Ryan Sobol Email & Phone Number

Langley, Wa, Us

Focusing on personal health and self-reflection, preparing myself for new challenges and opportunities ahead.

San Francisco, Ca, Us

Spearheaded a diverse department of 500+ employees and contractors, encompassing directors, managers, curriculum developers, instructors, teaching assistants, career coaches, partnership liaisons, data analysts, operations specialists, and support representatives. Drove the mission to revolutionize higher education and cultivate the most diverse generation of software engineers, CTOs, and founders in history.Directed six high-performing teams—Curriculum Development, Program Implementation, Program Operations, Student Careers, Regional Partnerships, and Data Intelligence—to deliver a comprehensive, multi-year student experience. This initiative has successfully trained over 26,000 computer science students from 600 colleges and universities over the past seven years, with a strategic focus on supporting individuals from underserved communities. Graduates now work in technical roles at more than 2,000 companies, with an average annual starting salary of $92,000.Developed strategies to scale yearly program capacity from 10,000 to 100,000 by 2029, enhancing industry readiness among graduates, improving program cost efficiency, and fostering greater student personalization through mastery learning with AI-assisted tutoring.Collaborated with the CEO, senior leaders, directors, and managers to drive strategic initiatives, experiments, and innovations, enhancing the scalability, quality, impact, and consistency of student learning experiences. Partnered with Engineering on a product roadmap for the organization’s SaaS learning and career management system, enabling greater scale, increasing personalization, and improving the overall student experience.Served as a strategic advisor on student technical readiness, pedagogy, curriculum, and career center services. Ensured consistent, high-quality education in remote, in-person, and hybrid classrooms across all participating academic institutions.

Seattle, Washington, Us

Led a diverse team of 18 directors, managers, designers, engineers, and illustrators in creating an online SaaS learning platform and a K–12 learning pathway that served over 30,000 students and teachers. This enabled more than 1,000 high school graduates to compete for software developer jobs during my tenure.Directed the development of two multi-year course pathways in Python and web development, growing the customer base by 30%. Managed the entire product lifecycle from concept to launch, delivering on time and within tight budget constraints.Collaborated with the leadership team to provide strategic insights, roadmaps, and tactical plans for business growth. Partnered with the CEO to shape product vision, set objectives, and define key metrics.Organized the Product, Engineering, and Education departments into cross-functional squads with high degrees of autonomy. Fostered data-driven decision-making and standardized practices using a rough consensus approach.Developed products using Lean Startup principles and a SaaS B2B business model, achieving over 90% YoY customer retention. Introduced PM frameworks that reduced delivery times by 22% and increased predictability by 35%, while ensuring rigorous testing.Implemented proven software engineering practices, including an internal open-source model, to deliver modular and decoupled systems on a stable, scalable, and secure architecture using release trains, feature toggles, and gradual roll-outs.Spearheaded initiatives to gather and analyze customer feedback via ProductBoard, integrating critical insights into the product development cycle. Developed a proactive engagement strategy, including regular user feedback sessions with select teachers representing diverse user personas.Grew a diverse, mission-driven team via a structured mentorship program that fostered a culture of continuous learning. This approach improved employee satisfaction scores by 14% and advanced the company’s commitment to DEI.

Seattle, Washington, Us

Led a diverse team of 11 curriculum designers, engineers, illustrators, and project managers in creating a two-year, four-course sequence on Python, enabling high school graduates to compete for software developer jobs. Students achieved an average summative assessment score of 80% across all courses.Delivered a project-based curriculum to select school partners through small, frequent releases. Curriculum development was composed of modular units, supported by a standards-focused design, and decoupled from the platform's architecture. The final course, initially forecasted for six months of development, was delivered one week ahead of schedule.Invented a Python DSL to efficiently create differentiated learning activities for multiple, distinct student personas. Leveraged a custom grammar, PEG parsing, and AST interpretation, boosting development productivity by 5x.Designed and implemented people-first processes for recruitment, mentorship, and promotion, rooted in empathy, trust, and transparency. Successfully filled four open positions within three months.Transitioned the company to an all-remote workforce with clear, open, and honest communication throughout the organization. Aligned teams to shared values, objectives, and metrics, replacing wasteful bureaucracy with agile processes that emphasized customer delight and promoted quick failure recovery. Improved overall team efficiency by 25% and reduced operational costs by 20%.Built a healthy, people-centric culture based on mutual respect, equity, motivation, community, and trust. Healed broken processes and created a safe, supportive work environment, achieving an Employee Net Promoter Score of 81 from all direct reports.Led the development and enshrinement of shared company values, commitments, and priorities, providing a strategic framework to analyze trade-offs and align decisions with business objectives. Improved decision-making efficiency and strengthened alignment across all departments.

