I am a pragmatic backend engineer and systems builder with nearly 30 years of organic, real-world experience designing and scaling software. My career has taken me from writing early database scripts to leading engineering teams as a VP, but my true passion has always been in the code: designing APIs, optimizing databases, and deploying reliable cloud infrastructure.

• The Pivot to Strongly-Typed Systems: After a decade of building large-scale Node.js services—a journey that taught me how much I value and enjoy strongly-typed environments through TypeScript—I am intentionally pivoting back to modern .NET (including .NET 8-10).
• Pragmatism Over Hype: I build sustainable, scalable systems without over-engineering. I understand how system design decisions impact business overhead and the bottom line.
• AI-Accelerated Workflows: I actively embrace AI-assisted development as a core tool in my workflow to accelerate implementation, eliminate boilerplate, and focus my energy on high-value architectural decisions.

Here are a few high-stakes problems I've solved over my organic career path:

• Vendor Leverage & API Integration (Kasa): Bypassed expensive third-party PMS dependencies and enabled strategic vendor contract renegotiations by architecting and delivering a custom, direct Airbnb API connection for property content, inventory sync, and booking flows.
• Decoupling & Migration (Lexicon / LeisureLink): Single-handedly migrated LeisureLink's legacy on-premises .NET stack to AWS. Later, managed a hybrid stack of legacy .NET (WCF/SOAP) and Node.js on AWS EKS, bridging the environments using a highly resilient RabbitMQ cluster to eliminate scaling bottlenecks.
• Crisis Recovery & Modernization (Vehix.com): Stepped in to replace the departed lead architect three months prior to a planned major launch, successfully delivering the release on schedule. Later, co-developed and architected "Vanquish," a complete rewrite and modernization of their automotive listing, leads, and content platform.
• Core Platform Engineering (1-800 CONTACTS): Wrote and delivered the company's proprietary Rx (prescription) and Doctor verification platform, transitioning it from a legacy hybrid Visual FoxPro system to a stable .NET architecture.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/elimumford