As CTO, I lead a global engineering, security, and IT operations team. I’m passionate about innovation and turning ideas into top-notch products. I am constantly pushing for excellence and seamless integration across all platforms.Quorum is among the top 35% of the fastest-growing companies on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, with a remarkable 3X growth over the past three years. This achievement highlights the unwavering dedication and hard work of our team and the trust placed in us by our almost 2,000 valued customers.In 2024, we delivered cutting-edge AI/LLM-powered features, switched to a fully containerized (Kubernetes) deployment pipeline, relaunched our mobile app as a Progressive Web App (PWA), completed the integration of the Next-Generation of Grassroots and PAC into the Quorum platform, and released many additional feature releases. Quorum is now the #1 public affairs platform for unifying your team.

As the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Quorum, I led our 120+ global engineering team, developing software for public and government affairs across the US and EU. Our solutions for Fortune 2000 enterprise, non-profit, and government clients are underpinned by a tech stack including React/Redux, Python/Django, and AWS.Achievements:- Expanded the engineering team from 24 to 120+ through organic growth and mergers.- Oversee 17 squads globally, including in the US, Eastern Europe, Brazil, and India.- Led technology integration for multiple acquisitions.- Reorganized R&D to align with our growth and product strategy.- Focused on operational excellence with OKRs and KPIs.- Launched strategic features and products.- Manage R&D and COGS budgets; report on Product portfolio P&L. - Contributed to company strategy as part of the executive team.My role emphasizes innovation, operational efficiency, and strategic expansion, ensuring we deliver exceptional value to our clients and stakeholders.

Joined Quorum as the company's first VPE, with a team of 20 in a 200-strong company. My focus was been on transforming our approach to development to support growth and scale:- Reorganized the development team into product-focused squads, enhancing customer satisfaction and product quality, and setting the stage for scalable growth.- Introduced multiple key features and products, directly contributing to our competitive edge and market presence.- Overhauled the engineering hiring process, significantly speeding up the recruitment of top talent.- Initiated bi-annual Hackathons to foster a culture of innovation and teamwork.- Played a crucial role in executive leadership, guiding OKRs, mergers and acquisitions, and shaping both product and technical strategies.- Led the shift to a remote-first work environment, adapting to modern work trends and preferences.- Implemented Service Level Objectives (SLOs) to elevate platform reliability and performance.- Advocated for lean software development practices, enhancing efficiency by promoting collaboration and reducing work-in-progress (WIP).- Actively involved in shaping the company's strategic direction as a member of the executive leadership team.My journey at Quorum has been marked by a commitment to innovation, quality, and strategic growth, driving forward both our team's capabilities and our product offerings.

Led the technical due diligence for SparkPost, culminating in its successful acquisition by MessageBird for $600M. Post-acquisition, I continued to steer the SparkPost Engineering team, guiding its integration and ongoing development within the MessageBird framework.

At SparkPost, the leading predictive email intelligence platform, we merged email delivery with analytics across the world's broadest data footprint. As the top email delivery provider for over a decade, we enabled companies to enhance their email strategies with real-time data and expert insights. Our cloud platform managed billions of emails for our clients each day.As Vice President of Software Engineering and Operations, I boosted team empowerment, accountability, and productivity by setting clear OKRs and expanding organizational capacity. I was a pivotal figure in the executive team, spearheading strategic technology plans for new and existing products, infrastructure, and architecture. Working closely with Product Management, Support, Marketing, and Sales, I coordinated preparations for future product releases. I also managed significant R&D and operational budgets, including overseeing extensive AWS spending to optimize costs.Key Contributions:- Developed and led an 80-person team covering software development, cloud infrastructure, data engineering, operations, and site reliability, including leadership layers.- Increased business profitability through innovative products and improved R&D and operational efficiency, meeting the "Rule of 40."- Oversaw a $6 million AWS budget, ensuring efficient cloud resource use.- Led the transition to a cloud-based SaaS model and a microservices architecture, significantly modernizing our enterprise B2B offerings.- Scaled our platform from millions to billions of emails daily, maintaining SLA and profitability targets.- Created a modern, near real-time data analytics and ML platform, processing billions of events daily to drive strategic product enhancements.

As the Director of Software Engineering, I established development standards and implemented Lean/Agile methodologies, building and leading several software engineering teams.Key Achievements:- Initiated a bi-annual company-wide hackathon to foster innovation and boost employee engagement.- Successfully deployed ground-breaking Momentum Analytics, a market-leading innovative email analytics platform.- Spearheaded the adoption of Agile methodology practices within the R&D organization, enhancing efficiency and collaboration.

As the Director of Engineering, I was responsible for developing and managing a diverse team, including back-end Java developers, front-end web developers, System, and QA Analysts. My leadership was instrumental in implementing Lean/Agile product development processes, ensuring our e-commerce applications not only met PCI standards but also delivered high availability during peak traffic periods.Key Achievements:- Successfully hired and nurtured high-performing technical teams.- Oversaw the conversion of over 30,000 Flash videos to iPad-compatible adaptive bit-rate videos using AWS cloud farm.- Directed the transition to a web services architecture, delivering a full episode streaming video experience.- Managed the complete relaunch of the Discovery.com website.- Led the re-architecture of Petfinder.com's search and administration infrastructure.- Headed the technical team for the National Body Challenge.- Provided expert technical system solutions and project management for Discovery’s e-commerce systems, including overseeing software development project activities.- Served as a keynote speaker at the IBM WebSphere Commerce user conference, highlighting our innovative single-page checkout process.

Led key workstreams for the migration of DiscoveryStore.com from a proprietary platform to the IBM WebSphere Commerce 5.x for DiscoveryStore.com

Designed and developed custom Oracle applications for the Navy's Supervisors of Shipbuilding, transitioning from a custom/proprietary system to enhance operational efficiency and data management.

Oracle database analysis, design and development for the US Postal Service and Washington Metropolitan Police Department.

Developed multiple systems, including an SQL Server-based workflow system and a C++-based closed captioning system. Additionally, I provided on-call database and network support for various clients.