Senior software developer / Test automation expert / 14 years experience / full-stack
I apply a user-oriented risk-based approach to development.
Emphasis is placed on maintainability, success, lowered stress, and less expense for the whole lifecycle.
I have experience at software firms ranging from start-ups to
large enterprises to government projects. My primary
experience has been as a full-stack developer in Java and .Net.
Improvements to team culture through mentoring and presentations:
Risk-based design
Code review best practices
System thinking
Software engineering best practices
Demonstration of practical improvements for unit, integration,
and system UI testing.
Improved documentation throughout codebase to improve
on-ramping new devs and reminding existing devs of context: for
example, a useful README was written for a key system, greatly
lowering difficulty.
Picking up responsibilities for team agile ceremonies, helping
to convey underlying value behind agile
Several features implemented, including new data quality
metrics, including Sonarqube in the branch CI workflow, feedback to user
after certain API calls, and UI-driven end-to-end tests.
Developed benchmark version of "repo pattern" refactoring to
demonstrate and explore key improvements to team process:
testing with mocks, improved interface documentation,
trunk-based development.
Promoted and improved team culture around meaningfulness
expectations of sprint stories.
Consistent advocate for quality, simplicity, lowered risk and lowered stress.
At Upstack, improved maintainability by modularizing and documenting
Github Action pipelines, DataDog monitoring, and Terraform
infrastructure automation on AWS.
At Dick's Sporting Goods
Contributed to development on in-store services scheduler. Kotlin
backend, React frontend, Postgresql database, running on Pivotal
Cloud Foundry environment.
Demonstrated value of stateful integration tests running in Github
Actions.
Greenfield project for custom golf club ordering. React / Angular
front-end, Kotlin / Java back-end. Postgresql database. Data flow in
Kafka. Database infrastructure scripting with Terraform.
Taught and coached in modern software development practices,
performance, security, testing, automation. Companies included:
John Deere, Army, Navy, Southwest Airlines, Tax Act, Labster, Bain
& Company, Ernst & Young Global Limited, Appian, Blue Cross
Blue Shield, Verizon
Developed demo software for training: Demo and R3z
Lead engineer on team to revise registration system for Medicaid
payments. Built with Java Spring Boot and Postgresql.
Redesign of report generator for healthcare website in Java
Ekagra Software May 2010 - June 2012
Title: QA Lead
Reported project status on weekly stakeholder meeting.
Prepared monthly process reports on project and QA activity.
Reviewed target goals, priorities, and QA standards with stakeholders.
Promoted to team lead after four months.
Developed software tools for QA in Java.
Built security-hardened CentOS Linux nodes.
Technology: Microsoft Word, Java, Linux, Tomcat, Excel, HP Quality
Center, Perl, VBScript, Selenium, SoapUI, Soap, GForge, Security, XML,
Eclipse, Documentation
Katz and Sons, Architects Sep. 2009 - May 2010
Title: entrepreneur, architect, sales, marketing, accounting
Marketing
Financial and accounting
Architectural design, drafting, and specifications
IT and website management
Networking
Communication with vendors, clients, and consultants
Design types: residential and remodeling
Portman Architects May 2005 - Sep. 2009
Title: architect
Design for Hilton Bayfront Convention Center Hotel in San Diego
Coordination with consultants and contractors
Point of contact for all requests for information
Code analysis
Creation and drafting of functional and aesthetic design and detailing
Site review
Permit process assistance to developer
Tunnell, Spangler, Walsh May 2004 - May 2005
Title: designer and draftsman
Coordination with consultants and contractors
Code analysis
Functional and aesthetic design and detailing
Design types: 250-unit condominium, community pavilion, detached residences, mixed-use development
Peacock Partnership May 2003 - May 2004
Title: designer
Coordination with consultants and contractors
Code analysis
Functional and aesthetic design and detailing
Design types: Hospital and medical build-out
Hodge Engineering May 15, 2002 - Nov 14, 2002
Title: designer
Stephen B. Jacobs Group, P.C. Summer 2001
Title: designer
Eisenman Architects Summer 2001
Title: designer
Goodstein Architects, Inc. Feb 2, 2000 - June 12, 2000
Title: designer
Thomas Caldwell, Architect May 15, 1999 - Nov 12, 1999
Title: designer
Commendations
You’ve brought the Common Purpose to life by improving teammates’ and athletes’ experiences ordering custom golf equipment through the delivery of TeeBox. ... we have seen a positive reduction in the number of custom orders cancellations and have made teammates’ jobs easier. Additionally, you have been a foundational pillar for the positive onboarding of the entire engineering team in the custom products space. Your actions and contributions have not gone unnoticed. Thank you again for all you’ve done for our team and company. You are a valued teammate!
