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ABOUT ME

I’m an exceptional technical people manager with a history of improving engineering velocity and quality, improving communication and morale, and being a successful multiplier to productivity. After a twenty-year career as a software engineer in many industries, I made the rarely successful move to people management. I utilize the servant-leader methodology to be a software engineering manager that allows me to be a key hands-on contributor to growing both software and engineering teams.

My background in psychology and professional teaching gives me a unique and powerful team management skill-set that results in lower stress amongst developers, more effective communication between teams/departments, higher job satisfaction scores, and measurably higher productivity based on every metric that's been applied to my teams.

Despite transitioning to management, I still code daily and find it beneficial to participate in technical planning, pair programming, and developer mentorship. I am focused on efficiency and productivity and achieve this via my principles of management:

  • Metrics must never become goals
  • Open, honest, and bidirectional communication
  • Clear delineation of responsibilities

If these ideas interest you, then I invite you to view the presentation slideshow below.

MY MANAGERIAL PHILOSOPHY

MANAGERIAL SKILLS

Technical Leadership
People Management
Mentoring & Training
Project Management
Applied Psychology
Effective Stress
Reduction Techniques
Risk Management
Organization & Scheduling
Technical Interviewing
and Hiring
Compensation Management
Employee Performance
Enhancement Strategies
Jira Management
and Administration
Agile: Scrum & Kanban
Release Management
Software Architecture
and Development

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

EMCEE
EMCEE

Working with the VP of Engineering, we divided responsibilities between us: he wanted to handle managing technical development and for me to be a people manager focusing on improving communication, morale, process, and productivity. I took direct managerial control over two teams, Core Development and Data Science, and later created a DevOps team.

Over a short period, my teams went from being scattered code-firefighters and basically just surviving to being organized, disciplined, and the most productive teams in the org. Once intra-team tools and communication was sorted, I focused on inter-team processes next and again was met with great success. Teams started sharing information, coordinating better, and eventually shared developers between them. Engineering velocity skyrocketed!

SKYTRAC Systems
SKYTRAC Systems

I accomplished a 300% productivity increase by rewriting broken processes, building new productivity tools, and improving communication and cooperation within the company. In addition, our median CS ticket response time was reduced from several days to a mere two hours.

I reduced stress for each individual on the team through weekly one-on-ones and by taking action on their feedback and input. One of my teammates said that I was "50% a leader and 50% a therapist" and I am quite proud of that. I increased the technical leadership and created personalized education paths for mid-level and junior developers on the team which increased their job satisfaction and made them more valuable employees to the company.

BrainCheck
BrainCheck
  • Lead Engineer / CTO (in training)
  • Three Developers
  • View Website

In an attempt to clarify responsibilities and increase the quality of communication, I dramatically increased productivity by envisioning and implementing a company-wide restructure which increased communication between teams and allowed for better milestone prioritization. This restructure was implemented quickly, adopted by all, and we started reaping the rewards almost immediately.

I also took initiative to draft and enforce a formal Engineering Plan to define proper software engineering procedures around adding new features, automated testing, dev-ops, and code reviews. This substantially raised engineering and delivery standards, and I set the rest of the team up for success by helping them raise their skills to meet these standards.

LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION

Jessica Pamdeth
Jessica Pamdeth
They say employees don’t leave a company, they leave their manager. With Steven the opposite is true; I accepted the role for the opportunity to work with him.
Steven is one of the few I’d follow to a new company if he wanted to work with me again.
Seth Thomas
Seth Thomas
I am not exaggerating when I say Steven is the best manager I’ve had in my career. He’s got deep technical expertise and understanding, so he is able to understand and discuss the intricacies of the work we do as software engineers. His strongest skill, however, is the fact that he is great at understanding people.
He made me feel seen and appreciated as an employee.
Jeffery Ahern
Jeffery Ahern
His unique approach, combining software development expertise with insights from psychology and teaching, has notably reduced stress and improved team communication.
As a hands-on leader, his involvement in mentoring keeps him connected with the team, enhancing our technical planning and execution.
Chris Haack
Chris Haack
I think where he specializes is putting the person first and realizing how the psychological effects of working high intensity jobs needs to be balanced, with joy and happiness and fulfillment in life. To be a top performing engineer is exceptionally difficult and Steven provided an environment where I could succeed.
One thing that really grew on me was the way he handled rejection letters to candidates, giving them thoughtful and precise feedback when they were not the right fit, showing good faith on behalf of the company and bringing back the human aspect to a process that can be cold and heartless.
Cole Macdonald
Cole Macdonald
Steven has done an incredible job allowing our team to focus on our work ... Additionally, he has implemented new, streamlined communication protocols with other departments further improving our team's (and company’s) operations.
In his position as Enterprise Software Manager, Steven has made professional development a key part of our weekly 1-1 meetings.
Overall, with Steven at the helm, our team is happier and more efficient than we have been in years.
Nicole Barby
Nicole Barby
Throughout our time working together he always impressed me with his people management, big picture thinking, and ability to bring calm in perpetual chaos.
Steven is a skilled leader with his understanding of project intake, scaling, and delivering what is promised. Steven can carry a mountain and still keep his composure, genuine personality and help the business achieve its aims and objectives.
Rhiannon Tully-Barr
Rhiannon Tully-Barr
... he has significantly improved the quality of our communication with the Client Services team, as well as increased our ability to act autonomously to do good work.
He has shown himself to be a caring individual who holds the wellbeing of his reports as his highest priority.
He isn’t afraid to push back and have difficult conversations when necessary, and maintains a pragmatic mindset when it comes to delivering projects and features...
Sridatta Kolli
Sridatta Kolli
Steven looks after his team irrespective of how much ever the pressure mounts on him and gives enough time to the team and also composes himself to handle the team during tight schedules showcasing the traits of a good leader.
In my time working with Mr. Steven, he has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to lead teams through the examples he sets every day.

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