Portland, Oregon, United States
I've spent the last 20 years assisting engineering organizations operate and deliver on challenging problems. My work sits at the intersection of systems design, execution, and people leadership. I believe that designing and evolving the base operating systems allow engineering teams to reliably and predictably create results. It requires focus on tooling, process, architecture, and actual org structure. I've led engineering and related functions from the very beginning of a company to global groups operating at massive scale, including responsibility for platform systems, developer experience, security and compliance, and cross team execution. My background covers games, consumer tech, infrastructure, and creative tools with a consistent focus on clarity and impact. I'm most effective in environments that value thoughtful execution, clear decision making, and an interest in creating a high performing and sustainable pace. I find this is especially valuable in mature or growing organizations that need stability, coordination, and trusted leadership. I've previously served as VP of Engineering, Director of Engineering, and Cofounder, and I continue to be hands on whenever it can create leverage.
Professional instruction with a positive community. See more on our linked Instagram. I am an instructional assistant as well - send me a message if you'd like to learn more!
Scaled a game studio to 17 people, owning engineering operations, technical leadership, and people processes while remaining hands-on in the development of core game systems and tooling in Unreal Engine 5. - Led hands-on development of core systems, internal tooling, and engine-level integrations, including a patent-pending AI-powered assistive creative tool. - Implemented online services using Pragma Platform, including custom services built on their framework. - Owned engineering operations for the studio, including team structure, delivery cadence, and decision-making frameworks under early-stage constraints. - Led efforts to introduce more outcome-oriented development practices, emphasizing hypothesis-driven prototyping and explicit success criteria.
Hired to build and stabilize the engineering organization responsible for the sales-to-contract lifecycle for Palmetto’s solar installation platform. - Scaled the team from 8 to 15 engineers while establishing the operating model, delivery cadence, and role clarity for a growing product area. - Designed and implemented team chartering, goal-setting, and performance management practices to improve alignment and execution predictability. - Developed career paths, titles, and leveling frameworks aligned with industry standards; mentored and promoted an internal engineer into an Engineering Manager role. - Established hiring standards, interview structure, and evaluation criteria; served as primary interviewer for open engineering roles. - Led cross-functional coordination with product and business stakeholders to support the company’s first direct-to-consumer product launch. - Improved platform readiness through data model revisions, public API standards, and forward-looking system design. (Role eliminated following organizational changes driven by macroeconomic conditions; team continuity and leadership coverage maintained.)
Recruited by the CEO to lead engineering, quality, and data functions during a period of organizational transition and strategic reassessment. - Led a multidisciplinary organization of 27 across Engineering, QA, and Data, including 5 managers, with responsibility for execution, quality, and delivery standards. - Reorganized teams around clear problem spaces and ownership boundaries to improve focus and delivery clarity. - Established engineering quality bars and development standards, including the company’s first automated client testing. - Implemented mentorship and support structures to strengthen leadership effectiveness across the organization. - Evaluated and implemented remote-work infrastructure to enable continuity and productivity across distributed teams. (Role concluded following a board-directed change in company strategy and executive leadership.)
Managed engineering execution for the user experience and delivery of AWS Training, a globally visible customer-facing platform. - Owned team execution, delivery planning, and cross-functional coordination for aws.training. - Partnered with design, product, and stakeholder teams to support roadmap delivery and operational priorities. - Operated within Amazon’s leadership, planning, and delivery mechanisms while maintaining focus on execution quality and team health. (Departed after the role diverged materially from the scope and mandate described during hiring.)