Experience

eSimplicity

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Chief of Staff, Agile Delivery

  • Jun 2023 - Present



Ad Hoc LLC

• United States
• Software Development
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Director Of Engineering

  • Jun 2021 - Jun 2023

  At Ad Hoc I have led the organization's engineering efforts on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with more than 90 engineers reporting to me across more than a half-dozen programs. I evaluate and iterate on our current capabilities, identify opportunities for growth and ensure our VA digital strategies are properly implemented and regularly reviewed. My teams built the flagship VA Mobile app, serving millions of Veterans across the US, and built the platform underpinning VA.gov and other VA digital efforts. I revised and improved hiring practices across the organization and was integral in initial planning and staffing of an all-new six-team, $20 million-plus VA program, for which I was asked to step in as Program Manager. Show less



18F

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Innovation Specialist | Engineering Director | Chief of Practices

  • Sep 2017 - Jun 2021

  As Chief of Practices I was responsible for operational excellence and supporting our Federal government technology transformation efforts. I led the Acquisition, Account Management, Design, Engineering, and Product departments, with more than 100 people reporting to me. I promoted a diverse and inclusive remote-first distributed workforce and a supportive and empowering culture. I oversaw and implemented organization-wide hiring strategies, including the development of cross-disciplinary, inclusive hiring standards. I was responsible for overall staff capacity planning and forecasting, performance review process, and training efforts. In partnership with the Chief of Programs I created a shared set of resources to improve project delivery and client satisfaction. • Established best practices in digital services delivery, ensured that 18F followed practices and communicated them to our partners and to the larger government technology community. • Developed world-class distributed teams and virtual workplace practices. • Supervised the directors of Acquisitions, Account Management, Design, Engineering, and Product to continuously improve and develop teams and foster excellence in all of 18F’s work. • Oversaw hiring strategy and developed cross-disciplinary resources to ensure inclusive and rigorous hiring practices. • Created organization-wide annual performance plans. • Connected practices across the organization to support both projects and partners. • Oversaw documentation of 18F practices for clarity, accuracy and completeness. Show less



The Gretsch Pages

• Owner

  • 1995 - 2020

  I created the world’s leading resource and community for Gretsch guitar owners. • Designed, developed, architected, wrote and produced content. • Developed world-wide community, including both online and real-life social gatherings, with regular meet-ups and active involvement from Gretsch product planning and marketing. • Open-sourced most of the codebase, contributing back to the community. I created the world’s leading resource and community for Gretsch guitar owners. • Designed, developed, architected, wrote and produced content. • Developed world-wide community, including both online and real-life social gatherings, with regular meet-ups and active involvement from Gretsch product planning and marketing. • Open-sourced most of the codebase, contributing back to the community.



Virgin Mobile USA

• United States
• Wireless Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Manager of Web Operations

  • Aug 2016 - Sep 2017

  I managed Virgin Mobile’s digital transformation efforts from initial planning and strategy through development and deployment and was responsible for design, development and quality assurance (QA) teams. I was tasked with recognizing, envisioning and developing the infrastructure and practices needed to build a high-functioning team and deliver an all new product on a tight timeline. I managed and coached an in-house staff of 15 and maintained relationships with key internal stakeholders across teams, as well as with third-party partners, contractors and vendors. I also architected the Virgin Mobile development patterns and platforms and oversaw the infrastructure needed to support our web sites. ▪ Responsible for staffing, hiring and performance management. ▪ Implemented and iteratively improved Agile development methodology and overall coding best practices in order to improve quality, speed and maintainability. ▪ Strategically planned to ensure resources were in place to support our product suite, accounting for products in various stages of development. ▪ Monitored, measured and reported across key metrics and project team statuses, providing executive dashboards, analysis and risk identification/mitigation. ▪ Planned, developed, and deployed reboot of Virgin Mobile web projects and supporting infrastructure from UI/UX and requirement gathering through design, development, defect correction and deployment. ▪ Managed relationships with third-party contributors, vendors, contractors and consultants. ▪ Led efforts to provide an accessible experience for users with disabilities and provide ADA compliance. Key skills and tools: management, strategy, planning, architecture, scrum, Kanban, UI, UX, Javascript, CSS, HTML5, Adobe Experience Manager, Quality Assurance, TargetProcess, React, Webpack, and Git. Show less



Cerner Corporation

• United States
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 700 & Above Employee

• Lead Software Architect

  • Sep 2013 - May 2016

  At Cerner, I was the product owner and lead architect for an ADA-compliant unified user interface framework. Designed for use across platforms and applications, this framework dramatically improved the user experience while reducing development time across Cerner.I gathered requirements from across multiple teams, resolved inter-team technical differences, led user interface design, architected development patterns and protected personal health information and personally identifiable information. In addition, I created robust documentation distributed regularly to hundreds of consumers and developers, and ensured UI components met all standards and requirements, including being accessible and compliant with WCAG 2.0.• Led team of five, managing performance and team goals.• Gave two highly rated conference talks on design, front-end development, UI best practices, and user experience strategies.• Co-developed curriculum for — and taught — Object-Oriented CSS training course.• Managed roadmap, requirements, timelines and strategies to maximize benefit to partners.• Cultivated relationships with stakeholders, sharing knowledge, problem-solving skills, and assistance integrating within legacy and emerging solutions.• Created documentation patterns, testing strategies, style and contribution guides.• Led scrums, iteration planning and Agile methodology.• Planned, prototyped and created complex UI components.Key skills and tools: Project planning, strategy, architecture, user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design, Javascript, jQuery, D3, CSS, HTML5, Ruby on Rails, ARIA, WCAG, scrum, testing, standards, quality assurance, LESS, Jira, Jasmine, Gulp, and Git. Show less

