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Summary

Frontend & AI Systems | Expert in turning LLMs and RAG pipelines into safe, cost-effective product features. Specializing in TypeScript/Next.js, MCP/LCP integrations, observability, and developer UX on Azure & AWS

Experience

Senior Lead Engineer / AI Systems Engineer

June 2025Current
CFA Institute, Remote, US
Brought in to rapidly prototype and productionize AI-driven developer tools and knowledge systems, owning the full stack from UX through orchestration and governance.

RAG pipelines – Delivered retrieval-augmented generation workflows on top of enterprise content, including chunking, vector indexing (Azure Blob), and golden-set evaluation harnesses to measure accuracy, latency, and cost per query.

MCP server – Built a Model Context Protocol server over existing OpenAPI 3.0 endpoints, exposing safe, authenticated, rate-limited tools to GitHub Copilot and other MCP-aware clients.

Custom VS Code integration – Developed a Local Copilot Protocol (LCP) extension providing a domain-specific entry point in the IDE, reducing context switching and accelerating prototyping for internal developers.

OpenWebUI deployment & extensions – Deployed and customized OpenWebUI with observability hooks, deterministic fallbacks, and prompt versioning to support controlled experimentation with LLM-driven features.

Governance & DX focus – Ensured all AI-enabled features were observable, cost-controlled, and compliant, while packaging SDKs and dev tools that cut time-to-prototype by 40%+.

Senior Lead Engineer

June 2023May 2025
College Board, Remote, US
Architected and delivered a greenfield enterprise platform under extreme contractual pressure (multi-state Department of Education SAT/PSAT system, ~1M students), building a reliable, scalable front end.

Turned ambiguous requirements into production-ready systems, establishing contracts, data flows, and error-handling patterns that minimized operational risk.

Introduced developer-facing tooling and SDK patterns that accelerated prototyping, standardized data contracts, and improved integration velocity across multiple teams.

Implemented observability and governance practices in the frontend: structured logging, traceability of user actions, and guardrails around data handling that aligned with compliance obligations.

Mentored and upskilled junior engineers on modern TypeScript/React practices, test harness design, and performance optimization — ensuring long-term maintainability.

Partnered cross-functionally with backend, product, and infra teams to bridge UI and system complexity, delivering resilient workflows under tight deadlines.

Contributed hands-on: built critical UI components, codified testing and CI/CD pipelines, and enforced quality standards that enabled the team to ship on schedule without contractual penalties.

~ TypeScript, React, NextJS/Amplify, RTK, Material Design, Responsive Design, Storybook, MSW JS, Biome JS, Knip JS, Node, Jest Testing, Agile/Scrum, Jira, GitHub, AWS, PostgreSQL, Privacy, Security, A11y

Principal Software Engineer

April 2018May 2023
Payrailz → Jack Henry, Remote, US

Spearheaded the formation of a technical team that developed a payment solution, later sold for over $250 million. Led the design and development of a comprehensive back-office application, empowering customers to manage client relationships while supporting Payrailz internal teams in implementation, payment operations, reporting, and support.

Mentored and coached junior engineers, instilling best practices in code quality and testing.

Contributed as a hands-on developer, crafting a substantial share of UI components.

Collaborated closely with leadership, business stakeholders, and engineering teams to drive proven results.

Provide technical expertise for other internal projects


~ Javascript, TypeScript, React, Redux, Saga, Material Design, Node, Express, Agile/Scrum, Jira Git, Bitbucket, Docker, AWS, MySQL

Lead Software Engineer

January 2010March 2018
FINRA, Rockville, MD

Was a lead UI engineer on a large green field project creating an enterprise level case
management system delivered on AWS. The application, built with an Angular front end and a Java/Spring back end, exceeded expectations upon release. It received positive feedback from both the business and users, highlighting its UX and performance.

Built on AWS cloud technologies - EC2, S3, ELB, VPC, Cloud Formation, IAM
Defined REST endpoints - including versioning, documenting and following best practices
Developed completely within an Agile environment using TDD and CI/CD
Provided technical guidance for the team
Guided new hires and junior team members, fostering their growth through mentorship and best practices
Partnered with Product Managers to define the vision for the new system
Partnered with Solution Architects to define a microservices based architecture

~ AngularJS, Material Design, Webpack, Babel, Git, Karma, Protractor, JSData (ORM), Lerna (monorepo)

A technology refresh of an enterprise dashboard and reporting platform, it was converted from jQuery to
AngularJS and with a reusable component architecture. This refactoring allowed the development team to deliver features faster and with higher quality.

~ AngularJS, Bootstrap, jQuery UI, JavaScript, Gulp


Implemented two solutions on Documentum APIs namely an Outlook Add-In which allows users to navigate and store email and attachments directly to the repository and a lightweight plug-and-play browse
container for documents.

~ C#, WPF, jQuery, GWT, SOAP

Lead Software Developer

January 2009December 2010
Sigma Digital X-Ray, Chicago, IL

Built from scratch an imaging software application to capture, display, annotate and clean-up digital x-ray
images using an image processing SDK.

Selected and implemented all frameworks, including LEADTOOLS and SQLite, as the sole architect, ensuring a robust and scalable foundation for development
Delivered a successful beta in less than 8 months

~ .NET, C#, WPF, LEADTOOLS Pro, SQLite

Software Engineer / Development Manager

January 1998December 2009
OpenText, Chicago, IL

Developed innovative software solutions for Enterprise Content Management - key member of the core development team. Built, managed, and supported OpenText's premiere modules, including workflow, records management, and email. Progressed from Software Engineer to Development Manager, leading a team of six engineers and driving technical excellence.

~ Java, OScript, Oracle

Application Engineer

January 1991December 1998
Kimberly-Clark, Appleton, WI

Co-developed a microfiche viewing system for the web in 1995. This was the first intranet application for Kimberly-Clark. That success was followed up with a second web application for managing CAD drawings.

~ C, C++, CGI

Education

TypeScript Pro Complete

June 2024
Total Typescript - Matt Pocock

Completed an exercise-driven course focused on mastering TypeScript's advanced concepts, including generics, type transformations, and debugging techniques. Developed a systematic approach to solving type errors and optimizing type safety in complex applications.

Advanced React Patterns Workshop

August 2024
React Training

 Completed an in-depth workshop on advanced React component design and patterns, focusing on reusable components, React 19 features, and modern development strategies.