Build & Release · Platform · Consulting

I fix release pipelines, test infrastructure, and AI workflows that teams actually use.

I ship end to end at Opentrons: two robot operating systems, the full application suite, Opentrons AI, and auth across every web product. I also take consulting and staff-level engagements where the work is process repair, creative framing, and making AI part of daily engineering instead of a slide deck.

What I'm good at

Recruiters often slot me into one of three buckets. In practice it is one job: I show up when something is broken between idea and production, and I stay until the fix is operational.

Consulting and trusted-advisor work

Long engagements where the deliverable is clarity: QA strategy, automation architecture, release practice, and the politics of getting teams to adopt it. I am comfortable in the architecture room and in the standup the same week.

Build & Release and Developer Experience

I manage Opentrons Build & Release and still cut versions, tags, and deployments myself. I care about CI/CD, release cadence, and the details that keep robot software and cloud apps shipping on schedule.

Staff SDET and platform engineering

Protocol Library, Opentrons Accounts, OAuth/OIDC design, pytest and API testing mentorship, Datadog and GitHub Actions in anger. I own cloud services and the test automation that protects them.

Experience

  1. Lead Software Engineer and Build & Release Manager

    Opentrons Labworks Feb 2024 to present

    Lead Build & Release for two robot OSes and the full Opentrons application suite while still doing releases alongside the team. Drive delivery efficiency, test automation, and cross-team release coordination. Full-stack on Opentrons AI and Protocol Library; own authentication and authorization across web products.

  2. Senior Developer and SDET

    Opentrons Labworks Jun 2021 to present

    Architect and operate core cloud infrastructure: Protocol Library, Opentrons Accounts, CI/CD on GitHub Actions and AWS, and monitoring with Datadog. Built release and testing frameworks that shortened robot software release cycles.

  3. Test Automation Architect

    TEKsystems Aug 2019 to Jun 2021

    Practice architect for continuous testing. Led pytest automation for a gaming engine team of ten and browser-based UAT in Azure DevOps for energy-sector .com work with a team of five.

  4. Software Developer, Test III

    Rackspace Nov 2016 to Aug 2019

    Lead SDET on a dedicated-device web portal across customer-facing apps, ETL, and APIs. Python, Java, TypeScript, Jenkins, OpenShift, Docker, GraphQL, Elasticsearch.

  5. Test Architect / Lead Automation Engineer

    Xpanxion 2009 to 2016

    Hands-on QA strategy and automation consulting on long-term engagements. Built frameworks for web, API, ETL, mobile, and desktop; BDD/TDD with Cucumber, JUnit, TestNG; performance work with JMeter and LoadRunner.

  6. Epiq Systems, Standard Beverage, Target, independent IT work

    Earlier roles 2003 to 2012

    Automation in C# and Selenium, QA leadership for enterprise web and ETL, retail operations leadership, and nonprofit web and AV implementation. Twenty-plus years from QA through delivery management.

Selected projects

Open-source tooling around Opentrons, release automation, and this site. Pulled from my public GitHub.

How I work with AI

I use AI tools every day in real development work, not as a demo. I write Cursor skills, project rules, and repeatable workflows so the tooling stays useful as models change.

That shows up in shipping: Opentrons AI features, robot interaction clients in TypeScript and Python, and the glue scripts that keep releases and tests honest. I treat AI as infrastructure for thinking and execution, then harden what works into something the team can run without me in the loop.

Contact

Open to consulting, staff-level platform/SDET, and Build & Release leadership conversations.