Work
Experience
25+ years of production software development spanning engineering management, senior individual contribution, AI systems architecture, and enterprise platform delivery.
Technical Team Lead - AI & Business Applications
Canadian Law Firm
Calgary, Alberta · May 2022 - April 2026
Served as both engineering manager and hands-on technical contributor - leading a distributed team across Calgary, Toronto, and multiple US locations while remaining deeply involved in architecture, code, and delivery.
Engineering Leadership
- Led a cross-functional team of 10 - 3 internal developers (Calgary and Toronto), 5 external US-based contractors, and 2 project managers - across multiple concurrent platform and AI initiatives.
- Owned end-to-end delivery from requirements through production deployment, managing timelines, dependencies, and risks across initiatives with significant business impact.
- Conducted performance reviews, provided direct feedback, and developed career growth plans for team members across varying seniority levels.
- Communicated delivery progress, risks, and technical decisions to C-suite and director-level stakeholders, translating complex technical concepts into clear business language.
- Built an engineering culture of ownership, accountability, and psychological safety alongside high standards for code quality and delivery.
AI & Agentic Systems
- Architected and delivered BenGPT - a production AI assistant used daily by legal professionals - including multi-model LLM orchestration, RAG pipelines with vector search, MCP server architecture, tool use frameworks, guardrails, fallback handling, and agent observability.
- Implemented Model Context Protocol (MCP) server integrations exposing enterprise systems including LexisNexis InterAction, SharePoint, and internal document repositories as governed, structured capabilities for AI agents.
- Designed semantic search and context retention systems - building embedding pipelines, vector indexing workflows, and retrieval architecture giving AI agents reliable access to millions of enterprise documents.
- Built human-in-the-loop trust models and auditability layers for agentic workflows in a compliance-sensitive legal environment.
- Introduced AGENTS.md instruction standardization and spec-driven development workflows that enabled AI-assisted delivery at higher quality and velocity across the team.
- Pioneered agentic coding practices using Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot - establishing team-wide standards for AI tool usage and output evaluation.
Platform & Infrastructure
- Led the SharePoint platform modernization representing over $1M in at-risk investment - delivered on time and within budget across a distributed team and complex stakeholder environment.
- Delivered the firm's full public website redevelopment in React and Next.js in four months, saving an estimated $750K–$1M against external contractor estimates.
- Designed and operated serverless data pipeline architecture on AWS - Lambda-based async processing, event-driven ingestion with SQS/SNS, and API Gateway integration layers.
- Built and maintained a 20+ platform integration ecosystem spanning enterprise CRM, content management, AI services, and internal data systems.
- Implemented security-first development practices including secure coding standards, threat-aware design, least privilege access, and compliance-aligned change control.
Technologies
Senior Developer
Canadian Law Firm
Calgary, Alberta · May 2020 - May 2022
Senior full stack engineer and informal technical lead - designing and delivering data infrastructure, backend services, and integration architecture that later became the foundation for the firm's AI platform initiatives.
Key Deliverables
- Designed and delivered a large-scale async document processing pipeline - a Python and Node.js distributed system processing millions of enterprise documents with reliable failure handling, PostgreSQL structured output, and full operational visibility.
- Built the data ingestion, ETL transformation, and vector indexing workflows that fed downstream RAG systems and semantic search capabilities.
- Delivered a Sitecore XM Cloud and LexisNexis InterAction CRM-integrated communication platform that eliminated a $35,000 annual vendor dependency.
- Led cross-team data quality and AI-readiness programs - improving downstream system reliability by approximately 75% through systematic root cause analysis.
- Designed REST and GraphQL API integration layers connecting enterprise CRM, document management, and AI services.
- Delivered full-stack React and TypeScript applications with GraphQL API integrations serving distributed legal teams across multiple offices.
Technologies
Programmer Analyst
Canadian Law Firm
Calgary, Alberta · August 2012 - May 2020
Full stack engineer delivering enterprise web applications, platform services, cloud infrastructure, and technical foundations across a complex, regulated, multi-platform enterprise environment.
Key Deliverables
- Delivered enterprise web applications in React, Next.js, TypeScript, and Angular - building polished, production-grade user interfaces with high standards for performance, accessibility, and maintainability.
- Built a Mapbox and Leaflet geospatial web application - hands-on experience with map-based data rendering and interactive geographic interfaces.
- Developed HTMX and Tailwind CSS frontend interfaces alongside React applications - lightweight, server-side-rendered experiences for specific workflow contexts.
- Designed and maintained REST and GraphQL APIs, microservice communication patterns, and distributed backend services across PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MongoDB.
- Architected cloud infrastructure on AWS, Azure, and GCP using Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD pipelines.
- Built end-to-end Playwright automated test suites integrated into CI/CD pipelines - establishing test coverage standards and catching regressions before production.
- Implemented SharePoint enterprise features, Sitecore XM Cloud headless CMS architecture, and LexisNexis InterAction CRM integrations - deep Microsoft 365 ecosystem expertise.
Technologies
Application Developer
Climate Change Central (C3)
Calgary, Alberta
- ›Developed MVC-structured websites in ASP.NET and C# within an Agile team environment.
- ›Designed and implemented WCF Web Services connecting frontend applications to backend data and business logic.
Software Programmer Manager & Project Manager
Webstylers Technologies Inc.
Contract
- ›Led and supervised a team of 3–5 web programmers and 1 project manager specializing in Java and PHP.
- ›Served as primary technical and project management point of contact for client engagements.
Web Developer & Project Manager
Neogenesis Design
Collaborative Partner
- ›Developed a custom PHP CRM system managing 10,000 patient and doctor records for a medical clinic.
- ›Automated PDF requisition generation for 30+ institutions - streamlining administrative workflows.
Cost Control & Procurement Manager
DLB Engineering Ltd.
Calgary, Alberta
- ›Managed project budgets, weekly payroll, and procurement strategies for equipment and construction materials.
Academic Background
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
University of Fredericton
Specialization: Innovation Leadership
Project Management Extension Certificate
Mount Royal University
Specialization: Project Management
Pillars of Management Certificate
Mount Royal University
Specialization: Leadership
Bachelor of Science
DeVry Institute of Technology
Specialization: Computer Information Systems
Associate Degree in Computer Systems
Barbados Community College
Specialization: Computer Studies
Professional Certifications
Industry-recognized credentials across cloud platforms, AI, project management, and enterprise software.
AI Transformation Leader
Microsoft
AI Business Professional
Microsoft
Sitecore XM Cloud Developer
Sitecore
Azure Data Scientist Associate
Microsoft
Cloud Digital Leader
AWS Cloud Practitioner
Amazon
Academy Accreditation - Generative AI Fundamentals
Databricks
ITIL® 4 Foundation
AXELOS
Salesforce AI Associate
Salesforce
PMP - Project Management Professional
PMI
Azure AI Fundamentals
Microsoft
Azure Fundamentals
Microsoft
Solutions Developer (MCSD)
Microsoft
Certified Sitecore Windows .NET Developer, CMS
Sitecore
25+
Years Experience
$2M+
Projects Saved
11+
Certifications
3
Cloud Platforms