Josh Stiles
Josh Stiles

Engineer by Trade, Builder at Heart

Solver of Weird, Hard Problems

Exploring AI, One Prototype at a Time

Building Tools for Creators on the Side

Still Figuring Out What "Done" Means

Josh Stiles
Josh Stiles

Engineer by Trade, Builder at Heart

Solver of Weird, Hard Problems

Exploring AI, One Prototype at a Time

Building Tools for Creators on the Side

Still Figuring Out What "Done" Means

Download CV Contact Me
About Me
Hey, There hi

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
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
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
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
Apr. 2025 - Present
Staff Full Stack Engineer
Etsy
  • Founding engineer on Etsy's new Shop AI team, establishing early technical direction for the team's first AI-driven initiatives.
  • Designed and built exploratory AI/LLM proofs of concept to augment shop and seller discovery experiences.
  • Partnered closely with Product, UX, and Research to scope and validate AI-driven concepts in a high-ambiguity, greenfield environment.
  • Integrated AI experimentation into existing React and PHP systems with attention to scalability and future productionization.
Principal Engineer / Technical Co-Founder
Sept. 2024 - Mar. 2025
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.
Principal Engineer
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.
Senior Application Developer
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.
Application Developer (Data Science)
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.
Lead Senior Web Developer
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
July 4, 2026 Lean: I Built a Game Where Changing Your Mind Is the Whole Point

The question that broke my team wasn’t the one I expected. It was: one animal becomes the only pet anyone…
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…

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