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Johnny avatar

Experience

Startup Engineering Leader | Founding Engineer | Product Systems & AI-native Delivery

Career highlights

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Johnny - Startup Engineering Leader | Founding Engineer | Product Systems & AI-native Delivery

Startup engineering leader and founding-engineer type with 20+ years of experience turning ambitious ideas, messy operational reality, and business complexity into scalable software systems. I work at the intersection of product, engineering, delivery, and operations: shaping what should be built, why it matters, how it should work in practice, and how to get it delivered in a way that is fast, safe, and verifiable. I am most effective in startup and scale-up environments, where speed matters but so do trust, clarity, and long-term thinking. My background spans product shaping, architecture, operational workflows, integrations, reliability, and technical leadership. More recently, I have focused on AI-native software delivery: agent-friendly systems, explicit workflows, strong validation, and dark-factory approaches that improve execution without compromising quality.

Top summary points

Selected experience

Founder / Founding Engineer at Explore My Profile

2026-03-01 to present

  • Building a product that turns static professional profiles into richer, more inspectable experiences for both people and AI agents
  • I own the product end to end across concept, UX, onboarding, profile rendering, content workflows, public delivery, and the integrations needed to make the system practical and usable

First Engineer -> Head of Engineering (hands-on) / Tech Lead, Ruby on Rails at Materials Market

2021-11-01 to present

  • Joined as the first technical hire and helped transition the business from agency dependence to an in-house engineering function
  • Built and evolved the platform across pricing, checkout, fulfilment, invoicing, and post-order operations, working closely with product and operations to turn real-world business complexity into reliable, auditable, and scalable software

Tech Lead, Ruby on Rails at Kudocs

2020-09-01 to 2021-11-01

  • Led development of a LegalTech SaaS platform, owning delivery across feature work and operational maintenance
  • Built and maintained APIs and integrations including Companies House and Stripe, while improving standards, release discipline, and collaboration with product and customer-facing teams

Tech Lead, Ruby on Rails at Happity

2018-02-01 to 2020-09-01

  • Owned the lifecycle of an e-commerce Rails product with subscriptions and complex back-office workflows
  • Focused on reliability, security, and user experience, and integrated services including Stripe, Intercom, SendGrid, and Google while supporting hybrid mobile apps built with web technologies

Ruby on Rails Developer (Contract) at CNS Group

2016-05-01 to 2018-05-01

  • Built a Rails benchmarking application for the cyber security industry with an on-prem deployment model using Ubuntu, Nginx, Puma, and Postgres
  • Implemented secure deployment and controlled release processes using GitLab CI and Capistrano

Tech Lead, Ruby on Rails at Clixifix

2013-01-01 to 2017-09-01

  • Led a small team building a SaaS platform for defect and repair management in construction
  • Owned delivery end to end across design, testing, deployment, support, and maintenance, while improving operational throughput and communication at scale

Ruby on Rails Developer at Beef (Contract)

2012-10-01 to 2012-12-01

  • Delivered Ruby on Rails development work on a contract basis, contributing to product delivery in a short focused engagement

Full Stack Ruby on Rails at Savantis Tech Ltd

2011-10-01 to 2018-02-01

  • Worked across full-stack Rails delivery for client and product work, building and maintaining web applications during a long period of hands-on consulting and delivery

Software Developer, Ruby on Rails at Savantis Ltd

2005-11-01 to 2011-10-01

  • Built experience across Ruby on Rails software delivery over multiple years, contributing to web application development and consultancy-led product work

IP Security Engineer (Placement) at O2 Ireland

2005-06-01 to 2005-10-01

  • Worked on IP security during an industry placement, gaining early experience in operational and infrastructure-focused engineering work

Applications Developer (Placement) at Procter & Gamble

2003-07-01 to 2004-09-01

  • Worked as an applications developer during a placement, contributing to software development work in a large enterprise environment