Available for select opportunities

Bret — Senior Software Engineer

I build performance-first web platforms and product systems that ship faster—without sacrificing reliability or craft.

From design-to-deploy, I lead end-to-end engineering for high-traffic SaaS: improving latency, stability, and conversion through measurable execution.

View WorkContact
Performance
CWV-first
Reliability
Obs + SLAs
Delivery
Ship weekly
Impact snapshot
last 24 months
Latency
-33%
median response time
Incidents
-60%
detection + resolution
Adoption
+18%
workflow completion
What recruiters want
Shipping outcomes with a clean system underneath.

Built for scale. Designed for humans.

I’m a senior engineer who treats software like a product. I start with user outcomes, map them to system constraints, and then design the architecture to deliver results predictably. My north star is “high signal, low noise”—code that’s clean, observable, and easy to evolve. I enjoy ambiguous problems: performance bottlenecks, data correctness, and platform ergonomics that unblock teams.

Experience
8+ years
Domains
B2B SaaS • FinTech • Developer Platforms
Strengths
Frontend systems • API design • Reliability • DX

How I work

Designing component systems that scale across teams
Operational excellence: monitoring, incident readiness, and cost control
Incremental modernization (not rewrites) to reduce risk
Performance engineering and accessibility by default
Signature outcome
Better UX, stronger systems, and measurable improvements you can defend.

Featured work

Case-study style projects that show how I connect product outcomes to technical execution.

Atlas Portal

Users needed faster workflows across multiple internal tools. Page load times and brittle UI state caused delays, errors, and low adoption.

featured
Solution

A unified portal with a design system, resilient data fetching, and predictable state management. Implemented performance budgets, accessible UI patterns, and offline-tolerant interactions.

Impact
  • Reduced median page load time by 42%
  • Cut support tickets for UI issues by 35%
  • Improved conversion to “completed workflow” by 18%
Next.jsReactTypeScriptTailwind CSSFramer MotionNode.jsPostgreSQLRedis
Highlights: Component library with consistent interaction patterns
DemoGitHub

Ledger Scheduler

Core billing tasks ran with inconsistent timing, causing retries, double-charges risk, and operational load during peak periods.

featured
Solution

Rebuilt the scheduler as a deterministic job pipeline with idempotency keys, stronger invariants, and observability from day one. Added automated reconciliation and safer rollouts.

Impact
  • Eliminated double-charge incidents (0% over 6 months)
  • Reduced job retry volume by 57%
  • Improved incident detection time by 60%
TypeScriptNode.jsPostgreSQLBullMQOpenTelemetryDockerAWS
Highlights: Idempotent writes and deterministic scheduling
DemoGitHub

Vector Notes Copilot

Knowledge retrieval is key. Without grounded answers, teams don’t trust the assistant and adoption stalls.

featured
Solution

Implemented RAG with source-grounded responses, relevance scoring, and evaluation loops. Built an operator UI to review sources and improve prompts safely.

Impact
  • Increased “answer accepted” rate by 24%
  • Reduced hallucination reports by 41%
  • Cut average response time by 33%
Next.jsReactTypeScriptPythonpgvectorEmbeddings APIPostgreSQLRedis
Highlights: Source-grounded answers and confidence indicators
DemoGitHub

ShipNow DX Platform

Teams lost time to environment setup and CI instability, slowing release cadence.

featured
Solution

Built a DX platform: standardized templates, CI policies, and deterministic preview environments. Added deployment visibility to reduce “who changed what” friction.

Impact
  • Reduced setup time from ~2 hours to 15 minutes
  • Improved CI pass rate from 82% → 94%
  • Increased release frequency by 27%
Next.jsTypeScriptGitHub ActionsDockerTerraformAWSTailwind CSS
Highlights: Policy-as-code CI checks
DemoGitHub

Experience that compounds

Reverse chronological highlights—focused on outcomes, not job descriptions.

