Senior Backend and Platform Engineer

I build reliable Kotlin, Java, and Spring Boot systems that turn slow legacy workflows into fast, observable, useful platforms.

Focus: Spring Boot, GraphQL, AWS, search, migration
Based in: Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Open to: Remote preferred, willing to relocate

Technical skills

Algolia
AS400
AWS
Bash
DataDog
Docker
Elasticsearch
GitHub Actions
GraphQL
Java
JavaScript
Jenkins
Kotlin
Micrometer
MongoDB
MySQL
PostgreSQL
React
REST APIs
Rust
Snowflake
Spring Boot
SQL Server
TypeScript

Before software

I started at Boise State University intending to study Computer Science, but my heart wanted to focus on golf, so I paused my studies to pursue my dream, because as Will Smith famously said in his smash hit I'm Comin', "No Plan B, it distracts from Plan A."

I worked in the golf industry, first on a maintenance crew, then as an assistant golf professional, where the real perk was simple: I could practice and play for free. When my first child was born in 2007, golf became a now-or-never decision, so I joined the Dakotas Tour and gave it an honest try.

After money spent, miles driven, and no prize checks cashed, it was time to snap back to reality. I moved back to Boise and worked customer service jobs until I landed at Intermountain Gas Company.

Programming clicked because repetitive work kept showing me places where automation could help. I created tools with Excel/VBA and simple web technologies that greatly improved my efficiency, and my call stats improved enough that my manager took notice. That opened the door to customer support, IT project testing, business analysis, and eventually software development.

Spent chasing golf $1,000s

Miles driven 100s

Earned on tour $0

Career path

2009 - 2013 Intermountain Gas Company

Customer Service / IT Business Analyst / Developer

Started in customer service, moved into customer support and business analysis, then into software development by building practical tools for utility operations and internal teams.

Created small Excel/VBA and web tools that improved call handling and day-to-day efficiency.
Partnered with business groups to understand day-to-day workflow problems.
Turned operational needs into internal applications and customer-facing web improvements.

2013 - 2020 Bodybuilding.com

Software Engineer

Worked on BodySpace, the social side of Bodybuilding.com, across feeds, friend requests, likes, comments, notification preferences, push notifications, app store subscriptions, and workout tracking.

Supported high-traffic fitness applications handling large daily request volumes.
Helped modernize legacy application areas while keeping live customer experiences stable.
Built performance monitoring workflows that helped teams catch regressions before they reached users.

2020 - 2023 Tracer

Senior Software Engineer & Team Lead

Led backend work for a brand protection platform where large volumes of online data had to be organized, reviewed, searched, and acted on by customer teams.

Focused on ingestion, workflow, and review systems for high-volume customer queues.
Moved heavy batch-style processes toward more resilient background work.
Carried out extensive data migration work from the legacy platform into the new system.

2023 - 2026 Sunstate Equipment Co

Senior Software Engineer

Worked on backend platform modernization for an equipment rental business, focused on making core rental, customer, equipment, and operational data easier for teams and systems to use.

Helped move legacy-backed workflows toward API-driven services for rental operations.
Improved search and data access patterns for customer and equipment information.
Supported operational reporting flows that made equipment data more current and useful.

Mentoring future engineers

Outside of work, I help mentor a local FIRST Tech Challenge team. I coach student programmers through software design, debugging, iterative development, and the practical problem solving it takes to make a robot reliable under competition pressure.

Software design Debugging habits Iterative delivery Competition readiness

RoboRecon scouting platform

After our team developed a Google Sheets-based scouting system, I saw the opportunity for it to become a proper web application. I worked with the team to build RoboRecon so students and mentors could compare events, team stats, match histories, and robot data across desktop and mobile.

Find events fast

Event indexes make it easy to move from a broad season view into a specific tournament or division.

Drill into teams

Team pages bring match history and pit scouting context together for quick pre-match decisions.

Compare performance

Side-by-side views help mentors and students understand tradeoffs instead of guessing from memory.

Keep strategy portable

The mobile layout preserves the same workflow for drive teams who need answers away from a laptop.