Seattle, Washington, Us

Led the design of a double-entry, supply chain ledger for Nordstrom that unified multiple sources of real-time warehouse events into a single, deterministic, and re-playable data stream. The stream was consumed by several mission-critical platforms such as product merchandizing, order fulfillment, fraud detection, and business intelligence.Established first-principles for a distributed system architecture based on grounded in event sourcing, strict event ordering, pub/sub messaging, exactly-once delivery, eventual consistency, and durable append-only logs. Introduced type-safe schema versioning, enhanced system observability and resiliency, and enforced a zero-trust security model. Advocated these principles to both technical and non-technical stakeholders across the organization.Implemented the ledger as a network of scalable and highly-available event streaming applications (Kafka, Kotlin, Java, Gradle, Avro), capable of reliably and securely processing tens of millions of records per day. The applications accounted for billions of dollars in revenue annually and decreased operational costs by a factor of at least 2x.Delivered the ledger via transparent continuous integration and deployment pipelines (GitLab CI/CD) combined with cloud and container technologies (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform). The streaming applications replaced expensive, on-premise legacy systems without any revenue interruptions.Collected key engineering metrics for benchmarking, including message volume, latency, throughput, and storage requirements for materialized views. Developed strategies for data processing, retention, replication, compression, and compaction, while also optimizing for efficient CPU and memory utilization.

Dedicated time to family support, caregiving, and personal healing following the passing of my step-father.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Founded the Amazon Technical Academy, a comprehensive training and job placement program designed to transition non-technical Amazon employees into successful software engineering careers. Supported by a $1.2 billion investment, the initiative aimed to train 300,000 employees in essential software engineering and collaboration skills by 2025.Developed a modular, 11-month web development curriculum (JavaScript, React, Spring, Java, AWS) utilizing proven pedagogical methods, including mastery learning, peer learning, and project-based learning. Spearheaded the creation of hands-on projects to simulate real-world software engineering experiences at Amazon by collaborating with existing Amazon employees as subject matter experts and future student mentors.Leveraged backward design principles to create a standards-based grading system with measurable learning outcomes, empowering students to explore and grow holistically, become curious learners, and prepare for the highly demanding roles at Amazon.Partnered with instructional designers to develop content for in-person, remote, and hybrid teaching modalities, including video lectures, white-boarding sessions, and pair programming activities. Piloted the program in Seattle, WA, with a vision to scale to other locations across the United States and eventually offer the courses to non-Amazon employees online.

Provided full-caregiving and emotional support to my family following my step-father's terminal diagnosis.

Boulder, Colorado, Us

Led multiple 6-month immersive courses in full-stack web development skills, generating $1.2 million USD in gross revenue. Achieved a perfect 100 Net Promoter Score by employing situational leadership, applying effective instructional design concepts, and fostering an inclusive and engaging learning environment.Developed over 720 hours of curriculum covering full-stack web development (JavaScript, Node.js, Express.js, React, Material UI), relational databases (PostgreSQL, Knex.js), RESTful APIs (HTTP, AJAX, JSON), command-line interfaces (Unix, Terminal, Fish), source code management (Git, GitHub), test-driven development (Mocha, Chai), cloud deployment (Heroku, AWS), information security (SHA, AES, RSA, Bcrypt, HTTPS, SQL injection, Cross Site Scripting), agile development (user research, wireframes, mockups, prototypes, user feedback), data structures (stacks, queues, linked lists, arrays, dictionaries), and algorithms (Big-O notation, searching, sorting, leetcode problems).Created advanced coding challenges and led code reviews, improving student problem-solving skills and code quality. Provided expert guidance on professional software debugging, increasing students' ability to independently resolve issues. Collaborated with industry professionals to integrate cutting-edge technologies into the curriculum, ensuring students were well-prepared for modern tech environments. Maintained comprehensive technical documentation that aided in mastering complex programming concepts.Led weekly workshops for peers and direct reports on diverse leadership styles (participative, servant, transformational), instructional design (personalized learning, mastery-based learning, metacognition), and inclusive teaching practices. This initiative resulted in a 17% average increase in teaching effectiveness and a 23% boost in student engagement across all cohorts.

