Jon Russell

About Me

Hello! I'm Jon, a full stack engineer with 13+ years of experience designing, developing, and scaling enterprise applications. My primary stack includes Laravel, PHP, MySQL, REST APIs, JavaScript, TypeScript and Vue.js, backed by Agile leadership and a steady drive to learn and adapt to new platforms and technologies.

I enjoy working on meaningful problems with a clear business impact. I particularly enjoy building internal tools, automating tedious workflows, and improving developer experience. I do my best work when I'm given a problem, the context I need, and the space to figure out the best solution.

TL;DR

experience: My career has spanned defense, finance, and manufacturing, where I've built high-impact solutions and led cross-functional teams through complex technical challenges.

work ethic: From complex migrations and API integrations to workflow automation and production debugging, I take ownership from start to finish. I value accountability, transparency, clear communication, and mutual respect.

off the clock: I love the problem-solving side of engineering. There's something satisfying about taking something messy, manual, or frustrating and turning it into something that just works. In my spare time, I build projects around my homelab, DigitalOcean droplets, AWS EC2, and locally running LLMs.

I've preferred staying hands-on, exploring new frameworks and technologies, and seeing what's coming next. To me, the most satisfying part of engineering is delivering solutions that simplify processes, improve efficiency, and make life easier for the people who depend on them, while building something I can genuinely be proud of.

13+ yrs·Software engineering
3+ yrs·Project Management
2.5+ yrs·Management
6 yrs·Certified ScrumMaster
Master of Internet Techology·University of Georgia

Tech Stack

Laravel

PHP

Vue

React

TypeScript

JavaScript

REST APIs

MySQL

HTML5

CSS3

PEST / PHPUnit

Agile

OOP / MVC

Skills & Tools

Software Engineering

PHP 8
JavaScript
TypeScript
SQL
MySQL 8
Node.js
Laravel
Vue 3
Vue 2 / Vuex
Vue 2 / Vuex
Pinia
React
React Native
Expo
jQuery
webpack
Vite
HTML5
CSS3
SCSS
Bootstrap
Tailwind CSS
JSON
XML
Git
Jira
REST APIs
Microservices
OOP
MVC
SDLC
SaaS
SEO
a11y

Architecture & DevOps

AWS
Linux
Docker
CI/CD automation
Jenkins
Azure Pipelines
Github
Bitbucket

Leadership & Team Building

Team mentoring
Innovative process improvement
Experienced Manager, Project Manager
Certified ScrumMaster (2017-2023)

Quality & Collaboration

Unit testing
PEST / PHPUnit
PEST / PHPUnit
Code reviews
Pair programming
API optimization

Tools & Environment

PhpStorm
VS Code
Sentry

ExperienceProfessional Experience

Aug 2025 — Present
Contract / Self-employed
Senior Full Stack Engineer / Software Developer
Russell I/O, LLC
- Built and launched LawnWriter, a production iOS application using React Native, Expo, Laravel, and MySQL, and published an open-source Vue 3 component (vue-background-stars) to npm.
- Build and maintain full-stack web applications for clients acquired entirely through organic referrals, using Laravel, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, React, Bootstrap, and Tailwind CSS.
- Partner directly with stakeholders to gather requirements, design solutions, and deliver scalable applications with a focus on usability, maintainability, and performance.
- Provide technical consulting and code reviews to improve application security, architecture, and long-term maintainability.
Mar 2024 — Aug 2025
DoD Software & Consulting — $8.1M/yr
Software Engineer
Pioneering Evolution
- Developed and optimized advanced features for a DoD budgeting web app using Laravel 11 & 12, PHP 8, MySQL 8, Vue 3, JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, and Bootstrap.
- Key contributor to the Vue 2 → Vue 3 migration, ensuring seamless modernization.
- Optimized endpoints and memory usage to reduce API response times in critical workflows.
- Provided technical consulting and code reviews to improve application security, architecture, and long-term maintainability.
Nov 2016 — May 2023
Textiles, Sunbrella brand — $900M/yr
Senior Web Application Developer / Certified ScrumMaster
Glen Raven, Inc.
- Led end-to-end development of enterprise web apps using Laravel, PHP, MySQL, REST APIs, JavaScript, and Bootstrap.
- Built a multi-plant machine repair tracking system that reduced cycle time by 38% and cut labor demands by 50% for 300+ technicians.
- Introduced Agile practices; served as scrum master, facilitating sprints, retrospectives, and planning across multiple teams.
- Partnered with the Cloud Infrastructure team to design pipeline architecture.
- Automated CI/CD with GitHub and Azure Pipelines, improving deployment speed and reliability.
- Introduced automated testing; authored and reviewed unit-tested code to uphold performance, security, and maintainability standards.
Jan 2015 — Oct 2016
Finance / Cash Automation ($98M/yr)
Web Software Developer / Build Engineer
ARCA
- Engineered enterprise-grade software to automate cash processes for a global client base, leveraging expertise in Laravel, PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript.
- Managed release cycles and implemented CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins as Build Engineer.
- Established processes that increased test coverage, reduced defects, and improved the stability and reliability of production releases.
- Acted as hybrid Product Owner, coordinating vendor deliverables, project plans, and stakeholder communication.
Aug 2012 — Jan 2015
Digital Banking SaaS, acquired by NCR — $330M/yr
Manager – Project Management
Digital Insight
- Directed a team of 8 client-facing project managers delivering websites and digital banking solutions (mobile apps, mobile deposit, secure support, SSO).
- Reduced project cycle times and manual effort by analyzing team metrics and driving efficiency initiatives.
- Spearheaded internal automation tools that eliminated manual workflows and reduced delivery cycle time.
Jun 2009 — Jul 2012
Project Manager – Automated Installations Management
Digital Insight
- Managed post-sale onboarding for 30+ financial institutions simultaneously, serving as the primary post-sale contact.
- Delivered training sessions for client staff to drive adoption of internet banking add-ons.
- Collaborated with support and engineering to resolve deployment issues quickly, maintaining strong client relationships.
- Created automation tools that reduced onboarding timelines and client effort by 20%.

Projects

Design something to mow into your yard, then get turn-by-turn GPS navigation while you mow it.
- React Native
- Expo
- TypeScript
- Laravel
- PHP
- MySQL
- Google Maps API
- REST APIs
SaaS budgeting platform supporting the Navy's Strategic Systems Programs.
- Laravel
- Vue 3
- PHP
- MySQL
- TypeScript
- Vue 2 / Vuex
- Pinia
- REST APIs
Centralized API gateway with OAuth2 authentication, rate limiting, and request routing for multiple client applications
- Lumen
- PHP
- MySQL
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- JWT
- REST APIs
Enterprise ticketing system that connects factory operators, technicians, and management in real time.
- Laravel
- PHP
- MySQL
- REST APIs
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- JWT
A secure, real-time dashboard for monitoring high-volume cash counting and sorting machines anywhere in the world.
- Laravel
- PHP
- MySQL
- jQuery
- REST APIs
- Third-party APIs
Inclement weather and office closure notification system.
- Laravel
- PHP
- MySQL
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- Third-party APIs
Custom Jira-inspired dashboard that gives teams full visibility and control over tickets without extra licenses.
- Laravel
- PHP
- MySQL
- AJAX
- jQuery
- Third-party APIs
Centralized dashboard that streamlines project tracking, task management, and client service for product installations.
- Scott Cook Innovation Award Nominee - Intuit
- PHP
- MySQL
- MSSQL
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- AJAX
- Third-party APIs