Curriculum Vitae

Work Experience

More Better Faster, Milwaukee, WI

Oct 2018 to present Owner, Programmer, Consultant

PHP, Laravel, VueJS project work on demand and team augmentation. Business and technical process improvement and engineering manager training from nearly 2 decades of experience.

Talimer, Milwaukee, WI

Nov 2020 to Feb 2021 Advisory Chief Technology Officer

As the Advisory CTO at Talimer, I help review decisions regarding technology implementation. Additionally, I provide one of many reviews on the applicability of features for tech freelancers.

Jan 2020 to Nov 2020 Chief Technology Officer

Freelancer’s first is the Talimer motto. As the CTO, I work with marketing, strategy and operations to develop technology to support our unique process and vision.

Dealer Inspire, Naperville, IL

May 2018 to Sep 2018 Senior Director of Product Engineering

The Senior Director of Product Engineering works with the VP of Engineering to develop processes, procedures and best practices for all of the development teams. I oversee four products with 12 direct reports: Online Shopper, Fuel, AdBuilder and an upcoming beta product. Online Shopper allows customers to find, customize, finance and finish an entire purchase of an automobile. It features real-time financing quotes, integrates with inventory and provides customized incentives and accessories. Fuel automatically manages online advertising between AdWords and Bing, while integrating with Facebook lead forms. With budget constraints, automated ROI bid adjustments and live inventory integration, Fuel keeps ads up to date and optimizes their performance. The AdBuilder tool is an internal product that builds HTML5 ads for various ad platforms. It integrates templates with inventory feeds and ships updates to FUEL via a REST API. It uses single sign on using Auth0, one of the first applications of our product suite to use it.

Oct 2017 to May 2018 Director of Product Engineering

As the Director of Product Engineering, I oversee two products: Online Shopper and Fuel. My job is to build up my development team, remove obstacles and keep everyone informed. This means I split my time between mentoring and coaching for technical and career paths, leading status meetings and working to stream-line integration of multiple products.

Oct 2016 to Oct 2017 Senior Software Engineer

Originally hired as a Senior Developer before my 2017 promotion, I was rewriting an application from a full-stack Kohana application to a scaled, message-based API service using the Laravel 5 framework. This application integrates with Salesforce, Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads, providing a unified interface for managing a single budget and client over multiple ad networks.

Wallit (formerly iMoneza, LLC), Brookfield, WI

Feb 2016 to Oct 2016 Senior Software Engineer

Wallit helps support digital publications through the implementation of a micropayments based paywall. Primarily focus on javascript and PHP integrations of the core product. Responsible for creating Wordpress, Joomla, and Drupal plugins as well as core PHP libraries. Javascript implementations include CommonJS/AMD and custom libraries. Also developed the Swagger / OpenAPI documentation and NodeJS standards library. I was a primary driver to introduce the Agile workflow into the company and developed our scheduled weekly code-review process.

Small Shops United, LLC, Milwaukee, WI

Jan 2018 to present Special Advisor

SSU provides digital local loyalty products. I work with the CEO and technical team to evaluate technical solutions and validate products and vendors.

Jul 2015 to Dec 2017 CTO / Co-founder

At SSU, we provide digital local loyalty products. The product consists of a LAMP stack, web service interface with Android tablets, a queue system, and various BI related reporting systems and data analysis.

201 Creative, LLC, New Berlin, WI

Feb 2015 to Feb 2016 Owner

I launched my own development business to cater to the needs of small and medium sized businesses. In addition, I provided multiple clients with technical leadership and organization engagements and training.

Liturgical Publications, Inc., New Berlin, WI

Nov 2010 to Jan 2015 Web Development Manager

Developed e-commerce deal of the day site in a limited time scope from basic business requirements. Continue to analyze competitors, business requirements, website analytics and user trends to build a fully featured user experience while consistently driving sales. Primarily developing in Zend Framework. Responsible for prioritizing team and technical assets to keep multiple full projects in active development. Active full size project load includes 4 complete independent sites with thousands of visitors a day. Responsible for team hiring, wage reviews, and other HR aspects. Currently specializing in mentorship, team growth and product quality.

c21 Interactive / MarkForGov.com, Waukesha, WI

Mar 2009 to Sep 2010 Lead Software Architect

Analyzing business requirements to extend open source software, new development with PHP. Creating social networking software for political campaigns, interfacing with e-mail providers, SalesForce and other third parties. Transitioned from contract to hire and worked full-time until primary election.

JobShouts, LLC, Tampa, FL

Feb 2009 to Aug 2009 Director of Software Engineering

Jobshouts.com is a free job board built for employers, recruiters & job seekers to connect through social media. Features job listings and Twitter integration. Developed on open source software using PHP5 and MySQL. Consulting with team to develop and extend open source application while actively participating in code development.

102 Degrees, LLC, Greenfield, WI

2001 to 2009 Owner

102 Degrees specialized in custom design web programming utilizing open source software; primarily within the LAMP stack. Longest running project, JEMDiary, was created in 2001 and ran PHP5 through 2010. (Sole Proprietor formed LLC in 2007).

Rogers Software Development, Fairbanks, AK

Jul 2008 to Jan 2009 Programmer 3

As a full-time level 3 programmer, led beginner and intermediate level programmer teams in the development of Point of Sale solutions software utilizing PHP, MySQL and Javascript. Analyzed business requirements and translated into detailed technical specifications. Aided in the development of standards, code review and analysis. Migrated a legacy code base “back office” to the most up to date framework, then deployed it with version control for the first time since its inception. Reported directly to development manager.

