Senior Full Stack Engineer

Brian Alan Cole

Senior Software Engineer

Address: Hyattsville, MD 20785 (US citizen)

Email: *************@*****.***

Phone: +1-227-***-****

Summary

Senior Full Stack Engineer with 12+ years of experience architecting and delivering scalable, high-performance, cloud-native enterprise applications across healthcare, financial services, and data-intensive platforms. Deep expertise in PHP, Laravel, React, PostgreSQL, AWS, and microservices. Proven track record of designing distributed systems, building responsive SPA frontends, developing secure backend services, and integrating complex third-party systems at scale. Strong hands-on experience with AWS (EC2, S3, API Gateway, Lambda), Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitHub Actions) to enable automated, resilient, and highly available deployments.

Recognized for translating business requirements into robust technical solutions, optimizing application performance, improving system scalability, and accelerating delivery timelines in Agile environments. Expertise in API design, system integration, asynchronous processing, data modeling (Oracle, SQL Server), and implementing security best practices (OAuth2, JWT, RBAC, HIPAA compliance). Experienced in developing AI-powered APIs to enhance decision-making and real-time system interactions. Demonstrated ability to lead end-to-end development, drive architectural decisions, mentor teams, and deliver production-grade systems that enhance customer experience, reduce operational costs, and support business growth.

Skills

Frontend & UI Engineering

React, TypeScript, JavaScript (ES6+), Redux, HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, Material-UI, SPA Development, Component-Based Architecture, Reactive Forms, Template-Driven Forms, State Management, UI Performance Optimization, Accessibility (WCAG, ARIA)

Backend & API Development

PHP, Laravel, Microservices Architecture, RESTful APIs, GraphQL (Apollo Client, Queries, Mutations, Subscriptions), API Design, API Integration, Data Aggregation, Error Handling, Pagination

AI & ML Integration

TensorFlow, Python (for ML models), AWS SageMaker, AI-powered APIs, Chatbots (telehealth)

Cloud & DevOps

AWS (EC2, S3, API Gateway, Lambda, CloudFront), Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD Pipelines, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, AWS CodePipeline, Environment Configuration, Build Automation

Event-Driven & Distributed Systems

Apache Kafka, Event-Driven Architecture, Asynchronous Processing, Messaging Systems, Distributed System Design, Fault Tolerance, Retry Mechanisms, Circuit Breakers

Databases & Data Management

SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Relational Databases, Data Modeling, Query Optimization

Security & Compliance

OAuth2, JWT, Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Secure Coding Practices, HIPAA Compliance, Data Protection

Testing & Quality Engineering

JUnit, Integration Testing, Karma, Jasmine, Protractor, Test Automation, Code Reviews, Static Analysis

Engineering Practices & Leadership

System Design, SDLC, Agile/Scrum, Technical Leadership, Code Quality Standards, Performance Tuning, Production Support, Monitoring & Logging (AWS CloudWatch), Mentorship, Cross-Functional Collaboration

Professional History

Facebook (Meta), Cambridge, MA Nov 2022 – Present

Senior Software Engineer

Experimentation & Feature Flag Platform

Designed and developed a large-scale internal experimentation and feature flag platform enabling product and engineering teams to safely roll out features, run A/B tests, and make data-driven decisions across millions of users. The platform provided real-time decisioning, user targeting, gradual rollout control, and event-driven analytics to improve product quality, release safety, and user engagement.

Developed backend microservices using PHP, Laravel, MVC Model, implementing experimentation, feature flag, and decisioning services for large-scale distributed systems.

Built and exposed RESTful APIs and GraphQL APIs for experiment configuration, feature management, and real-time decision services, enabling seamless integration with frontend and internal systems.

Designed and implemented React.js (JavaScript, TypeScript) frontend applications for internal experimentation dashboards, enabling experiment creation, feature flag management, rollout control, and results visualization.

Implemented component-based architecture in React, using hooks, state management, reusable components, and responsive UI design for scalable and maintainable frontend systems.

Developed Decision Service in PHP, evaluating user eligibility using targeting rules (user attributes, region, device, app version) and assigning experiment variants using deterministic user bucketing.

Implemented user bucketing logic using hashing algorithms to ensure consistent user-to-variant assignment across experiments and high-traffic distributed environments.

Designed event-driven architecture using Apache Kafka, producing and consuming high-volume user interaction events (clicks, impressions, conversions, errors) for real-time analytics and system decoupling.

Built Kafka producers and consumers for event ingestion and processing, enabling scalable and fault-tolerant data pipelines for experimentation analytics.

Developed analytics processing services in Laravel, consuming Kafka streams to compute metrics such as conversion rate, engagement, and error rate for A/B testing analysis.

Integrated Redis caching layer for low-latency access to experiment configurations and feature flags, improving system performance and reducing database load.