- Jason Guttman, technical manager at Dick's Sporting Goods
The instructor (Byron) really knew his stuff, and did an excellent
job explaining it while keeping us interested and engaged. It was
great to see the light bulbs going off above people's heads
(including my own) that "hey, this is actually something that's
possible and we can start doing right now!" The positive effects
will be magnified many times over as we spread this throughout our
organization.
- student from software testing class
Technically: this project has been a joy to work on. Fearless experimentation and inquisition has led us in unexpected directions, not always fruitful to the source code but always helpful to my understanding. This has been a great experience for both learning Kotlin and internalizing the norms of test-driven development.
Interpersonally: Ideas lead. Never once have I felt pressured by the authority of seniority or expertise, and the result has been a welcoming and safe atmosphere that makes me feel more confident in my skills as a coder and a learner. Speaking personally, your confidence (Byron) that we can create something truly excellent is infectious, and something I didn’t know I was missing before.
- Mitch Hardee, junior developer at Coveros, speaking about work on the "Lab" initiative
Byron seems to be able to strike the delicate balance of listening, thinking, and suggesting smart
solutions to problems. He seems to be intent on leveling up our team members. Whether it’s introducing new development tools such as Vi or other *nix commands, or going deep on Git and then
teaching the rest of us what he learned, he seems to want to share his knowledge for the betterment
of his peers. This philosophy is infectious and I would expect that other team members will be
following his lead in learning a topic and teaching others.
He successfully delivered the rework of the Property survey page. As simple as that page may seem,
it has a large set of small features that needed to be re-worked. The rework of the survey page had
a dramatic effect on a number of user’s experiences as previously, this page took minutes to render
for clients with large survey lists. Now it takes a couple of seconds at most.
I would like to see Byron contribute to a large effort such as the reconceptualization of our web
application structure. I’m not sure if Byron could lead this effort or simply contribute, but his way
of thinking would guarantee a positive contribution.
Byron uses probably the most diverse set of tools on the team. Understands multiple tool chains
including *nix based and leverages those as needed to optimize his workflow. Probably, if given time
and given the opportunity, he would vastly improve the core product workflow.
- Joel Rumerman, manager at CoStar Group
I highly recommend Byron Katz as a candidate for employment. Byron and I worked on the same
team at the NCI Center for Bioinformatics. Byron’s technical ability and contribution was very
strong and coupled with his resourcefulness and unwavering persistence he set himself apart from
all of his peers. He was not only affable, but extremely reliable and was adept with working with all
levels - from technical colleagues to senior leadership. Byron would be a tremendous asset to any
organization and has my highest recommendation.
- Steve Young, colleague at NCI
Byron has excellent communication skills, has solid working relationships and is extremely organized and detail oriented. I was able to rely on him in completing his assignments from typical to
complex technical issues in a timely manner using good judgment with sound decisions and recommendations. He takes great pride in his work.
- Greg Botsch, manager while at John Portman and Associates
Certifications
ICAgile Certified Professional
ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Testing
ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Test Automation
ICAgile Certified Professional - Agile Programming
ICAgile Certified Professional - Foundations of Devops
ISTQB - Certified Foundation Level
ASTQB - Mobile Application Tester
ISTQB - Certified Advanced Level Test Manager
ISTQB - Certified Advanced Level Test Analyst
NCARB
Licensed architect in Georgia (expired)
Company details
Obscurity Labs
44921 George Washington Blvd
Suites 200 and 205
Ashburn, VA 20147
(877) 421-0822
info@obscuritylabs.com
Def Method, Inc.
defmethod.com
336 W 37th St.
Suite #335
New York, NY 10018
(212) 256-1460
info@defmethod.com
Coveros, Inc.
coveros.com
4000 Legato Road
Suite 1100
Fairfax, Virginia 22033
+1 929.341.0139
info@coveros.com
CoStar Group
costar.com
Headquarters Telephone: 800-204-5960
Washington, DC
Invision
(defunct)
Thycotic Software
thycotic.com
https://thycotic.com/about-us/contact/
Washington, DC
Portman Architects
https://portmanarchitects.com/
Atlanta, GA
Tunnell, Spangler, Walsh
https://www.tsw-design.com/
Atlanta, GA
Peacock Partnership
https://www.peacockpartnership.com/
Atlanta, GA
Education
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Bachelor of Architecture, 2002
“I'm not a great programmer; I'm just a good programmer with great habits.” - Kent Beck
