Gabriel is currently unavailable
Gabriel Villenave
Verified Expert in Engineering
Full-stack Developer
Seattle, WA, United States
Toptal member since October 18, 2022
Bio
Hands-on engineering leader with 15+ years building and scaling high-performing teams at Microsoft, growth-stage startups, and a mission-driven nonprofit. Sets technical vision, drives cross-functional alignment, and grows engineers into senior and principal-level contributors. Hands-on technical depth, backed by founder and business experience.
Portfolio
Cortex
Kotlin, Spring 6, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Temporal...
Hyperproof
C#, .NET, Java, Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, Azure, API Integration, Snowflake...
Crisis Text Line
Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Next.js, GraphQL, Hasura...
Experience
- Node.js - 10 years
- React - 10 years
- Agile Project Management - 10 years
- Next.js - 8 years
- React Native - 8 years
- Team Leadership - 6 years
- AI Transformation - 3 years
- Large Language Models (LLMs) - 3 years
Work Experience
Senior Engineering Manager
2025 - PRESENT
Cortex
- Lead 12 engineers across 2 teams that own core platform and data ingestion – the data foundation of the Cortex engineering operations portal.
- Design and build a new integrations platform that connects Cortex to third-party engineering tools such as GitHub, PagerDuty, and Datadog.
- Champion AI transformation across engineering with an AI-native software development lifecycle (SDLC). In one year: 3x faster cycle time, 3x PR throughput, 2x deployment frequency, and 30% fewer incidents.
Technologies: Kotlin, Spring 6, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Temporal, Temporal Cloud, Apache Kafka, Datadog, AI Transformation, Large Language Models (LLMs)
Senior Engineering Manager
2024 - 2025
Hyperproof
- Owned the full integrations platform (REST APIs, SDK, 50+ connectors, and infrastructure processing millions of daily syncs) – the primary mechanism for connecting Hyperproof to third-party compliance and security tooling.
- Turned customer needs and commercial commitments into a sequenced integration roadmap, set with Product and Business Leadership.
- Directed quality and infrastructure investments to support enterprise growth: reliability improvements, observability, and scalable connector architecture.
- Built a team of 13 through structured hiring, growth frameworks, and formal performance reviews.
- Screened, recruited and managed off-shore contractors.
Technologies: C#, .NET, Java, Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, Azure, API Integration, Snowflake, Agile Project Management, Team Leadership, Spring 6, AI Transformation, Large Language Models (LLMs)
Senior Engineering Manager
2023 - 2024
Crisis Text Line
- Led the Clinical Applications full-stack team, delivering business-critical features on the Crisis Care platform supporting 1M+ people annually.
- Executed a high-stakes product roadmap with direct clinical impact, scoped and planned with Product, UX Design, and Data.
- Ran the full hiring lifecycle, from job descriptions and sourcing to interview design and offer decisions, growing a high-performing, mission-aligned team.
- Established performance reviews, calibration, and career development frameworks for the team.
Technologies: Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Next.js, GraphQL, Hasura, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Amazon RDS, Databricks, Agile Project Management, Team Leadership, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI Transformation
Engineering Manager
2021 - 2023
Microsoft
- Managed a team of 8 engineers (entry level to Principal) building collaboration and enterprise security features for Office 365, directly tied to $5B+ enterprise contracts.
- Partnered with Product, CX, and Security & Compliance to define the product roadmap and manage cross-team dependencies across multiple departments and time zones.
- Owned execution and on-time delivery of flagship enterprise features; maintained tight feedback loopsbetween ICs and senior leadership to surface blockers early.
- Continuously improved engineering processes across the org: planning cadences, incident reviews, and on-call health.
Technologies: C++, .NET, Agile Project Management, Management, Team Leadership, JavaScript, API Integration, C#, Azure, Microsoft Power BI
Technical Lead / Senior Software Engineer
2018 - 2021
Microsoft
- Led small cross-functional teams on multiple large-scale projects building real-time collaboration for Microsoft Office across consumer and enterprise markets.
- Steered architecture, planning, and delivery using experimentation, telemetry, and customer feedback – features now serving 10M+ daily sessions.
- Managed 6 engineers through performance cycles while maintaining IC technical leadership.
Technologies: C++, .NET, Agile Project Management, Team Leadership, JavaScript, API Integration, C#, React, Azure, Microsoft Power BI
Co-founder & CTO
2017 - 2018
Trybeo
- Co-founded the company: business plan, incorporation, investor relations, and early fundraising.
