AI to draft infrastructure code quickly, as a better search engine, and to stay on top of tasks and email. The team rule: draft with AI, then review and test before anything runs.

Melbourne changed my view of automation

When I moved to Melbourne in 2021, I encountered entire line-of-business applications written in PowerShell to manage Active Directory. Until then, I hadn’t seen it used on that scale. It expanded my idea of what automation could do, and made maintainability just as interesting to me as capability.

Small tools matter

At a previous employer I wrote PowerShell that recovered around 30,000 deleted emails for a client. Automation earns its place by solving a real problem. Sometimes that is a reusable deployment module; sometimes it is a focused script that gets someone’s work back.

Credentials

Microsoft certified, and recognised by peers

Azure architecture and administration certifications, a Windows Server foundation, and years of community work with Microsoft’s Windows Insider programme.

AZ-305Azure Solutions Architect Expert · renewed through October 2027
AZ-104Azure Administrator Associate · renewed through October 2027

Azure Fundamentals · AZ-900

March 2024. The foundation for the two Azure certifications above.

Windows Server and study

MCSA: Windows Server 2016 (2018), building on earlier MCSE, MCSA and MCP certifications. I completed a two-year Diploma in IT Networking at Varsity College in 2006.

Community

Microsoft MVP, Windows Insider, 2016 to 2018. Windows Insider since 2014. I also volunteered as an adviser at SeniorNet from 2017 to 2019, helping people become more comfortable with technology.

Putting the learning to work

The useful part of study is bringing it back to the estate: understanding Azure design choices, explaining them to engineers and building deployments other people can maintain. I first earned AZ-104 in July 2024 and AZ-305 in August 2024, and have kept both current.

Selected work

Decisions, delivery and what changed

Four case studies in infrastructure leadership: developing people, managing change, sharing capability and restoring service.

What connects the work

Each example involves making a difficult situation easier for other people to manage: sharing knowledge, planning a migration, simplifying automation or keeping an incident moving toward recovery. The technical fix and the way the team works both matter.

How these are written

These are short accounts of work I led or carried out with the team. They describe the starting point, my responsibility and what changed. Clients are anonymised, and the figures are kept to the scope needed to understand the work.

How I think and lead

Build capability. Reduce dependence.

The estate should become easier to operate, and the team more capable of operating it. I judge an improvement by what it makes possible for the people who come after me.

3rules I come back to

Greatness is a choice

Standards show up in ordinary work: keeping the roadmap useful, documenting a change and following through on something I said I would fix. That consistency helped me earn the trust of experienced engineers when I became their lead.

Call, don’t message

When something is urgent or tangled, I pick up the phone. A conversation gives people room to explain the problem and ask questions. During a difficult incident, I stay available to stakeholders while we work through the technical cause.

Radical responsibility

The buck stops with me. I’m responsible for the direction I set, the support the team gets and the work we put in front of a client. When something goes wrong, I want to understand it, help put it right and make the learning available to everyone.

Be clear when the answer is no

Moving new server deployments toward Windows Server 2025 meant asking application teams to do more testing. I explained the longer-term lifecycle and security reasons, listened to the pushback and kept the direction clear. Good leadership includes explaining a decision that creates work for someone else.

Beyond the day job

Leading people outside of work too

Community service, conversations, software and music. Different parts of my life, each worth doing properly.

WritingPersonal essays and projects at kyledunkerley.com

Board member · Southern Cross Church

From 2023 to 2025, I served on the board, reviewing finances and taking part in decisions about remuneration, equipment and events. It was a different form of responsibility from running infrastructure: considering how money and practical decisions supported the people and activities of the church. I contributed as one member of the board, with decisions made together.

Co-host · The XboxCast

Since 2017, I’ve helped plan, record and publish a technology and gaming podcast. I also rebuilt its website from the ground up when WordPress no longer met our needs. It’s an example of being willing to make a substantial change when the existing approach has stopped serving the people using it.

Founder · Southlight I/O

My privacy-first software studio is where I build products with AI-assisted development. It gives me room to work through an idea, make the implementation decisions and turn it into something people can use.

Practice beyond work

I’ve completed 75 Hard three times. I also write at kyledunkerley.com, where there’s space for the personal stories, ideas and interests that don’t fit a professional profile. Both are part of how I keep choosing work that asks something of me.

Made By Humans

Music with energy, made to be used

My independent music project: instrumental rock and metal with electronic and cinematic elements. Separate from Southlight I/O, and a place for a different kind of creativity.

Apple MusicListen to Made By HumansSpotifyListen to Made By Humans

Why I started

I wanted an energetic alternative to lo-fi background music: instrumental music with enough character to listen to closely, and enough room for someone to work, stream or create alongside it. Made By Humans grew out of wanting that music to exist.

The sound

InstruMETAL is a five-track EP that moves through hope, tension, struggle and victory. Guitars and drums share space with electronic textures and more cinematic passages. The first single, Victory Spurs Us Onwards, captures the feeling of a hard-won finish.

For other creators

The project’s purpose is a library of royalty-free rock and metal for streams, videos and other creative work, as well as listening in its own right. My introduction explains the music, its intended use and the thinking behind it.