Worked with relational databases (PostgreSQL/MySQL) using Laravel, writing optimized queries, indexing strategies, and data models for experiment and feature storage.

Implemented secure APIs using OAuth2, JWT, and RBAC, ensuring authentication, authorization, and secure access to internal platform services.

Deployed applications on AWS (ECS, EC2, Lambda, API Gateway, S3, CloudWatch) using Docker containers, enabling scalable, resilient, and cloud-native deployments.

Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Git, and GitHub Actions, supporting automated build, testing, and deployment workflows.

Applied microservices architecture and distributed system design principles, including loose coupling, scalability, fault tolerance, and high availability.

Implemented logging, monitoring, and observability using CloudWatch, ELK stack, and Prometheus/Grafana, tracking system performance, errors, and Kafka event processing.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams (frontend, backend, DevOps, product) in Agile/Scrum environment to deliver end-to-end features.

Mentored junior developers, conducted code reviews, and enforced best practices in React, PHP, and distributed systems design.

Real-Time Ads Delivery & Bidding Optimization Platform

Designed and developed a large-scale, customer-facing real-time ad delivery and bidding optimization platform using PHP, Laravel, React.js frontend, Apache Kafka event streaming, and AWS cloud infrastructure, enabling low-latency decisioning, high-throughput processing, and data-driven ad selection based on targeting, bidding, and performance signals.

Developed backend microservices using PHP, Laravel to build scalable backend systems for ad campaign management, real-time ad request processing, and distributed bidding workflows in high-traffic environments.

Built and exposed REST APIs, RESTful Web Services, and GraphQL APIs for campaign configuration, targeting rules, bidding strategies, and reporting dashboards, ensuring seamless integration between React.js frontend applications and backend services.

Developed a real-time decision engine in PHP that evaluates user targeting, advertiser bids, campaign budgets, and performance metrics to select optimal ads with low latency (<50ms) and high throughput.

Implemented user targeting, segmentation, and personalization logic using user behavior, device data, location, and contextual signals, improving ad relevance, engagement, and click-through rates (CTR).

Architected and implemented event-driven microservices architecture using Apache Kafka, enabling asynchronous communication, decoupled services, and scalable processing of high-volume ad events.

Built Kafka producers and consumers to process millions of events per day, including impressions, clicks, conversions, and delivery logs, supporting real-time analytics and feedback loops.

Implemented stream processing, idempotent event handling, retry logic, and dead-letter queues (DLQ) to ensure fault tolerance, reliability, and data consistency in distributed systems.

Designed and implemented ad bidding, ranking, and optimization logic, evaluating multiple candidate ads using business rules, bid values, targeting constraints, and historical performance signals.

Developed budget pacing, throttling, and campaign delivery control mechanisms to manage advertiser spend efficiently, prevent over-delivery, and ensure balanced distribution across campaign lifecycles.

Worked with PostgreSQL and MySQL relational databases using Laravel, implementing optimized queries, indexing strategies, and schema design for high-performance data access.

Integrated Redis caching (in-memory caching) to store campaign configurations, targeting rules, and frequently accessed data, reducing database load and improving response time for real-time decisioning.

Developed React.js, JavaScript (ES6+), and TypeScript frontend applications for campaign management dashboards, enabling configuration, monitoring, reporting, and real-time data visualization.

Implemented React functional components, hooks (useState, useEffect, etc), and component-based architecture, ensuring reusable, scalable, and maintainable frontend code.

Integrated frontend with backend using REST APIs and GraphQL APIs, handling asynchronous data fetching, API integration, and state management for dynamic UI rendering.

Deployed applications on AWS cloud platform including ECS, EC2, AWS Lambda, API Gateway, S3, and CloudWatch, using Docker containers for scalable, highly available, and fault-tolerant deployments.

Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Git, and GitHub Actions, supporting automated build, testing, and deployment workflows.

Implemented OAuth2, JWT authentication, authorization, and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to secure APIs, services, and user data across distributed systems.

Applied object-oriented programming (OOP), SOLID principles, and design patterns (Strategy, Factory, Builder) to ensure modular, extensible, and maintainable system design.

Implemented logging, monitoring, and observability using AWS CloudWatch, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Prometheus, and Grafana, tracking latency, throughput, errors, and Kafka event pipelines.

Collaborated with cross-functional Agile/Scrum teams, including frontend, backend, DevOps, product, and data engineering, to deliver end-to-end features and improve system performance.

Mentored engineers, conducted code reviews, debugging, performance tuning, and technical design discussions, improving engineering quality and promoting best practices.

Optum, Minneapolis, MN April 2018 – Oct 2022

Senior Full Stack Engineer

Pharmacy Benefits & Medication Management System

Designed and developed a high-volume Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) platform supporting prescription lifecycle workflows including drug eligibility verification, prior authorization, refill processing, formulary checks, and medication history tracking. The system integrated with external pharmacy networks, payer systems, and drug databases, enabling real-time and batch processing of prescription transactions across large healthcare ecosystems.

