Seasoned T-shaped software engineer, deeply skilled in front-end technologies like ReactJS, TypeScript, and GraphQL, complemented by impactful contributions to high-scale distributed backend systems. I am passionate about crafting delightful and reliable user experiences that captivate and satisfy users. With over two decades in the tech trenches, I've mastered the art of making complex systems play nicely together.
Work Experience
Tech Lead CloudKitchens 2020–Present
Remote
- Tech Lead and primary developer of multiple customer onboarding flows from conception through launch, enabling self-service onboarding for small business customers and bulk onboarding for enterprise customers.
- Partnered with product managers and designers to define new products, refine existing ones, and establish a long-term product roadmap for both internal and external customers.
- Designed and developed reusable "widgets" in TypeScript and ReactJS, allowing teams across the company to easily embed third-party service integrations into their applications, reducing cross-team engineering effort and support costs.
- Championed the adoption of GraphQL across the company, developing a robust schema design for a high-scale gateway that orchestrates data retrieval from hundreds of microservices, significantly improving UX interation speed and data efficiency.
- Utilized a diverse tech stack including TypeScript, ReactJS, GraphQL, Cypress, Jest, Java, gRPC, CockroachDB, Kubernetes, and Bazel to deliver high-quality, performant solutions across the stack.
Senior Software Engineer II Formidable Labs 2018–2020
Architect Remote
- Led full-stack architecture and technical direction for high-profile client projects, from innovative startups to Fortune 100 companies.
- Developed a China-first B2B ecommerce system for a multi-national life sciences corporation using GraphQL, TypeScript, Next.js, and MongoDB, ensuring robust and scalable solutions with automated testing (Jest and React Testing Library).
- Increased revenue for a major international clothing retailer by enhancing real-user website performance, utilizing React, Next.js, Node.js, Enzyme, and Jest to deliver faster and more reliable user experiences.
- Engineered multiple SaaS products for a faith-based startup, driving projects from conception to market with technologies like GraphQL, React (Next.js), TypeScript, Node (Nest.js), Kubernetes (EKS), AWS, and automated testing frameworks.
- Participated in the hiring process and mentored engineers, fostering a culture of code quality and best practices.
- Actively contributed to Formidable’s popular open-source projects, demonstrating a commitment to community and collaborative development.
Senior Software Engineer Dealer Inspire (acquired by cars.com) 2015–2018
Lead Developer Remote
- Modernized and led the development of a React-based live chat product ("Conversations") serving the automotive industry.
- Created a React-based embedded live chat widget used on thousands of automotive dealership websites, featuring deep integration with IBM Watson for advanced chatbot functionality, improving automated lead generation.
- Architected a hybrid Node and PHP-based API to support multiple front-end applications, including web, iOS, and Android platforms, ensuring seamless integration and high performance.
- Conducted code reviews and mentored junior developers, promoting code quality and best practices to ensure maintainable and scalable solutions.
Founder and Head Geek Internet Retail Connection 2003-2015
Baton Rouge, LA
- Sole software engineer responsible for designing, maintaining, and scaling a custom eCommerce system from scratch, encompassing both front-end websites and back-end inventory and order management systems, driving over $50 million in revenue.
- Administered Red Hat Linux and CentOS Linux servers within an Apache/MySQL/PHP environment, ensuring robust and reliable infrastructure for a lean staff of fewer than 15 employees.
- Integrated internal systems with external vendor platforms to automate inventory management, order processing, and customer service, significantly enhancing operational efficiency.
- Developed and maintained interfaces for various external APIs, including Amazon, Facebook, UPS, USPS, FedEx, eBay, Cybersource Fraud Scoring, and Chase Paymentech, streamlining data flow and improving system interoperability.
Education
- BS, Information Systems & Decision Sciences, Louisiana State University, Summa Cum Laude
- BA, Music, Louisiana State University, Summa Cum Laude
Technologies & Languages
- Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Java, PHP, SQL
- Technologies: React, GraphQL, Node.js, Next.js, Jest, Cypress, Microfrontends, gRPC, Microservices, PostgresQL, CockroachDB, DynamoDB, React Native
- Other: Product design, remote work, API design, mentorship, technical speaking, technical leadership
Side Project
Salty Solutions is a passion project that I designed and built in my spare time using TypeScript, React Native, GraphQL, Lambda, and DynamoDB.
I am an avid saltwater fisherman and I created Salty Solutions to answer a question that I'm always asking myself: when should I go fishing? There are lots of great apps available with information about weather, tides, and more. However, none of them gave me everything that I wanted to know in a way that could be quickly viewed and easily digested. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I thought, "hey, I can make something decent enough for personal use."
It now has thousands of monthly active users, many of them paying for premium features, and a 4.8/5 rating on the app store.
GitHub, GitHub Mobile App, Web Application, App Store
Speaking
- Game of Types: A Song of GraphQL & TypeScript (GraphQL Summit, San Francisco, CA)
- Introduction to React with Redux (Acadiana Software Group, Lafayette, LA)
- Writing Readable Code (Dealer Inspire Company Summit, Chicago, IL)
- Typescript: writing JavaScript without the pain (Acadiana Software Group, Lafayette, LA)
- Automated Testing (Dealer Inspire Company Summit, Chicago, IL)
- GraphQL for Neophytes (Acadiana Software Group, Lafayette, LA)