Enhance and maintain the Django website of an early stage social enterprise startup. Responsible for frontend and backend development using Python, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, mySQL, nginx, and Mercurial. Tools and services used include vim, FogBugz, Kiln, Amazon AWS, Gimp, and Inkscape. Also responsible for setup and administration of the company's WordPress blog. Beyond coding, I have also contributed my expertise in project management and prioritization, requirements gathering, wireframing using Balsamiq, website engineering process improvement, desktop and Google Apps for Business support, and server systems administration. I was also responsible for a new office network setup, including design, configuration, purchasing, and deployment.

Managed an operating budget of $5 million and a team of 20 FTE technologists responsible for engineering, maintenance, and quality assurance of TheStreet.com's websites and infrastructure. Responsible for organizing and tracking the progress of the company-wide capital expense budget.

• Implemented the first major redesign of TheStreet.com website since inception. The redesign brought real-time page generation, live price and content feeds, AJAX and state-of-the-art JavaScript functionality, and a modern look to the website. The was accomplished in five months, during which over 60K content items and more than 25 display templates were updated.
• Consolidated computer infrastructure spread over three locations into one data center, reducing hosting costs by 70% and systems support personnel costs by 20%. As part of the consolidation, over 400 servers were moved, Oracle 8i and 9i instances were upgraded to 11g, Tomcat and Apache servers were upgraded to their latest versions, a majority of Windows and Linux hosts were virtualized using Zend Enterprise and VMware, and NAS and SAN storage infrastructures were completely rebuilt. Negotiated contracts with key technology partners Oracle, Cisco, and EMC.
• Moved batch reporting from the live website database (where ad-hoc SQL queries were responsible for causing periodic site slowdowns) to an Oracle data repository fed with production data via Oracle Streams. TheStreet.com's Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Reporting teams received increased performance, availability, and flexibility in their reporting infrastructure while website stability improved greatly.
• Initiated geographic data center disaster recovery capability for the company's main data center. This was done in a very cost-efficient manner by the re-use of equipment idled through the consolidation of data centers.
• Supervised the implementation of key community features on TheStreet.com website through integration of article commenting and member profile technology from partner Mzinga. Implemented improved search capability using Google's search appliance.
• Expanded the breadth of TheStreet.com engineering team to include Drupal and PHP expertise. This allowed the business to consolidate development and support of Java and PHP-based websites within one engineering unit, saving expense and greatly improving coordination of development efforts.
• Instituted the first automated external user-experience monitoring of the TheStreet.com's websites. This enabled issue alerting from outside the internal network and regular reporting of key web page availability and performance metrics.
• Implemented TheStreet.com's first integration with a content delivery network, which improved page delivery time, reduced data center bandwidth costs, and formalized a resource caching strategy for TheStreet.com's flagship website.
• Coordinated four weeks of intensive, on-site Drupal theme and module development training for the entire technology team.

Managed the team of 15 front-end and back-end developers, database administrators, and QA engineers responsible for all Promotions.com client software development.

• Responsible for the fulfillment of one of the company's largest contracts: ongoing support and enhancement of the iVillage.com websites for NBC/Universal. Worked closely with GE/NBC technology teams to transition the iVillage.com websites to internal IT support within an aggressive five-month time frame.
• Improved the workflow and efficiency of building custom web content management sites for clients by standardizing on the Drupal content management framework.
• Managed enterprise web content management efforts for Rainbow Media Holdings' Women's Entertainment Network and American Movie Classics websites and Time, Inc.'s People en Español website using MediaSurface and Vignette enterprise web content management systems, respectively.
• Instituted the use of 37 Signals' Basecamp hosted project management service for coordinating custom website development for clients.
• Managed the engineering team responsible for implementing the annual McDonald's Monopoly online game, which processes millions of game plays during the six weeks of the promotion.
• Introduced the use of Amazon Web Services cloud-based infrastructure to speed the deployment of websites for Promotions.com clients TheStreet.com, Latina Media Ventures, and FinishRich Media.
• Managed the fulfillment of the IT outsourcing contract that transferred GiftCertificates.com's six-person engineering team to Promotions.com.

Matched with African Film Festival, Inc. (www.africanfilmny.org) by Catchafire, Inc. (www.catchafire.org) to redesign the AFF WordPress website. Currently doing frontend and backend development on the new site using PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and mySQL.

Web developer on a project sponsored by Taproot Foundation (www.taprootfoundation.org) to redesign the SITI website (www.siti.org). I built the site using Drupal 6. I did the frontend and backend development using PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and mySQL. Tools used included vim, Gimp, and Inkscape.

Web developer on a project sponsored by Taproot Foundation (www.taprootfoundation.org) to redesign the CONNECT website (www.connectnyc.org). I built the site using Drupal 6. I did the frontend and backend development using PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, mySQL, and Mercurial. Tools used included vim, Bitbucket, Gimp, and Inkscape.

Matched with Hidden Gems (www.thehiddengems.com) by Catchafire, Inc. (www.catchafire.org) to provide the owner of the nonprofit with advice on the technology infrastructure needed for her new education initiative. I developed an RFP for her to use in acquiring resources to build her website.

Weekly volunteer directing and reading.

ESL Teacher: Taught ten adults level one English as a second language.