• Senior Software Engineer

  • Sep 2012 - Sep 2013

  As a senior software engineer, I provided Django and Python expertise as well as advanced Javascript, user interface and user interaction design on the front end, while mentoring and coaching junior team members.• Guided Django and Python development.• Planned and created complex UI components with Javascript and CSS.• Led scrums, iteration planning and Agile methodology.• Mentored and trained junior team members.• Improved load and rendering times. Key skills and tools: Django/Python, Javascript, user interface and user experience design, Javascript, D3, CSS, HTML5, scrum, testing, standards, quality assurance, LESS, Jira, Jasmine, MongoDB and Git. Show less



The Kansas City Star

• United States
• Newspaper Publishing
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Designer/Developer/Web Platform Manager

  • Aug 2009 - Sep 2012

  Responsible for more than 30 web properties, including design, development, product management and architecture. • Developed suite of reusable Python and Django applications, CSS and Javascript, reducing time-to-market for new sites to less than a month. • Strategized, designed and developed new digital projects and improvements to existing projects. • Developed road maps, handled feature requests, and managed deadlines. • Designed and implemented iterative improvement plans based on key analytics such as site speed, usability, user retention and audience size. • Integrated multiple content management systems with print systems, third-party video and other assets into one cohesive system. • Dramatically improved traffic numbers and visitor retention. • Integrated media from print systems, video and audio. • Tracked, analyzed and improved site metrics using analytics software. • Created a cross-platform responsive framework for fast project deployment. • Created web-based marketing materials such as lobby kiosks. • Monitored health and stability of servers and databases. • Imported, Integrated and curated video, editorial and other news media. • Tracked and improved social media engagement on Twitter and Facebook. • Mentored and trained junior team members. Key skills and tools: Django/Python, Javascript, CSS, HTML5, user interface and user experience design, analytics, SASS and Git. Show less



Motorsport Marketing

• United States
• Writing and Editing
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Online Editor/Digital Media Manager

  • Jul 2007 - Aug 2009

  As Online Editor, I designed, developed and managed day-to-day operations of Motorsports Marketing web properties, including sites for their major publications and related micro-sites and event sites. I also managed online marketing, email marketing and community and social engagement, leading to more than 100% increase in traffic and engagement. • Managed design, development, content strategy and day-to-day digital operations. • Handled online marketing, promotions and event planning. • Responsible for media integration from print systems, video and audio. • Oversaw revamp of sites and A/B testing efforts. Continuous improvement produced a 50 percent increase in revenue and traffic over two years. • Tracked key analytics — including site traffic, sales, and other metrics — and provided regular reports, analyses and plans for improvement. • Created a custom content management system (CMS) integrating site content, e-commerce/online store with events, forums, advertising and other functionality. • Created and managed monthly electronic newsletter and email marketing mailing lists. • Enforced brand standards and conventions across online properties and email marketing efforts, and compliance with CAN-SPAM, PCI-DSS and other regulatory concerns. • Developed marketing-driven micro-sites for events and coordinated with vendors and marketing partners to maximize event promotion. Show less



Silpada Designs

• Luxury Goods & Jewelry
• 700 & Above Employee

• Designer/Developer

  • Aug 2005 - Jul 2007

  As a designer/developer, I focused on creating an accessible, user-friendly design for the Silpada web site and implementing that design using CSS, Javascript and HTML. • Focused on front-end architecture, UI, design and usability of web properties. • Spearheaded efforts to redevelop properties, focused on accessibility, usability, and user experience. • Key skills and tools used included Javascript/Jquery, CSS, HTML and Photoshop and Accessibility. As a designer/developer, I focused on creating an accessible, user-friendly design for the Silpada web site and implementing that design using CSS, Javascript and HTML. • Focused on front-end architecture, UI, design and usability of web properties. • Spearheaded efforts to redevelop properties, focused on accessibility, usability, and user experience. • Key skills and tools used included Javascript/Jquery, CSS, HTML and Photoshop and Accessibility.



Keypath Education

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Web designer/Developer

  • Oct 2003 - Aug 2005

  As a designer/developer, I focused on creating an accessible, user-friendly design for the a variety of PlattForm web properties, implementing those design using CSS, Javascript, HTML and PHP, and iteratively and continuously improving conversions using data to inform improvements. • Rebuilt, redesigned and optimized dozens of new and existing web properties to improve traffic and conversion rates. • More than doubled traffic and search engine rankings of sites. • Managed advanced SEO experiments and trained other employees on best practices for SEO. • Worked with AdWords team developing SEM strategies. • Developed content and improved content strategy, improving conversion rate substantially. • Led efforts to improve accessibility in accordance with section 508 of the ADA. Key skills and tools used included Javascript/Jquery, CSS, HTML, PHP, Accessibility, and Wordpress. Show less



The Kansas City Star

• United States
• Newspaper Publishing
• 200 - 300 Employee

• Reporter

  • Sep 1998 - Sep 2000