- Designed and built the end-to-end technical architecture: infrastructure, backend, database, web client, and hybrid iOS/Android mobile clients.
- Launched to market and grew to 10K+ users in under 6 months.
Technologies: Node.js, React, React Native, AngularJS, Firebase, iOS, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, API Integration, Heroku, Next.js
Software Engineer I and II
2013 - 2017
Microsoft
- Rearchitected core components within a shared stack of Office client applications to improve performance and scalability of real-time multi-user collaboration on Office documents across various platforms.
- Improved reliability of the core I/O pipeline for cloud files in Office applications—opening, saving, and syncing.
- Mentored interns and participated in the new hires' onboarding process.
Technologies: C++, .NET, Agile Project Management, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, API Integration
QA Software Engineer
2013 - 2013
Amadeus
- Collaborated with the quality assurance team for the Amadeus Global Distribution System (GDS), handling travel reservations worldwide for customers such as Air France, Lufthansa, Southwest Airlines, Avis, and Swedish rails.
- Authored, analyzed, and investigated automated non-regression tests for new software releases every week, enforcing compliance with customer systems and IATA regulations.
- Interfaced between quality assurance services, product definition, and development teams to investigate and prioritize bugs.
Technologies: Python, Linux, HTML, JavaScript, MySQL
Project History
Microsoft Information Protection Encrypted Documents
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/security-compliance-and-identity/co-authoring-on-microsoft-information-protection-encrypted/ba-p/2693718I drove the design and execution of this modern collaboration feature for Microsoft Office 365. It enables customers to co-author encrypted cloud documents, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, in the Microsoft Information Protection ecosystem in real time.
Trybeo
https://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/06/10/apps-of-the-week-june-9/A mobile iOS and Android app that aims to engage people to be more active through online challenges. As a co-founder and CTO, I built the entire product and infrastructure, including a web app with Angular, mobile apps with React Native, and the back end with Node.js, Firebase, and AWS.
Baby Ganoush: a data-driven naming app
http://www.babyganoush.appBaby Ganoush is a baby name discovery app and website that helps parents explore over 100,000 names, backed by current name-popularity data that goes beyond the usual top-1000 lists. Parents browse and save names, explore popularity trends and spelling variants, and read articles on naming trends, gender-neutral names, and culture-specific names.
Responsibilities:
- Data platform. A custom, proprietary system that tracks and serves naming trends, popularity data, and spelling variants.
- Backend. Directus as a headless CMS on top of a self-hosted Postgres database, driving content for both the app and the website.
- App. The iOS and Android app, built in React Native.
- Website. The marketing site and web app, built in Next.js
Responsibilities:
- Data platform. A custom, proprietary system that tracks and serves naming trends, popularity data, and spelling variants.
- Backend. Directus as a headless CMS on top of a self-hosted Postgres database, driving content for both the app and the website.
- App. The iOS and Android app, built in React Native.
- Website. The marketing site and web app, built in Next.js
Education
2012 - 2013
Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Industrial Management
Excelia La Rochelle - La Rochelle, France
2007 - 2012
Master's Degree in Information Systems
EIGSI La Rochelle - La Rochelle, France
2010 - 2011
Exchange Program in Computer Science
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering - Needham, MA, USA
Certifications
OCTOBER 2012 - PRESENT
PRINCE2 Foundation
PRINCE2
MARCH 2012 - PRESENT
Cisco Certified Network Associate
Cisco
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, React
Tools
Microsoft Power BI, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)
Languages
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C++, C#, Python, TypeScript, Go, GraphQL, Java, Snowflake, Kotlin
Frameworks
React Native, Next.js, .NET, AngularJS, Spring 6
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, Agile Project Management, Management
Platforms
Firebase, iOS, Linux, Heroku, Azure, Databricks, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Temporal Cloud, Apache Kafka, Directus
Storage
MySQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Google Cloud, Hasura, PostgreSQL, Datadog
Other
Program Management, Software Design, Cross-functional Team Leadership, Team Leadership, Software Architecture, AI Transformation, Large Language Models (LLMs), Entrepreneurship, API Integration, Gatsby, Network Architecture, Network Administration, Computer Science, Budget Management, Amazon RDS, LLM Agents, Temporal
Collaboration That Works
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
1
Share your needs
Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2
Choose your talent
Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3
Start your risk-free talent trial
Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring