Joseph Blackwell
Verified Expert in Engineering
Data Engineer and Cloud Platform Developer
Orlando, FL, United States
Toptal member since August 29, 2025
Joseph is a highly motivated computer science graduate with 11+ years of IT and 9+ years of software development experience. He specializes in software development, data engineering, cloud infrastructure, and machine learning applications, leveraging Python and AWS to build scalable, data-driven systems. Joseph contributes innovative solutions to complex problems by applying analytical thinking, automation, and predictive modeling.
Portfolio
Experience
- SQL - 10 years
- Software Engineering - 10 years
- Python - 9 years
- React - 7 years
- Django - 6 years
- Data Engineering - 6 years
- Next.js - 4 years
- AWS Lambda - 4 years
Preferred Environment
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Back-end, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Python, Django, Flask, React, Next.js
The most amazing...
...thing I've done is work on an app that can change the way we do things going forward.
Work Experience
Lead Full-stack & Data Platform Engineer (Azure)
Cisco
- Built scalable full-stack data workflows using Python, Node.js, Microsoft Azure cloud ecosystem, and AWS, improving back-end reliability, API performance, logging visibility, and overall software quality.
- Developed back-end database integration features with Python, Django, and SQLAlchemy, supporting schema-aware synchronization, API logic, and multi-table data operations.
- Built cloud-native API integration services by creating OAuth2-authenticated data pipelines that integrate enterprise systems (such as Workday, Security Insights, CheckMK) with the Splunk analytics platform.
- Led full-stack development across React, Next.js, Django, and Node.js, enhancing UI modules, back-end services, and real-time application workflows for enterprise users.
- Identified and eliminated structural database bottlenecks, executing query optimizations and refactoring pipelines to drastically cut processing latency across production data environments.
Senior Full-stack Developer — Cloud APIs & ML Systems
PENN Entertainment
- Developed scalable back-end APIs using Python, Django, and AWS Lambda, supporting full-stack application features and cloud-based service workflows.
- Built automated deployment pipelines using CircleCI to move and process data between GitHub and Amazon S3.
- Managed complex ingestion to Snowflake via AWS and internal data transformation logic.
- Trained the ML model using MeanShift to detect the likelihood of items being stolen from brick-and-mortar casinos.
- Implemented analytics-ready datasets through SQL, Snowpark, and Redshift external tables.
- Designed full-stack microservice solutions with Node.js, Django, REST/GraphQL APIs, and React, turning business requirements into secure, production-ready software features.
- Led software development roadmaps across React, Next.js, Python, and AWS, improving code quality, reviewing full-stack features, and mentoring engineers on scalable application design.
- Built and optimized machine learning models and data pipelines to uncover advanced insights, including training a SARIMA model to forecast NFL wagers and developing a sophisticated ELT pipeline with Pandas and Airflow.
Senior Technical Lead — Cloud Applications
Foundation Partners Group
- Built and maintained full-stack applications using React, Next.js, Django REST, and GraphQL, deploying scalable services across AWS ECS, EC2, RDS, Route 53, and S3.
- Developed scalable back-end services with Python, Django, and Node.js, while mentoring junior developers on API design, clean code, and full-stack software development.
- Made strategic infrastructure decisions, including container orchestration via CloudFormation and security protocols using Okta.
- Integrated Strapi APIs with external identity providers, improving authentication flows and supporting secure login features for full-stack web applications.
- Integrated scalable data pipelines, enhancing system resilience and performance.
Software Developer
Fox Sports
- Developed full-stack features for NFL and MLB analytics apps, using React, Python, and cloud-based APIs to help broadcast analysts identify real-time statistical outliers.
- Integrated rapidly into unfamiliar analytics codebases with minimal supervision, building serverless real-time data engines to optimize platform computation thresholds.
- Built a real-time analytics service using Python, AWS Lambda, and Node.js, generating contextual insights from live data and supporting interactive web application workflows.
- Implemented AWS DynamoDB data models and back-end transformation logic to support fast NoSQL operations for scalable full-stack applications.
Python/ETL Developer
The Walt Disney Company
- Built Python-based data intake services to process Nielsen media ratings and other streaming sources, improving back-end performance and data reliability.
- Developed ELT pipelines with Python, Pandas, REST APIs, and PostgreSQL to transform large datasets and support scalable back-end application workflows.
- Automated batch processing workflows using Docker and Airflow, improving deployment consistency, scheduled data jobs, and cloud-ready software operations.
Experience
ETL Pipeline for Sports Data
LiqLoc iOS Application
https://apps.apple.com/app/id6756991291LiqLoc Android App
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.liqloc.liqloc&pcampaignid=web_shareSkills
Libraries/APIs
React, SQLAlchemy, Node.js, Vue, Auth, Twilio API, API Development, Beautiful Soup, Requests, Google Maps, PyTorch, Stripe, Pydantic, Claude API, Vue 3, Chart.js, OpenAPI, Google Calendar API, Google Play API, Stripe Connect API, React Testing Library, jQuery, Stripe API, Mapbox GL, OpenAI API, REST APIs
Tools
Terraform, Retool, Google Sheets, Zapier, GIS, Claude Code, Codex, Multiple Listing Services (MLS), Tableau, Jira, GitHub, Sentry, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Microsoft Excel, SendGrid, Auth0, Firebase Authentication, Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), TestFlight, Webpack, Git, Apache, Microsoft Graph, Microsoft Web Services, Figma, Google Analytics, PyCharm, Claude, Celery, Acumatica, Apache Airflow, Splunk, Android Studio
Languages
Python, SQL, Go, TypeScript, JavaScript, ECMAScript (ES6), C++, GraphQL, Python 3, CSS, PHP, Snowflake, CSS3, HTML5, Rust, C#, C#.NET, Java, Dart, HTML, Swift
Frameworks
Django, Flutter, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, React Native, ASP.NET, .NET, Angular, LangGraph, Scrapy, Spark, OAuth 2, Apache Spark, Starlette, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Laravel, Spring, Spring Boot, Swagger, Express.js, Cypress, Jest, .NET 8, Svelte, Bootstrap, CodeIgniter, Flask, Ruby on Rails (RoR), gRPC, Spring AI, Tauri
Paradigms
Hosting, Microfrontends, Database Design, HIPAA Compliance, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Rule-based Programming, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), Business Intelligence (BI), Automation, HL7 FHIR Standard, Microservices, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Low-code Development, API Architecture, REST API Architecture, DevOps, Testing, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), ETL
Platforms
Dataiku, AWS Lambda, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Azure, Databricks, Firebase, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Vercel, AWS IoT, Google Ads, Android, iOS, Azure Functions, Windows Server, Linux, FlutterFlow, PostHog, Docker, GoHighLevel, Salesforce, Zendesk, Klaviyo, Shopify, WooCommerce, MacOS, Amazon EC2
Storage
Amazon DynamoDB, PostgreSQL, JSON, Microsoft SQL Server, PostGIS, