Staff-level engineer and hands-on engineering manager with over 13 years building and operating customer-facing web applications, APIs, cloud platforms, and enterprise infrastructure on AWS. Designed and delivered production systems using Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js, React, and SQL serving thousands of users. Brings end-to-end ownership across architecture, implementation, deployment, reliability, operations, and product evolution.
Built and led engineering and IT teams for 11 years while remaining an active technical contributor. Proven track record transforming legacy monoliths and on-premises systems into cloud-native, serverless, and distributed architectures. Deep expertise across platform engineering, DevOps, infrastructure, real-time streaming, data platforms, security, and AI-assisted development workflows. Experienced directing IT infrastructure, cloud, security, compliance, and operational initiatives in resource-constrained environments.
Known for operating effectively in ambiguous, high-pressure environments, aligning technology strategy with business outcomes, and combining strategic leadership with practical engineering execution. Strong cross-functional collaboration and a builder mindset focused on delivering scalable, maintainable systems that solve real operational problems and create value.
Skills
Languages
Python
JavaScript
TypeScript
SQL
Bash
CFML
AI & Automation
AI-Assisted Engineering Workflows
RAG (Amazon Bedrock)
AI Agents
MCP Servers
Vector Search & Embeddings
Prompt Engineering
Backend & APIs
Node.js
REST APIs
AWS Lambda
API Gateway
Serverless Architecture
Distributed Systems
Event-Driven Architecture
Real-Time Streaming
Frontend
React
HTML/CSS
Responsive Web Applications
Cloud & Infrastructure
EC2
Elastic Beanstalk
Lambda
RDS
Aurora
S3
CloudFront
ECS
EKS
Cognito
Amplify
Kinesis
VPC
IAM
CloudWatch
CloudFormation
AWS SAM
Terraform
Docker
Kubernetes
Helm
Linux
Databases & Data
MySQL
Aurora
DynamoDB
Redshift
ElastiCache (Redis/Valkey)
SQL Server
AWS Glue
Athena
Apache Iceberg
Data Modeling
Data Vault
Security & Governance
AWS Organizations
IAM & Identity Center
GuardDuty
Security Hub
AWS Config
KMS
Secrets Manager
PCI Compliance
Zero Trust
Tools & Testing
Git
GitHub Actions
CI/CD Pipelines
Playwright
pytest
Leadership & Operations
Hiring & Onboarding
Mentoring & Coaching
Performance Management
Delivery Ownership
Incident Response
IT Service Management
Change Management
Budget Management
Work Experience
Staff Engineer
National Testing Network· – Present
Led and contributed to the rewrite of a legacy candidate portal as a mobile-friendly serverless application using React, Python, AWS Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and RDS; designed a new sign-up flow that increased registrations by approximately 20%
Designed, secured, and operated production AWS infrastructure spanning RDS, EC2, ECS, EKS, IAM, VPC networking, load balancers, CloudFront, and serverless workloads
Architected and maintained a multi-engine AWS data platform spanning Aurora, Aurora Serverless, RDS MySQL/PostgreSQL, Redshift, DynamoDB, and ElastiCache for business-critical applications serving thousands of users
Introduced Kiro and structured AI-assisted and agentic development workflows, accelerating feature delivery by approximately 60% while improving code quality and production stability
Built reusable JavaScript test libraries and Markdown-based Playwright guidance for AI coding agents, improving generated end-to-end test accuracy by an estimated 70%
Built an internal RAG assistant using Amazon Bedrock, enabling retrieval of current information about job postings and candidate pools; tuned parameters to improve response consistency
Engineered a remote proctoring platform in three weeks using Python, TypeScript, APIs, and Amazon Kinesis Video Streams, replacing a vendor solution projected to cost $50,000 and enabling continued operations during COVID-19 disruptions
Designed and implemented a video interview recording platform using LiveKit, Node.js, TypeScript, Kubernetes (EKS), and Helm, used by thousands of candidates and public safety agencies
Built a middleware integration layer using Python to bridge legacy toolsets with the Amazon RDS Data API, streamlining developer tooling and database administration workflows
Built a data lake and analytics platform using AWS Glue, Athena, Spark, Parquet, S3, Redshift, QuickSight, and Data Vault modeling to support operational reporting and business analysis
Implemented ElastiCache for Redis and Valkey (including Serverless) to provide distributed session caching across ephemeral Elastic Beanstalk, container, and serverless instances
