I have been in the IT industry for more than 25 years and have done everything from building/repairing computers, technical support, architecting networks, managing a WAN of 37 satellite offices, designing/building/maintaining multiple websites, and managing all things IT for a startup. Technology has been a passion of mine since I was eleven years old; taking anything electronic apart to find out how it worked, or fix something broken, or modify it to do something other than for what it was intended. I love to learn and have spent my career teaching myself everything I needed when I needed it. If I don't know how to do something that I need to do, I will quickly learn. I have worked in both state government and private industry. I built computers to order in the early 90s, Visual Basic and MSAccess applications in the late 90s and early 2000s, and have moved on to building robust SaaS applications for small businesses since 2002. I love to create solutions to problems, and have found that no problem is unsolvable. The solution may be hidden or counter-intuitive, but it is always there somewhere. The best solutions are the ones that make a system or process more efficient or meet a need more elegantly than what was first thought possible. Challenges are meant to be daunting. If it isn't daunting, then it isn't a challenge.
Dynamic strategist of issue identification, resolution, and risk mitigation regarding integrity of production data. Investigated production data showing poor quality and issued corrective action/remediation. Ideated new features that enhanced products and applications, while resolving bugs and inefficiencies. Presented project feasibilities through proof-of-concept applications. Problem-solved critical and emerging patterns for greenfield project and spearheaded overall IT security for applications.
- Mentored, equipped, and empowered 4 technical team members.
- Bolstered production data accuracy and efficiency through resolution of critical data integrity issues. Applied security measures that mitigated for data breach risks, while elevating the customer experience and trust.
- Developed 3 proof of concept applications that garnered positive feedback from key stakeholders, resulting in in project adoptions.
- Instrumental contributor in performing meticulous architectural and code review that enhanced code quality and sustainability.
Proactive leader of engineering management at a leading wholesale distributor of AI-powered cloud-based solutions. Tasked with enhancing functions for the Laravel/VueJS application and building software development kit (SDKs) for over 4 third party APIs. Facilitated regular internal/external team meetings to identify technical issues and outline resolution action plans.
- Directed, motivated, and mentored an Agile development team. Delegated priorities, utilized GitLab for issue resolution, performed final code reviews, and executed seamless production deployments.
- Pivotal role in enterprise Google Platform account management, Kubernetes deployments, and application administration impacting thousands of users.
- Stepped into the interim Development Team Manager role in March 2022 after the Director of Engineering departed the company. Engaged with executive leaders and key stakeholders to compile project requirements.
Product Labs is a technology enabled consumer products company that utilizes proprietary software to acquire, operate, and scale brands in the $500B Amazon eCommerce space. As part of a small agile team, I created or modified many UI elements and pages, as well adding new, or modifying existing functionalities in the APIs used in the company's flagship application. I also built and maintained many different bots that were used to acquire/transform data used in that application. Due to the need for oversight of processes, and proactive administration of such, I also created an email reporting structure to notify of process status and statistics in order to catch system/data acquisition failures as early as possible.
Accomplishments
- Maintained multiple Digital Ocean LAMP instances that served APIs, bot, UIs, and MySQL instances.
- Modified multiple Laravel APIs used for the flagship application by adding or modifying functionality, in order to expand application offerings.
- Rewrote and refactored large portions of the JS, and HTML in the UI. This allowed the team to cut development time for new additions considerably, and created better UX.
- Created multiple bots used in data acquisition and data transformation using PHP and SimpleHTMLDom, in order to produce more and better curated data for the clients.
- Modified existing bots to handle error capturing better, deal with data sources that had changed or modified their structure or location, and add functionality, reviving bots that no longer worked, and broadening the base of acquired data for client usage.
- Created multiple email notifications and reports for administration and scheduling of jobs, data acquisition bots, and data manipulation processing and reporting. This allowed us to become more proactive in quickly identifying and resolving any issues in the data acquisition and reporting processes.
Over 15 years, this company had many names, and I developed many SaaS applications for each. I developed strategies for business applications in niche markets, developing said applications and delivering outstanding results in compressed timelines. Partner with CEO to get agreement on strategic direction for technology roadmaps and consensus on project priority. Decipher CEO’s requests for new services or updates, and implement them quickly and effectively. Acquire or architect, and implement, all business applications and support platforms for company. Coach and develop IT, and secondary support/training staff, to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction with company products and support. Serve as lead developer and project manager, when working with third party contract developers or companies to guarantee desired outcome.
Accomplishments
● Designed, developed, and maintained Send Me A Friend, a multi-language referral system for automotive dealers in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. (PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript/MYSQL/iOS/Android)
● Developed and maintained the Brophy Development Systems Inc. SaaS, allowing automotive dealers to recover and develop past customers as repeat customers, and sources for used vehicles. (PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript/MYSQL)
● Designed, developed and maintained Brophy Media Services SaaS, offering automotive dealers access to advertising agencies, and a staging system for evaluating and accepting submissions from them. Also assisted in development and maintenance of Android and iOS mobile apps and their API. (PHP/HTML/CSS/Javascript/MYSQL/FLASH)
● Project Lead and Lead developer for white-labeling our flagship application Sendmeafriend, for Hyundai USA as HyundaiFriends.com
● Managed and migrated sites and services on multiple servers/services over the years. Beginning on a VPS, then to Dedicated Linux(CENTOS), and finally to AWS EC2 Ubuntu/ AmazonLinux and RDS instances, as well as Elastic Beanstalk.Managed and migrated sites and services on multiple servers/services over the years. Beginning on a VPS, then to Dedicated Linux(CENTOS), and finally to AWS EC2 Ubuntu/ AmazonLinux and RDS instances, as well as Elastic Beanstalk.
● Managed various email servers/services and eventually migrated to Google Apps for Work (GSuite)
Providing technical support and assist IT director in maintenance and administration of the Windows NT/2000 LAN/WAN, as well as the eight other satellite dealerships. Build and maintain custom in-house applications and intranet services for all of the Little Rock/North Little Rock dealerships within the company (MSAccess/ColdFusion).
Co-founded JCL Technologies for the purpose of developing and selling the MyCarSystem, an application used by collision repair centers to give their customers process updates for the repair of their vehicles.
Administration of Windows NT/2000 LAN with 70 + engineering and support users, within a larger WAN of over 3000 users. Administration and maintenance of MS SQL server, IIS, GIS database server, and all users’ desktops. I maintained a backup regimen including all 9 servers in mission critical positions, and various mission critical users’ desktops. Maintained and updated all desktops, and performed preventive maintenance as well as repair and replacements. Managed an inventory database of all computers, printers and user information.
Administration of a LAN/WAN of 54 satellite Offices on an NT domain with 550 + Windows NT users, and Exchange accounts. Administration and maintenance of all SQL servers, NT Terminal Servers, an SNA Server, IIS, in a server farm of 9 machines, and all in-house software. Determine and design individual satellite office network needs. Research and analysis of software and hardware for departmental use. Determine agency, and user needs and create software if needed. Instruct users in the use of and maintenance of all new hardware, and software.
Dean's List
Member of IEEE