Matthew Ford | Software Engineer | Technical Developer

About Me

Skilled Software Engineer with 20+ years’ experience in API development, cloud-based infrastructure automation, and technology migration projects. Proven ability to lead development projects from concept to deployment, enhancing data accessibility and system security. Experienced in deploying scalable solutions across cloud platforms, optimizing web application functionalities, and contributing to significant improvements in user experience. Possesses strong project management skills, with a notable capacity for driving successful implementations in complex, high-traffic environments.

Worked in Silicon Valley for 17 years, from small scrappy start-ups to large established firms such as Google, Electronic Arts and America On-Line.

Seeking a full-time back-end senior software engineering position.

Recent Work Experience

Senior Software Engineer - Java(Contractor) - The Walt Disney Company (2024 - 2025)

Building, enhancing and maintaining the high-performance, distributed, microservice-based digital advertising platform. This mainly consists of Spring Boot applications which use AWS infrastructure.

Lead Software Engineer - Capital One (2023 - 2024)

Developed and supported REST APIs for data management on AWS using custom Infrastructure as Code tools, and upgraded services for enhanced security and operational efficiency, ensuring streamlined future updates.

Senior Software Engineer - Clear Capital (2018 - 2023)

Extensive experience designing, implementing, deploying, supporting, and publicly documenting REST APIs for internal and third-party usage. Many of these APIs are supported by various Amazon Web Services, including Lambdas, Cloudformation, S3, API Gateway, etc. Some are also deployed as Java Spring Boot applications on Kubernetes.

Engineered a public-facing website for publishing REST APIs by leading a team to fork and customize an Amazon Labs GitHub project, successfully launching with initial and expandable API access, showcasing 2 APIs within 3-4 months.
Built AWS Cognito user data backup solution by with a Node.js lambda function using the cognito-backup-restore npm package to automate daily backups to a flat file, adopted by DevOps for Cognito user pool backups.
Addressed security and data integrity concerns by implementing an automated backup solution for AWS Cognito user data, utilizing cognito-backup-restore tool, which was subsequently adopted across all company Cognito instances.
Pioneered the development of a novel, user-centric feature for generating customized PDF reports within 30 seconds, challenging and overcoming AWS Gateway's 29-second timeout limitation through innovative technical solutions.

Senior Software Engineer (Contractor) - VSP Global (2016 - 2017)

Spearheaded the design, development, and ongoing support of features for both client and broker portal web applications, utilizing Struts with Tiles framework on Tomcat 7.

Software Engineer IV - Google (2012 - 2016)

Developed and supported internal services and applications for managing datacenters, including long-term demand planning for all Google product areas. These were implemented in Python as Django applications which use mySQL as the persistence layer.

Education

Taught an introductory C++ programming course at Consumnes River College in Sacramento, CA (2017-2020)

MScE Computer Science

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (1993-1995)

Specialization: Intelligent Systems(Artificial Intelligence)

Publications: Co-Author of Path Planning under Time-Dependent Uncertainty

BSc Computer Science

University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign, Urbana, IL (1989-1993)

Patents

Co-Inventor of Method of and system for managing client resources and assets for activities on computing devices US 8738694 B2

Skills

Diverse skillset used to design, implement and support a variety of high-volume commercial and business Internet applications. 20+ years of Java.

JavaExpert

REST & MicroservicesExpert

SQL & RDBMSExpert

AWS & ServerlessPro

Python & DjangoPro

Testimonials

Matt’s technical skills are certainly senior level. He has the ability to acquire new skills as necessary and provide design leadership. His even-keeled personality enables him to mentor junior engineers effectively. He elevates those around him.

He appropriately manages expectations with clear communication of status, demonstrates focus on project objectives, is punctual and dependable, and takes care in his deliverables.

In short, he’s a skilled professional that you can count on and will positively impact any team he chooses to join.

Loren Froomin
VP of Engineering

Matt has a wealth of experience and expertise in software development. Matt has a deep understanding of a variety of programming languages, and technologies including Java and AWS Serverless Stacks, he is able to quickly adapt to new technologies and tools.

Matt is known for excellent communication skills, both with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and is able to explain complex technical concepts in a way that is easy to understand. In Matt’s time at Clear Capital, Matt has made significant contributions to several key projects. Matt was instrumental in providing API solutions for our Data and Analytics products. This project was a great success and received positive feedback from both our clients and team members. Matt has a strong work ethic and is always willing to go above and beyond to ensure project success.

Jason Legare
EVP of Technology

Credits

This responsive HTML5 CSS3 site template is handcrafted by UX designer Xiaoying Riley at 3rd Wave Media for developers and is FREE under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

We will improve or add new features to this template based on users' feedback so follow us on twitter to get notified when a new version is out!