John Willis

John Willis

Distinguished Engineer

11+ years building software platforms, integrations, and automation infrastructure at early-stage and growth startups. Specializing in platform architecture, multi-tenant systems, and production AI — with a focus on correctness, isolation, and operational safety at scale.

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Tools & Technologies

Tech Stack

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Career Journey

Employment History

Rewst

Distinguished Software Engineer

Principal Software Engineer → Director of Engineering → Distinguished Software Engineer
Dec 2021 - PresentTampa, Florida

Robotic Process Automation platform purpose-built for Managed Service Providers. Joined as one of the first five developers (employee #9). Built platform primitives for safe integration authoring and workflow reuse across a multi-tenant automation engine.

Key Accomplishments
  • Integration Abstraction & Client Platform — normalized auth, pagination, retries, and error handling across REST, SOAP, GraphQL, and JSON-RPC; prevented per-vendor snowflakes at 90+ integrations.

  • Composable Automation Assets (Crates) — versioned workflow packages with validation, tenant isolation boundaries, and upgrade paths; later extended for multi-region asset replication.

  • Applied AI — embedded LLM classification, triage, and decision support into workflows with production guardrails; treated as first-class platform capability.

TypeScript
Python
React
Node.js
PostgreSQL
Redis
Docker
Kubernetes
AWS
OpenAI
Claude
Auth0
Kafka
RabbitMQ

Raft

Solutions Architect

Jan 2021 - Dec 2021Remote

Government technology consulting specializing in digital transformation. Built production systems with FedRAMP authorization for HHS, Air Force, and Space Force under strict compliance and identity constraints.

Key Accomplishments
  • TANF Data Portal — federal reporting system with Login.gov and PIV authentication, data validation workflows, and multi-tenant state isolation boundaries.

  • Data Fabric Platform — Kafka, Trino, and OpenSearch federation layer integrating legacy government data sources with role-based access controls.

  • Flight Tracker — real-time stream processing for FAA aircraft tracking with operational reliability requirements and secure deployment constraints.

Python
Django
Go
React
PostgreSQL
Kafka
Elasticsearch
Kubernetes
Terraform
AWS
Cloud.gov
Next.js

Perch Security (Acquired by ConnectWise)

Lead SIEM Developer

Senior Full Stack Developer → Lead SIEM Developer
Jan 2019 - Jan 2021Tampa, Florida

Cybersecurity Threat Intel / SIEM platform with a managed SOC focused on MSPs. Core developer from startup through acquisition. Built detection/correlation engine, ingestion normalization layer, and searchable audit infrastructure.

Key Accomplishments
  • Event Notifications (internally SAFE: SIEM Alerting and Forensics Engine) — detection and correlation engine with multiple correlation modes, performance-minded Elasticsearch indexing, and AI/ML anomaly detection before the GPT era and before Kibana Alerts existed.

  • Cloud Integration Ingestion — connector framework for Office 365, ConnectWise, SentinelOne, and Webroot with normalization, backpressure handling, and schema evolution support.

  • Audit History System — consistent audit semantics across Django models with Elasticsearch-backed searchable storage and retention strategy.

Python
Django
React
Elasticsearch
Neo4j
PostgreSQL
Redis
Kafka
Node.js
Docker
AWS
Auth0

Genitrust (Wall of Coins)

Senior Software Developer

Feb 2018 - Jan 2019Sarasota, Florida

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange enabling fiat-to-crypto transactions. Built blockchain integrations with correctness constraints under heterogeneous external node behavior.

Key Accomplishments
  • Buy Wizard Optimization — 10x latency/throughput improvement on core purchase flow under external RPC calls with transactional correctness guarantees.

  • Multi-Cryptocurrency JSON-RPC — unified interface across Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, Ethereum, ARK, and others with heterogeneous node semantics, retry logic, and confirmation/settlement handling.

  • Cold Storage Tools — offline transaction signing workflows with key-handling boundaries and operational safety for secure fund management.

Python
Django
PostgreSQL
Redis
Celery
web3.py
Bitcoin RPC
JavaScript
AWS

Impulse Point (Acquired by OPSWAT)

Associate Software Engineer

Systems Engineer → DevOps Engineer → Associate Software Engineer
Jun 2015 - Feb 2018Tampa / Lakeland, Florida

Network Access Control (NAC) cybersecurity company. Progressed from infrastructure to full-stack development while building automation systems at fleet scale across hybrid cloud environments.

Key Accomplishments
  • Fleet Configuration Automation — Ansible-based safe rollouts and rollback for mass OS upgrades across hundreds of customer servers.

  • Monitoring & Ticket Automation — migrated from on-premises to AWS with Salesforce workflow integration to operationalize incident handling.

  • Core NAC Product Development — Java/Spring backend and AngularJS frontend; bridged infrastructure constraints into product features (since rebranded as MetaDefender Core).

Java
Spring
Python
AngularJS
MySQL
Ansible
AWS
Azure
VMware
Nagios
Docker
Side Projects & Consulting

Freelance Projects

Featured

Emery Ventures

Chief Software Architect

Cloud-based e-learning platform and mobile applications for American Sign Language education.

Node.js
Express
Swift
Kotlin
Firebase
AWS
Docker

Delivered complete e-learning platform and published mobile apps to App Store and Google Play.

Featured

Ringling Museum

Developer

Financial journal automation suite including React Native mobile app and Electron desktop application for converting FSU accounting exports to journal entries.

React Native
Electron
React
Material UI

Automated financial journal entry creation for the museum's financial department.

Featured

REO Close

Developer

Real estate investment platform for REO properties, tax deeds, and foreclosure opportunities with perfect Lighthouse scores.

Gatsby
React
FaunaDB
GraphQL
Netlify

JAMstack site with Netlify CMS, perfect SEO scores, and serverless lead generation.

Papiris.Finance

Developer

Personal financial management app with multi-currency portfolio tracking, recurring expense management, and debt tracking modules.

Django
Python
PostgreSQL
Docker
React

Comprehensive financial tracking system with sophisticated recurrence calculation engine.

VIVID Eclectic

Developer

Professional marketing agency website with dynamic content, team carousel, and integrated contact forms.

React
Netlify
CSS

Responsive marketing site with mobile-first design and SEO optimization.

Creators Label Crawler

Developer

Web crawler for extracting and indexing music label information with automated data collection and search interface.

Node.js
Express
MongoDB
Nginx

Automated music industry data collection with real-time database viewer.

Tattlock

Developer

Tattoo shop management system with client tracking, artist portfolios, and ID verification integration.

Python
Django
MySQL

Complete relational database system for tattoo industry management.

Ultima Online Custom Server

Developer

Custom content and creature modifications for Ultima Online private servers including 30+ unique creatures with AI systems.

C#
RunUO

Extensive custom creature library with advanced AI, abilities, and boss mechanics.

Let's Connect

Get In Touch

I'm currently open for freelance work. Have a project in mind? Let's talk.

Prefer email? Reach me at john@willis.codes
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