Migrated manual RDS infrastructure to CloudFormation, designed separation-of-concerns stacks, and built a data copy service using ECS, Python, EventBridge, and RDS for PII-sanitized developer environments
Tuned SQL, indexes, execution plans, and connection behavior across transactional workloads, improving database performance by approximately 40%
Created separate AWS development environments and governance controls using AWS Organizations, IAM Identity Center, GuardDuty, Security Hub, and AWS Config
Implemented infrastructure as code and deployment automation using CloudFormation, AWS SAM, Terraform, GitHub Actions, and Python
Owned major products and features from ambiguous stakeholder requirements through implementation, production deployment, and iterative improvement
Created architecture documentation, operational procedures, security policies, development standards, and technical knowledge resources
Established and oversaw AI governance workgroup and advisory board, establishing AI use policies and tools
Senior Engineer & Engineering Manager
National Testing Network· –
Built the company's AWS platform from the ground up, migrating a fragile single-server ColdFusion/MySQL environment to Lucee, Elastic Beanstalk, and managed RDS; improved uptime by approximately 80%, performance by approximately 60%, and reduced hosting and licensing costs
Built and scaled the engineering and IT teams by approximately 150%; established internal infrastructure, engineering, and reporting teams with clear ownership and accountability
Hired and mentored engineering and infrastructure personnel while establishing expectations for production ownership, security, documentation, and continuous improvement
Established software development, change management, IT service management, information security, PCI compliance, and production support processes as the organization grew by approximately 125%
Managed production infrastructure, applications, databases, identity systems, endpoint services, vendors, and operational support while remaining a hands-on engineer delivering features across UI, backend, and database layers
Owned CloudWatch monitoring, alerting, incident response, root cause analysis, capacity planning, and cost/performance optimization across application and data layers
Led incident response and complex troubleshooting across AWS, Linux, databases, applications, networking, identity platforms, and third-party integrations
Established database reliability standards using Multi-AZ architectures, automated snapshots, point-in-time recovery, disaster recovery runbooks, and production change controls
Designed and implemented on-premises network, security (SonicWall, OSSEC), site-to-site VPNs, hybrid cloud infrastructure, and private DNS
Led PCI compliance initiatives, security controls, identity management, and governance programs
Implemented least-privilege IAM policies, role-based access controls, Cognito authentication, encryption, and credential management for systems processing sensitive candidate and payment information
Migrated customer service team from an expensive call center service to Amazon Connect, saving $12,000 per year while enabling modern features
Migrated company email from legacy POP3 to Google Workspace, enabling real-time collaboration, eliminating spam, and improving security posture
Designed and implemented company-wide remote work policies, procedures, and infrastructure including remote security and automated remediation
Participated in RFP responses and security audits with government agencies
Senior Web Developer
National Testing Network· –
Designed, developed, and maintained multiple customer-facing and internal web applications across the UI, backend, and database layers using multiple languages and frameworks
Built a custom multi-tenant licensing platform supporting registration and testing workflows for public safety agencies, licensing organizations, and candidates
Standardized Git-based development practices and built internal frameworks and reusable APIs, improving development speed by approximately 25%
Created an on-premises virtual environment hosting the company's first Git repositories, CI/CD pipeline, ticketing system, and internal development services
Developed backend applications, APIs, payment workflows, database systems, and operational automation supporting high-volume public-facing services
Created custom Linux-based secure testing kiosks distributed nationwide for secure testing by public safety candidates