Matt Kelly

Managing Staff Software Engineer

Audacious vision for high-level abstractions
Big picture systems thinker
Product-minded decision maker
Mentor at heart with a penchant for teaching
Simplifier of complex systems
Team catalyst and force multiplier

💫 Core Skills

Languages

Ruby Python JavaScript Go Clojure Lua

Frameworks & Tools

Rails React Docker Kubernetes AWS Git

Databases & Storage

PostgreSQL Redis MongoDB S3 Elasticsearch

🚀 Experience

Managing Staff Software Engineer / Tech Lead

2023 – Present
AdHoc - VA.gov • Washington, D.C. [Remote]
  • Audited and modernized all Veterans Benefits APIs, aligning them with industry best practices, security standards, and performance benchmarks
  • Led the architecture and execution of a large-scale migration, consolidating multiple legacy API modules into a high-performance, greenfield Ruby on Rails API-only platform
  • Designed and implemented a zero-downtime CI/CD pipeline from scratch, leveraging GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, and Kubernetes, ensuring strict compliance with federal NIST security mandates for PII/PHI
  • Spearheaded the transition to fully automated, containerized deployments, dramatically improving release velocity, system reliability, and infrastructure scalability in a high-stakes government environment

Senior Software Engineer

2022 – 2023
NexHealth • San Francisco, CA [Remote]
  • Resuscitated an ancient Python 2/Django app and ported it to Ruby on Rails
  • Untangled a hairy, ten year old, diamond dependency
  • Fixed a mountain of broken tests, bringing the test suite green for the first time ever

Senior Backend Software Engineer

2019 – 2022
Weedmaps • Irvine, CA [Remote]
  • Built a greenfield, inhouse, ad-server at scale with Ruby on Rails
  • Worked tightly with AR to build and integrate custom accounting software for performance based ad sales
  • Conducted over a hundred interviews
  • Thwarted spammers with hand rolled naive bayesian ML models
  • Leveraged Apache Airflow to automate meta-tagging of all incoming S3 objects, ensuring compliance and discoverability
  • Stopped delivery driver muggings using AI facial recognition

Software Engineer

2017 – 2019
Comcast • Philadelphia, PA
  • Principal architect of MOXIE, an Ruby on Rails application enabling bulk querying of customer PII at all levels of network topography
  • Enterprise-level security
  • Aggregated and collated seven disparate databases traversing billions of rows
  • Architected ETL pipelines to handle ingestion into data warehouses with Kafka for high-throughput event streaming
  • Query optimization for ingesting data on the petabyte scale
  • MOXIE is still in use today

Lead Software Development Engineer

2014 – 2017
Curtiss-Wright • Hatfield, PA
  • Spearheaded the design, architecture, and testing of custom quoting software built to spec with Ruby on Rails
  • Project has since grown in scope and now constitutes more than half of the sales pipeline
  • Delivered on time and significantly under budget (OSS <3)
  • Seamlessly integrated with the company's existing CRM software and an ancient copy of MS SQL Server 7.0 -- Still in use today

Field Service Engineer

2013 – 2014
Curtiss-Wright • Hatfield, PA
  • Supervised heat exchanger repairs on nuclear and conventional power generation plants and petrochemical/agricultural refinement facilities
  • Served as a consultant and supervisor for numerous nuclear plant overhaul operations
  • Became the first software engineer in the company's history
  • Developed a complete sales pipeline in C# for the service department
  • Identified and prevented the implosion of legacy software due to operating system enforced file size limits

Nuclear Engineer

2003 – 2009
United States Navy • USS Philadelphia SSN-690
  • Served 4 years on a fast attack submarine
  • Provided continuous supervision for up to ten personnel including mechanics, electricians, and reactor technicians for the safe and efficient operation of a nuclear power plant
  • Coordinated and oversaw all engineering watchstanders during reactor plant operations from startup to shutdown status
  • Provided training to junior personnel on plant operations
  • Collateral duties included serving as Gage Calibration Officer, Training Officer, and Quality Assurance Officer

🎓 Education

Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering Technology

2007 – 2009
Excelsior University • Albany, NY
  • Advanced mathematics including calculus, differential equations, and linear algebra
  • Nuclear physics, reactor theory, and thermodynamics
  • Radiation protection and nuclear materials handling
  • Plant systems and operations
  • Specialized focus on nuclear power generation systems

Nuclear Power School

2003 – 2004
Naval Nuclear Power Training Command • Goose Creek, SC
  • Reactor plant materials, mechanical systems, and fluid dynamics
  • Advanced nuclear physics and reactor theory
  • Thermodynamics and heat transfer principles
  • Electrical engineering and power distribution systems
  • Nuclear chemistry and radiological fundamentals