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About Me

Hey, There

I’m a results-driven engineer with over 15 years of experience designing and optimizing software systems for everything from startups to Fortune 500 companies. My strengths lie in crafting reliable, efficient solutions—whether that’s architecting microservices in Go, optimizing legacy PHP/Laravel applications, or orchestrating DevOps pipelines in AWS or Google Cloud.

Above all, I believe in practical problem-solving and mentoring teams to produce clean, maintainable code. If you’re looking for someone who can jump into complex challenges, streamline processes, and boost performance, I’m your guy!

My Services

API Architecture & Development

Designing scalable microservices, RESTful APIs, and integrations that power modern applications.

Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps

Expertise in AWS, Google Cloud, Docker, Terraform, CI/CD pipelines, and container orchestration.

Performance Optimization

Profiling and refactoring codebases, optimizing databases, and reducing infrastructure costs.

Technical Leadership & Mentoring

Guiding cross-functional teams, enforcing coding standards, and driving efficient project execution.

Testimonials

Josh consistently demonstrated exceptional technical and leadership skills. He streamlined our development processes and optimized our AWS infrastructure, significantly improving performance. His thorough code reviews and collaborative spirit made him a key player in our agile development process.

Kyle Schmidt

Co-Founder, CEO at BluePipes

Josh is a highly technical and self-driven engineering leader with persistent interest in making systems run efficiently. With little direction, he could modernize legacy systems, push forward implementations, and architect new backend solutions using the latest industry technology.

Michael Kane

Engineering Director at Age of Learning

Josh is very smart, caring, and compassionate. He has been my go-to for multiple complex projects and is an asset to any organization. He’s patient and explains why certain ideas will or won’t work—truly a pleasure to collaborate with.

Mary Hayes

Director of Research, ADPRI

Fun Facts

Countless lines of PHP, Go, and JavaScript written

Mentored 20+ engineers across multiple teams

Wrote my first program at age 5 on a commodore 64

Optimized a platform, reducing downtime from 15 minutes a day to virtually zero

Resume

Experience

Sept. 2024 - Present

Principal Engineer / Technical Co-Founder

American Web Wright

Architected an AI-driven platform for rapid, data-driven website generation and content pre-filling using OpenAI.
Wrote multiple Go (Golang) proofs of concept, separating modules for data ingestion and dynamic site generation.
Built a Laravel/PHP admin interface with role-based access to manage templates and content.
Devised Google Cloud deployment strategies for seamless scaling and rapid iteration.

Apr. 2023 - Jul. 2024

Principal Engineer

BluePipes, Inc.

Streamlined dev environment setup from 3 weeks down to less than 1 day by overhauling Docker configurations.
Implemented frequent release cycles (bi-weekly vs. bi-monthly) and spearheaded 49 successful releases.
Upgraded Solr server and adjusted AWS EC2 instances, cutting daily downtime from ~15 minutes to virtually zero.
Developed a new Laravel API (100+ endpoints) with strict coding standards, advanced linting/testing, and robust documentation.

Oct. 2019 - Feb. 2023

Senior Application Developer

Age of Learning Inc.

Planned and developed the next-gen ABCMouse 2.0 API using microservices architecture on AWS.
Reduced project complexity and time-to-release by 50% through strategic admin tool integrations.
Created 50+ new API endpoints for Adventure Academy, improving features and reliability.
Led cross-training programs for Unity developers and design teams, bridging backend knowledge gaps.

July 2015 - Oct. 2019

Application Developer (Data Science)

ADP

Overhauled the StandOut reporting system architecture, slashing average data delivery times by up to 14x.
Built and maintained APIs for the mobile app, coordinating a cross-functional dev team and QA resources.
Reduced bug count by 75% through enforcing structured coding standards and testing protocols.
Earned Honorable Mention at ADP Hackathon 2019 for an ML-based personalized coaching prototype.

Mar. 2008 - July 2015

Lead Senior Web Developer

Branning Group

Delivered hundreds of high-traffic websites (e.g., Chrysler, Crocs) with custom PHP and MySQL solutions.
Led up to 7 concurrent projects, meeting tight deadlines and exceeding client expectations.
Developed multiple reusable CMS frameworks to streamline future site launches.
Collaborated closely with designers and marketers to ensure cohesive, on-brand final products.

Skills

Programming Languages & Frameworks

PHP
GoLang
Bash/Shell
Laravel
Javascript

Databases & Data Stores

MySQL
DynamoDB
Redis/Memcached
Elasticsearch, Solr

Cloud & DevOps

AWS (CloudFormation, EC2, S3, Fargate, Lambda, etc.)
Google Cloud (Deployment strategies, Google Cloud Run, GCP APIs, etc.)
Docker & Kubernetes (containerization, orchestration, Docker Compose)
Terraform (Infrastructure as code)
CI/CD (pipeline creation, GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or other tools)
Linux and Windows management
Docker setup and maintanence

Tools & Workflow

Git

100%
Jira

75%
Composer, NPM, Yarn

85%
Code Quality & Testing

95%

Soft Skills

Technical Leadership & Mentoring (20+ engineers mentored)
Problem-Solving & Troubleshooting (performance bottlenecks, downtime reduction)
Collaboration & Communication (cross-functional teams, stakeholder alignment)
Agile/Scrum Methodologies (leading sprints, managing backlogs)

Education

2008-2011

Devry University

Bachelor of Science in Game & Simulation Programming (3.94 GPA)

Works

Real-Time Client Reporting Dashboard

Laravel, MySQL, PHP

AI-Driven Website Generation

Go(GoLang), Laravel, MySQL

Blog

March 5, 2025 How to set up your free Google Compute Engine instance

If you’re looking to experiment with cloud computing, host a personal blog, or run small-scale tests without taking on extra…

Get in Touch

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