Provided mentorship services and hands-on training in web application development focusing on Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, Node.js, and React. Guided adult learners in computer science and software engineering fundamentals, conducted code reviews, and supported technical skill development.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Oversaw the development and delivery of 37 immersive courses on mobile and web development (iOS, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Web UI), emphasizing practical software engineering skills to meet industry demands. These courses collectively generated $1.5 million USD in gross revenue.Led a team of 13 instructors and 63 teaching assistants, enhancing their effectiveness and engineering knowledge. Increased the overall course Net Promoter Score by 36% through people-centric management.Designed curricula by integrating comprehensive learning objectives into lectures, assignments, and projects. Managed the education of over 700 students across two campuses, achieving a 90% in-field job placement rate.Analyzed feedback to improve course effectiveness and student satisfaction. Provided logistical oversight for course delivery, including scheduling, teacher allocation, and classroom management, ensuring smooth operations and a positive learning environment. Contributed to student recruitment by conducting interviews and reviewing applications, improving cohort quality.Managed technical infrastructure for two campuses, ensuring classrooms were equipped with up-to-date hardware and software. Established a feedback loop to continuously assess and improve the technological tools and platforms used, enhancing learning experiences and increasing satisfaction.Built strategic partnerships with regional tech companies, ensuring curricula alignment with job market demands and securing guest lectures for students. Engaged with alumni to create a robust network that contributed to increased job placement rates and provided ongoing support and opportunities for current students.Managed the annual education and technology budget, optimizing resource allocation to support educational goals and operational needs. Used financial data to improve budget efficiency and forecast future needs for department growth.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Taught essential software engineering concepts for web application development using Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, jQuery, RESTful APIs, Git, GitHub, and Linux. Achieved an average Net Promoter Score of 91, ranking in the top 95th percentile within the company for teaching effectiveness and student satisfaction.Developed comprehensive lesson plans with the flipped classroom model, combining in-class code challenges with take-home instructional assignments. Created hands-on exercises and real-world projects focused on test-driven development (TDD), agile methodologies, and pair programming. These approaches led to a 22% YoY increase in student job placement rates.Ensured high-quality coding practices by establishing grading rubrics that leveraged industry-standard testing frameworks and static code analyzers, including RSpec and Rubocop. Collaborated with a team of instructors and industry professionals to conduct peer reviews and host guest lectures, enriching the learning experience. Utilized modern educational tools such as Canvas and Slack to enhance communication and collaboration, creating a dynamic and engaging learning environment.Provided mentorship and guidance to students, assisting them in overcoming technical challenges and preparing for careers in software engineering. Demonstrated strong communication skills to effectively convey complex technical concepts. Applied patience and empathy, recognizing and adapting to students' unique learning paces and challenges.