Took technical ownership of backend services using PHP, Laravel, building microservices for prescription processing, drug validation, and pharmacy workflows.

Designed RESTful APIs and asynchronous messaging workflows using Apache Kafka, enabling event-driven processing, high throughput, and system decoupling.

Implemented distributed system patterns such as retry mechanisms, circuit breakers, and fault tolerance strategies to ensure resilient and scalable systems.

Developed React.js applications using JavaScript/TypeScript, React Hooks, functional components, and state management (Redux, Context API), enabling pharmacists and administrators to manage prescriptions, track medication status, and view patient drug history.

Built responsive, component-driven SPA architecture with reusable UI components, optimized rendering, and efficient client-side state management for high-volume healthcare workflows.

Applied performance optimization techniques such as lazy loading, memoization, and code splitting to improve UI responsiveness and load times.

Integrated with third-party systems (pharmacy networks, payer APIs, drug databases) ensuring interoperability and data consistency.

Ensured secure and compliant data handling using OAuth2, JWT, RBAC, and adherence to HIPAA regulations.

Developed AI-powered APIs for real-time insights and decision-making in medication management, improving accuracy and workflow efficiency.

Applied CI/CD practices using Jenkins, Git, and GitHub Actions to automate testing, build, and deployment workflows, ensuring rapid, reliable delivery of features.

Applied SDLC practices including design, development, testing, deployment, and production support, ensuring accountable delivery and system reliability.

Online Healthcare & Patient Portal Platform

Built a comprehensive digital healthcare platform enabling patients and providers to access online healthcare services including appointment scheduling, eligibility verification, telehealth support, patient records access, and care management workflows. The system provided a unified user experience across web applications, integrating multiple healthcare systems into a single platform.

Developed full-stack features using PHP, Laravel, and React.js frontend, enabling scalable patient and provider workflows.

Designed and implemented REST APIs and integration layers connecting EHR systems, eligibility services, and third-party healthcare providers.

Built React.js applications using JavaScript/TypeScript, React Hooks, functional components, Redux, Context API, and component-based architecture for dynamic and maintainable UI development.

Implemented SPA (Single Page Application) architecture with client-side routing, reusable components, and efficient state management for complex healthcare workflows.

Integrated frontend with backend services using REST APIs (JSON), handling API consumption, error handling, and asynchronous data flows.

Leveraged AWS cloud services (EC2, S3, API Gateway, Lambda) to deploy cloud-native, highly available, and scalable applications.

Applied performance optimization techniques including lazy loading, code splitting, and memoization to improve UI responsiveness and load times.

Implemented secure authentication and authorization using OAuth2, JWT, and RBAC, ensuring compliance with HIPAA and healthcare security standards.

Developed AI-powered APIs to enhance decision-making processes, such as predicting patient eligibility, personalizing healthcare recommendations, and optimizing clinical workflows.

Worked in a cross-functional Agile/Scrum environment, collaborating with frontend, backend, QA, and DevOps teams for end-to-end delivery.

Drove end-to-end feature development lifecycle (SDLC) from requirements to production deployment, ensuring high-quality, scalable, and maintainable solutions.

Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and AWS CodePipeline, enabling automated testing, build, and deployment workflows for continuous integration and delivery.

Healthcare Call Center & Support Service Platform

Developed a call center and patient support platform enabling customer service agents to manage patient inquiries, case management, service requests, and support workflows. The system integrated with backend healthcare services to provide real-time patient data access and issue resolution capabilities.

Built PHP (Laravel) microservices for case management, workflow orchestration, and service request processing, enabling efficient handling of high-volume support operations.

Developed React.js-based agent dashboards using JavaScript/TypeScript, React Hooks, functional components, and state management (Redux/Context API) to provide real-time access to patient data, claims status, and support tickets.

Implemented event-driven architecture using Apache Kafka, enabling real-time notifications, workflow updates, and seamless system integration across distributed services.

Integrated frontend with backend systems using REST APIs (JSON), supporting asynchronous data flows and real-time UI updates.

Developed AI-powered APIs for intelligent case management, optimizing decision-making and improving the automation of workflows based on historical data.

Owned production engineering and DevOps responsibilities, including monitoring, logging, alerting, and incident resolution using AWS CloudWatch and centralized logging tools.

Applied clean architecture, design patterns, and code quality best practices, ensuring maintainable, scalable, and high-performance codebase.

Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Git, and GitHub Actions, supporting automated build, testing, and deployment workflows for fast and reliable delivery.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams in a highly collaborative engineering environment, ensuring end-to-end feature delivery.

Contributed to continuous improvement initiatives, optimizing system performance, improving workflow efficiency, and enhancing developer productivity.

