

Carl Dunham
Verified Expert in Engineering
Python Developer
San Francisco, CA, United States
Toptal member since March 6, 2014
Carl has a deep passion for building software, systems, and teams. He has built several 0-1 startups and systems at Reddit scale. He is a team player who can lead and operate independently to get things done. Carl always brings something new to his teams.
Portfolio
Experience
- Concurrent Programming - 20 years
- System Architecture - 20 years
- Software Architecture - 20 years
- GraphQL - 6 years
- Go - 6 years
- PostgreSQL - 5 years
- Kubernetes - 3 years
- Large Language Models (LLMs) - 1 year
Preferred Environment
Go, Large Language Models (LLMs), Kubernetes, GraphQL
The most amazing...
...system I've ever designed was a full-stack SaaS SEM bid management system that used predictive algorithms, models, and large data sets to optimize campaigns.
Work Experience
Senior Software Engineer, GraphQL
Reddit, Inc.
- Led migration of legacy GraphQL Python monolith to federated microservices in Go.
- Coordinated cross-functional teams and provided peer support.
- Developed platform features and tools for contributors in Go, TypeScript, Python, Kubernetes, and more.
- Ensured high reliability and availability across multiple clouds, regions, and clusters.
Director of Software Engineering
Neustar Security Services (now Vercara/Digicert)
- Led a team of eight engineers in building Go microservices for a large-scale DDoS and security product.
- Drove the re-architecture from Python/Flask to Go microservices, React, and GraphQL for improved maintainability.
- Collaborated with engineering managers and product management to enhance system features and performance.
Senior Software Architect
Neustar
- Led the development of the oneID IoT identity management solution at Neustar, Inc., ensuring secure and authentic communication between devices.
- Implemented standards-based and proprietary technology to enhance the trustworthiness of messages across various devices.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to expand the solution globally and address identity management for a wide range of devices.
Senior Software Architect
oneID
- Architected and developed an identity-as-a-service for consumers and IoT devices.
- Applied symmetric and asymmetric cryptography techniques.
- Wrote major sections of an online donations platform used by political and nonprofit organizations.
- Built out IoT infrastructure for secure communication among edge devices, infrastructure servers, and users.
Founder and CTO
The Search Agency
- Built and led the team that developed AdMax platform, a data-driven decision support system for online marketing campaigns.
- Developed core frameworks in Java and PHP for ORM, page formatting, concurrency control, and other platform services.
- Led product development of AdMax local platform, including working with Tier I clients to manage requirements and system integration.
- Performed data analysis using R and Python on large data sets to extract trend and performance insights.
- Built location taxonomies from public and other data sources in R and Python, including polygon-to-point-radius conversion algorithms and fine-grained population estimates.
- Served as a member of the Board of Directors, advising on product and technology strategy.
Managing Director, Simpli
United Online
- Led teams of scientists and engineers to develop state-of-the-art microtargeting technology. Initial applications of the technology resulted in a 3x increase in click yield.
- Developed a business plan for a next-gen advertising delivery service and collaborated with advertising traffic operations to streamline processes.
- Managed a $2.4 million operating budget and successfully led the sale of Simpli to Search123 in 2002.
Director of Software Development
Simpli
- Designed and coded features in Java, JavaScript, and HTML, working with cognitive scientists and linguists to develop new search enhancement and targeted content technology.
- Used corpus-based/statistical NLP techniques and neural network technology heavily.
- Led successful joint project to develop browser plug-in tool with parent company, resulting in on-time and under-budget product release.
Experience
Useful Cookery
https://github.com/carldunham/useful-cookeryClimate Data Analysis
https://github.com/carldunham/climate-dataSystem and Method for Determining Weighted Average Success Probabilities of Internet Advertisements
http://www.google.com/patents/US8224698Patent: Method and System for Attributing an Online Conversion to Multiple Influencers
https://www.google.com/patents/US20110231239Patent: Cost-per-action Search Engine System, Method and Apparatus
https://www.google.com/patents/US20030216930Education
MBA Degree in Business
University of Rhode Island - Kingston, RI
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Brown University - Providence, RI
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, React
Tools
Git
Languages
Python, Go, GraphQL, JavaScript, R, C, Assembly
Paradigms
REST, Agile Software Development, Object-oriented Design (OOD), Concurrent Programming, MapReduce, Event-driven Programming, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), Management
Platforms
Linux, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Apache Kafka, Docker, RStudio, Google App Engine, Kubernetes
Storage
MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, NoSQL
Frameworks
Django
Industry Expertise
Marketing
Other
Software Architecture, GraphQL Federation, Back-end, System Architecture, Spatial Statistics, Large-scale Projects, Scientific Computing, Large Language Models (LLMs), Finance, Computer Science, Internet of Things (IoT), Web Marketing, Statistics
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