Collaborated with Jackson Fish Market and Google to develop 'A Story Before Bed,' a web and mobile SaaS application that enabled parents, grandparents, and guardians to record themselves reading children's books with audio and video. These recordings could be accessed by children anytime, fostering a connection through storytelling. Available on the Apple App Store (4.1 stars) and as a Google+ Hangout plugin, the app was cherished by thousands of families worldwide until its discontinuation in 2016.Utilized technologies including Ruby, Rails, Knockout.js, Backbone.js, PostgreSQL, Memcache, Objective-C, Cocoa Touch, Flash, and Google+ Hangouts to deliver a seamless user experience across mobile and desktop platforms. The web app was deployed to Heroku and AWS, and integrated RESTful APIs from PayPal and Braintree merchant services.Led the conversion of the iOS app from PowerPC to Intel 64-bit x86 architecture, improving performance and compatibility with the latest Apple hardware. Leveraged OAuth 2.0 and bearer tokens, integrating with Google and Facebook user authentication to enhance user onboarding and reduce friction. Contributed to open source projects, including omniauth-facebook and BubbleWrap, supporting community-driven software development.Managed the full product lifecycle from concept to deployment, incorporating user feedback for continuous improvement. Coordinated with Product Design to align on goals, manage timelines, and deliver a high-quality user experience. Maintained regular communication with clients to ensure alignment and manage expectations.Translated client requirements into detailed user stories, developed project plans and timelines, and ensured accurate estimation. Implemented automated testing and code reviews to maintain software quality. Managed tasks and progress using GitHub Issues and Trello, and led risk management efforts.

Seattle, Wa, Us

Launched the Ruby on Rails certificate program with the Professional Continuing Education department. Developed the “Advanced Topics in Ruby on Rails” course curriculum centered around a flipped-classroom and project-based learning. Graduated 32 adult learners into the field of professional Ruby on Rails development.

Austin, Texas, Us

Implemented comprehensive DevOps practices to deploy and manage hundreds of high-traffic Ruby on Rails web applications. Supported nearly 400 diverse companies, including GitHub, Groupon, and Bleacher Report, ensuring high availability and scalability of their revenue-generating SaaS applications. Improved deployment success rate by 40% and reduced average deployment time by 60% through automation and process enhancements.Maintained and optimized a diverse range of supporting services, including HAProxy load balancers, Postfix mail servers, PostgreSQL databases, Memcached stores, and Sphinx full-text search engines. Managed Nagios monitoring, Cron scheduling, and Ruby background processing for over 1,500 production and staging environments running Gentoo Linux. Led the implementation of best practices for monitoring, logging, and performance optimization, resulting in improved system reliability and a 25% reduction in support requests.Led incident management and response efforts, utilizing custom-built alerting and on-call rotation systems to ensure rapid resolution of critical issues. Implemented best practices for incident response, achieving a 20% decrease in average resolution time. Conducted post-incident reviews and developed strategies to prevent future occurrences.Collaborated effectively with a global team of 30 highly skilled software engineers to enhance deployment processes. Authored over 30 comprehensive internal and customer-facing support articles, detailing the company’s complete Ruby on Rails deployment stack, improving transparency and usability.

South San Francisco, Ca, Us

Collaborated on the development of a SaaS, e-commerce, web platform using Ruby on Rails. For each sprint cycle, applied iterative, test-driven development practices, conducted thorough code reviews, and maintained comprehensive inline documentation.Designed and implemented an improved data analytics system using jQuery and AJAX, delivering comprehensive sales and inventory insights to internal financial analysts. These enhancements drastically reduced page load times from over 30 minutes to under 3 seconds.Revamped internally-facing product search functionality with advanced filtering options. Optimized dozens of MySQL database queries by hand, resulting in platform-wide search becoming 3 times faster and 5 times more scalable.

Marlborough, Massachusetts, Us

Developed, enhanced, and maintained more than 80 dynamic and SaaS web applications built on PHP, MySQL, Apache, and FreeBSD. Successfully integrated these applications with various third-party APIs and services, including RESTful APIs, shopping carts, PayPal merchant services, Microsoft Excel, forums, and newsletter generation tools.Coordinated the development of Ruby on Rails applications, training an international team of developers and designers based in England and South America. Managed daily client interactions through phone and in-person meetings, addressing concerns, gathering requirements, assigning tasks, planning milestones, and facilitating data migrations.

Amherst, Massachusetts, Us

Developed and deployed two SaaS web applications using PHP, MySQL, Apache, and Linux. The first application facilitated global research participant networking by enabling them to search and connect with each other. The second application provided sponsors and collaborators from the National Science Foundation with capabilities to search, browse, view, and download all relevant papers published by research participants.