Core Engineering Responsibilities Across Projects

Took technical ownership of multiple systems, ensuring delivery of scalable, resilient, and distributed applications, leveraging PHP, Laravel, React, and AI-powered APIs for advanced functionalities.

Followed full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) practices across design, development, testing, deployment, and production support, ensuring robust and secure code delivery.

Used Git version control for source code management, implementing branching strategies, pull requests, and collaborative workflows, ensuring efficient team collaboration and code management.

Ensured accountable delivery and autonomous execution, managing tasks independently and delivering high-quality features on time, driven by CI/CD pipelines and automation tools like GitHub Actions, Jenkins, and AWS CodePipeline.

Applied industry-standard practices and engineering standards, including clean architecture, design patterns, secure coding practices, and AI-powered APIs for data-driven decision-making.

Maintained high code quality standards through testing (JUnit, integration testing), code reviews, and static analysis, ensuring robust backend and frontend code with React.js.

Contributed to production engineering and system reliability, ensuring system stability and performance in live environments, especially for AI-powered APIs.

Designed systems with a focus on scalability, resilience, and fault tolerance, using distributed systems and event-driven patterns (like Apache Kafka) for real-time data processing.

Continuously improved system architecture, CI/CD pipelines, and development workflows, driving continuous improvement and engineering excellence, particularly with CI/CD automation and AWS cloud infrastructure.

TBC Corporation, Palm Beach Gardens, FL March 2014 – April 2018

Front End Engineer Senior Full Stack Engineer

Dealer tire catalog & ordering platform

Contributed to the development of a dealer order management and distribution platform, enabling tire catalog browsing, bulk ordering, inventory visibility, pricing, and order lifecycle tracking across distributed warehouse systems.

Developed frontend applications using JavaScript (ES5/ES6), HTML5, CSS3, SCSS, initially with React.js and later adopting component-based UI architecture aligned with React.js development patterns.

Built reusable UI components using component-driven architecture, props/state-based data flow, and modular design, aligning with modern React concepts including reusable components and unidirectional data flow.

Implemented client-side rendering, SPA architecture, routing, lazy loading, and code splitting, improving application performance and scalability.

Developed dynamic UI features including search, filtering, sorting, pagination, and data visualization, handling large-scale catalog datasets.

Built complex form handling workflows with validation, conditional logic, and controlled input patterns, aligning with React form handling and state management practices.

Integrated frontend with backend systems using RESTful APIs (HTTP/HTTPS, JSON, AJAX), handling API consumption, error handling, retry mechanisms, and data transformation.

Designed and developed backend services using PHP, Laravel, REST API, implementing business logic for order management, inventory lookup, pricing, and dealer account services.

Implemented service-layer architecture with controller, service, and repository layers, following object-oriented design (OOD), SOLID principles, and clean architecture practices.

Designed and enforced API contracts, request/response schemas, input validation, exception handling, and API versioning, ensuring consistency across distributed services.

Contributed to early adoption of GraphQL (selectively) for data aggregation and efficient querying, reducing over-fetching for dashboard and reporting use cases alongside REST APIs.

Worked with relational databases (PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MySQL), writing and optimizing SQL queries, joins, indexing strategies, and stored procedures to support catalog, pricing, and inventory systems.

Implemented data access using Laravel improving database interaction efficiency and maintainability.

Built asynchronous and reactive data handling patterns, supporting near real-time updates for inventory and order tracking dashboards.

Participated in design and implementation of microservices-oriented architecture, decomposing monolithic systems into modular, loosely coupled services aligned with business domains.

Deployed and supported applications in AWS cloud environments, utilizing services such as EC2 (compute), S3 (object storage), API Gateway, and basic IAM configurations, supporting scalable and reliable deployments.

Managed environment configurations across development, QA, and production using environment variables and configuration management practices.

Implemented and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Git, and build automation tools, enabling continuous integration, automated testing, and deployment workflows.

Applied version control best practices using Git (branching, merging, pull requests, code reviews) in collaborative development environments.

Implemented security best practices, including OAuth2, JWT authentication, authorization, and role-based access control (RBAC) for both frontend and backend systems.

Performed frontend testing using Karma, Jasmine, and Protractor, and backend testing using JUnit and integration testing frameworks, ensuring application stability and reliability.

Conducted debugging, logging, and monitoring using standard tools and techniques to identify performance bottlenecks and production issues.

Optimized performance across frontend and backend by applying lazy loading, Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation, code splitting, caching strategies, and API payload optimization.

Collaborated with cross-functional teams including backend engineers, DevOps, QA, and product owners in an Agile/Scrum environment, participating in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.

Mentored junior developers, conducted code reviews, provided technical guidance, and shared knowledge, improving team productivity and code quality.

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Coleman University,

San Diego, CA – Apr 2009 to Oct 2013

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