Why the name matters

Made By Humans reflects my belief that making things has value in itself. Choosing the notes, working through an idea and putting something personal into the world are part of the point.

Career and perspective

Choosing the difficult move

From South Africa to New Zealand, then Melbourne. Each move asked me to start again, learn quickly and take on a little more responsibility.

March 2011Joined Prophecy Networks in New Zealand
August 2019Joined LANtech in New Zealand

Leaving home

Leaving South Africa for New Zealand was a big change. It meant leaving my homeland to work toward a better future. I carry that willingness into the rest of my life: a difficult decision can be worth making when it creates room to grow.

Prophecy · Starting in support

I joined Prophecy Networks in March 2011 in Level 1 NOC support. A Windows 8.1 and Office 365 rollout at Napier Port led to an ongoing on-site support role because of how I handled the project.

Napier Port · Growing responsibility

My responsibilities kept expanding within that one role: Level 1, 2 and 3 support, Active Directory, Office 365 and infrastructure scripting. I stayed on site until 2018. It taught me to take ownership of the whole environment as well as the immediate support request.

Prophecy · Microsoft Solutions Specialist

In 2018 I returned from the on-site assignment to Prophecy as a Microsoft Solutions Specialist. I worked with clients on Azure AD and identity and access management solutions, bringing what I had learned running an environment into conversations about what they needed next.

LANtech · August 2019

As a System Administrator in a traditional MSP, I was the technical contact for smaller clients, often around 15 people per site. I covered Microsoft 365, laptops, licensing and infrastructure support, and contributed to Statements of Work. Building confidence meant understanding each client’s environment and following through.

Melbourne · 2021

I joined DXC Technology as a contract WinTel System Administrator in January 2021 and became a team lead that August. Seeing entire Active Directory management applications built in PowerShell expanded my view of automation. I went on to lead four engineers across a hybrid estate, with the internal title of Associate Manager from 2026.

PIR-01 · Case study

Rebuilding a team around its engineers

Major staffing changes folded our Windows infrastructure function into a wider end-user computing group.

4engineers, one working team

Situation

I was given one onsite and two offshore engineers and had to build a working team around them.

What I did

Introduced weekly sprints and a shared Kanban board, moved documentation to living notes engineers could update, and taught Azure and Infrastructure as Code on the job. The roadmap gave us a shared direction alongside the immediate demands of the ticket queue.

The harder part

As a younger lead, I had to earn the confidence of more experienced colleagues. Laying out the work methodically and following through showed that I was committed to improving our domain. The title alone could not do that.

Outcome

Engineers who started in desktop support now carry server responsibility. One, promoted from the service desk with no server background, now runs patching end to end. Work that used to wait for me can now be shared across the team.

What I learned

I enjoy seeing people take on work they could not have handled before. Giving someone a clear direction and the support to learn builds more lasting capability than keeping every difficult task for myself.

PIR-02 · Case study

Moving production through a business separation

A business separation meant new infrastructure and a new domain across Australia and New Zealand. My first major assignment here.

50+physical hosts moved

Situation

New servers, a new domain and a hard deadline, with the business still running on the old estate.

What I did

Owned delivery end to end apart from procurement: build standards, installation, outage windows, cutover plans and structured decommissioning. That included coordinating stakeholders so the technical work and the business timetable stayed connected.

Managing the change

The challenge was carrying out the separation while people still depended on the existing estate. Planned outage windows and a clear cutover sequence gave the work structure. The servers were one part of a wider operational change.

Outcome

Around 100 virtual machines moved as part of the programme. A later three-week migration moved 14 more across two sites. Both involved taking responsibility for the delivery, including the work needed to retire what we had replaced.

PIR-03 · Case study

Automation the whole team can read

Advanced PowerShell that only its author could safely change is a risk, however clever it is.

ARM → Bicepand simpler scripts

Situation

Azure deployments depended on complicated scripts and one person’s memory.

What I did

Moved deployments from ARM templates to Bicep, including modules for backup and disaster recovery. I simplified the PowerShell and documented it for junior engineers, then taught the concepts alongside the work.

The design decision

Seeing whole business applications built in PowerShell had shown me what automation could achieve. In a shared estate, that power needs to be understandable. The useful question is whether another engineer can read a deployment, change it and support it.

Outcome

More consistent deployments and fewer manual steps, with knowledge shared beyond the original author. Documentation and simpler scripts gave junior engineers a clearer route into maintaining the automation themselves.

PIR-04 · Case study

A restored server that wouldn’t rejoin the domain

A Windows Server 2012 machine in Azure crashed after updates and had to be restored.

3amwhen it was back

Situation

After the restore the server could not authenticate. Domain trust, password age and the computer account were all in question while stakeholders waited.

What I did

Stayed on the incident bridge, answered stakeholder questions and continued the technical investigation. I worked through the domain trust and computer-account issues, then scripted a computer-account reset to restore access.

Leading during the incident

People needed both a working service and someone who could explain where the investigation stood. I kept doing both as the work continued into the early morning. Staying with the problem mattered more than offering a quick answer before we understood it.

Outcome

The server was back online around 3am. The root cause went into a written incident report so that the recovery and the cause were recorded for the team. Restoring the machine was one step; restoring its ability to authenticate was what brought the service back.