Delta Dental of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, WI

Feb 2006 to Jul 2008 Web Developer

Provided Business Analysis, documentation, design, development and management of web products and interfaces for dental insurance processing. Programmed user interfaces which combined System i platform with LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). Led development team in the design and development of a new services/features; specifically a new insurance line quoting service and online enrollment service, which continue to receive positive customer feedback. Created business user CMS and statistical reporting. Focused security analysis of code for HIPAA compliance. Clients included four state wide Insurance branches and nationwide individual sales. As a team lead, in this fulltime position, directed department efforts and coordinated outside consultants.

EZ-Net, Inc., Oconto Falls, WI

Aug 2001 to Feb 2006 Web Developer / Technical Support Supervisor

EZ-Net is an ISP, offering a full range of internet, computer & network services and computer sales & service and consulting services. Full-time employment consisted of balancing two positions. Using LAMP stack, designed and developed internet and intranet interfaces, as well as maintained existing projects. Development and creation of scripting tools to perform system administration for internal sites and interfaced with billing systems. Managed all aDSL, cable and satellite internet service orders. Provided escalated support for complex technical issues and service disputes. Developed and authored a comprehensive troubleshooting guide which allowed full diagnosis support for new/existing internet installations as well as developed a custom setup kit which automatically configured end user’s equipment. Support included Windows 95/98/2000/NT, Mac OS 7 and above, select Netgear routers and Westell DSL modems for 5,000+ customer base. Provided documentation, research and development, customer service training, quality assurance and employee reviews.

Publications

I am a prolific author, editor and blogger. (On this site - 700+ technical and business entries since 2007.)

Author

Securing Laravel A free e-book I created (edited/reviewed by Joel Clermont) containing 7 steps to lock down and secure a Laravel application. Considered the intro material for the Secure Coding Laravel video course.

Secure Coding in Laravel Video Course A 4.5 hour video course created teaching secure coding skills, proper configuration of Laravel and pentesting tools. In addition, demonstrated many different attacks and how to defend against them.

A Little Bit of Laravel A free e-book authored by Joel Clermont and I giving more than 15 Laravel-based tips and tricks with thorough explanation, rationale, and code examples.

Mastering Laravel Validation Rules This ebook, co-authored with Joel Clermont, focuses on the validation system in the PHP framework Laravel.

33 Things I Wish Somebody Would Have Told Me This book details - you guessed it - 33 things that I wish someone would have mentioned to be before or during my programming and management career. A more conversational read, this shares lessons I’ve learned “the hard way” in a language or technical discipline-agnostic format.

WROX: Professional PHP Design Patterns (ISBN: 978-0470496701) This book helps bridge the divide between the traditional design pattern books and the average PHP developer. Learn how to apply all the true, time-tested patterns in object-oriented PHP.

The Confident Coder. A monthly column for PHP[architect] from October, 2013 to September, 2014. From best practice programming tips to communication skills for programmers, this column was a staple for 12 issues of PHP[architect], the leading PHP magazine.

Columnist for the PHP channel of SitePoint Previously known as PHPMaster.com, the SitePoint PHP channel contains high quality content from noted PHP experts. I wrote two articles: Debugging PHP Code with FirePHP and Giving Your First PHP Presentation.

MKE PHP: Best People, Best Practices This article for PHP[architect] was co-authored by me in 2012. In it, my writing partner and I explained the challenges and rewards of starting Milwaukee’s first PHP user group.

Participant

No Compromises Podcast A bi-weekly podcast with over 160 episodes focusing on Laravel and PHP programming concepts and dev team methodologies and strategies.

Mastering Laravel Daily Tips A daily tips and tricks newsletter co-authored by Aaron Saray and Joel Clermont.

Technical Editor

PHPUnit Essentials (ISBN: 978-1783283439)

Pro PHP App Performance (ISBN: 978-1430227274)

Javascript Testing Beginners Guide (ISBN: 978-1849510004)

Public Speaking

Education / Training

Community & Volunteering

I enjoy participating in my local business and technical community.

2026 ENGIN ESL for UA refugee volunteer.

2026 Fox Valley Literacy ESL volunteer.

2019 to 2020 i.c.Stars Community volunteer.

2018 to 2019 Open Sourcing Mental Illness Content editor, writer.

2010 to 2019 Milwaukee PHP Users Group I started the Milwaukee PHP user’s group in 2010. With about 11 meetups per year, we closed it up in 2019.

Various Other Meetup Leadership Roles. I’ve participated in restarting, restructuring, and/or other assistance with the Fox Cities PHP Users group, the Milwaukee Web Design Meetup, and the Milwaukee Web Professionals meetup.

2016 to 2018 WCTC Communications Advisory Board I was a member of the advisory committee. This committee helps direct the curriculum of the communications and technical/programming programs.

Open Source

The preeminent showcase of Open Source Software is GitHub. You can find my repositories at github.com/aaronsaray.

At GitHub, I’ve released various PHP and Javascript code including Feedly Background Tab Chrome Extension, Laravel Simple Feature Flags, and MadMimi PHP SDK. With over 50 public repositories, I am committed (PUN!) to OSS.