About

I’m a software engineer in Chicago, IL. I’m currently the VP of Engineering at Neighborhoods.com. I really like solving hard problems around high availability systems, distributed systems, scaling, and performance.

Technical Skills

Languages: PHP, JavaScript, Python, SQL, Swift, BASH, C/C++

Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, DynamoDB, MongoDB

DevOps Tools: Amazon Web Services, Docker, Terraform, Ansible, Packer, Jenkins CI

Concepts: Application Architecture, Immutable Infrastructure, High Availability, Distributed Systems, Infrastructure Architecture, Cloud Computing

Work History

Neighborhoods.com / 55Places.com

Chicago, IL

Vice President, Engineering (2015 - Present)

I joined 55Places.com and Neighborhoods.com in early 2015 to build out the company’s internal engineering practice and lead in the creation of Neighborhoods.com. In my day-to-day I oversee the engineering team, help to coordinate business needs into technical needs, and manage our infrastructure. I also jump into development when and where needed, mostly focussing on our DevOps toolsets.

Gorilla Group

Chicago, IL

Practice Director (2013-2015)

Technical Architect (2011-2013)

Software Engineer (2010-2011)

Gorilla is an consultancy that provides design and technical implementations with a focus on e-commerce. I joined Gorilla in 2010 as a developer focussed on PHP and the Magento e-commerce platform in particular. After a year or so of successful implementations, I grew into the role of technical architect, where I helped translate client business needs into technical solutions for the development team to implement. My final role at Gorilla was as Practice Director of the company’s Magento practice. In that role I managed the company’s PHP team as well as oversaw technical processes used in developing Magento implementations.

CyberSunshine, Inc.

Fort Myers, FL

Developer (2004 - 2010)

CyberSunshine was an agency specializing in the development of custom designed websites for the real estate industry. In my role at the company, I led in the development of websites for the company’s clients. These projects involved custom-tailored solutions incorporating integrations with many MLS systems via RETS and/or flat-file ingestion.

Education

Florida Gulf Coast University

B.S. in Finance, Computer Science