Senior Full Stack Engineer & AI Architect
Contract (Private)
01/2026 — Present
  • Validate Claude Code CLI outputs in a Linux-based workflow, improving correctness and reliability through structured feedback loops.
  • Build Python evaluation pipelines to assess AI-generated code for correctness, efficiency, and security.
  • Produce evaluation reports identifying architectural/performance risks and align remediation with AI engineering teams.
Senior Full Stack Engineer
West Coast Wound
12/2024 — 02/2026
  • Lead development of a HIPAA-compliant EMR platform supporting 15K+ users with 99.99% uptime.
  • Develop reusable UI components and APIs; improved application performance by 35%.
  • Implement RBAC, OAuth2 SSO, and real-time notifications to strengthen security and user workflows.
  • Conduct code audits and mentor junior developers on engineering standards, security validation, and quality practices.
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Inkd App
04/2025 — Present
  • Architect a SaaS platform connecting tattoo artists, studios, and clients; implemented role-based dashboards, real-time chat, and Stripe subscription + escrow workflows.
  • Build artist/studio portfolio modules with analytics and image upload capabilities.
  • Lead end-to-end delivery (React/TypeScript/Tailwind + Node.js/MongoDB) and own CI/CD pipeline execution and quality gates.
  • Ensure performance, scalability, and WCAG 2.1 compliance across web and mobile-facing surfaces.
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Airia
07/2023 — 12/2024
  • Migrated infrastructure to AWS, reducing downtime by 75% and cutting cloud costs by approximately $8K/month.
  • Built microservices and Mapbox geolocation functionality; improved delivery reliability through CI/CD improvements.
  • Refactored a 150K+ LOC codebase, reducing technical debt by 30%.
Senior Full Stack Engineer / Consultant
Robert Half (SPS Team)
02/2021 — 09/2023
  • Lead secure C#/.NET 6 API development for sensitive customer data.
  • Manage Agile sprints and CI/CD delivery; coordinate cross-team release readiness and validation.
  • Build subscription-based SaaS back end and integrate Angular front-end applications.
  • Manage Azure resources and CI/CD; support cost optimization initiatives.
Full-Stack Engineer
C-HIT
07/2018 — 02/2021
  • Built a government CMS portal using Angular 7, C#/.NET Core, and SQL Server.
  • Developed a React chatbot using AWS Lambda and Lex for intent recognition.
  • Improved accessibility and UX for public health applications.

Skills & stack

Organized by capability. Built to deliver product outcomes with quality and speed.

Frontend
ReactNext.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSAccessibility (WCAG)Design systems
Backend
API DesignNode.jsPostgreSQLRedisJob pipelinesObservability
DevOps
DockerCI/CDInfrastructure as CodeAWS
AI
RAGEmbeddingsEvaluation harnessesPrompt iteration
Product Thinking
System designPerformance budgetsExperimentationDX & tooling

Certifications

Proof of breadth across cloud, security, and delivery practices.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate
Amazon Web Services
2024
View credential →
Professional Scrum (example credential)
Scrum.org (example)
2022
View credential →
Cloud Security Fundamentals (example)
Cloud Security (example)
2021
View credential →
Recruiter note
I pair credentials with shipped outcomes—metrics in production, not slides.

Trusted by teams

A senior engineer should be easy to work with: clear communication, pragmatic tradeoffs, and reliable delivery.

“Bret’s work raised the bar immediately—clean architecture, strong performance instincts, and execution that made the whole roadmap feel predictable.”
Product Lead, B2B SaaS
“He’s the rare engineer who can translate user outcomes into system constraints—and then deliver with measurable impact.”
Engineering Manager
“When systems get complex, Bret makes them understandable. Observability, reliability, and DX weren’t afterthoughts—they were design requirements.”
Staff Engineer

Let’s build something.

If you’re hiring, partnering, or need a performance-obsessed engineer who thinks like a product owner, send a message. I respond quickly.

Email me
Or reach out directly at bretbickham@gmail.com
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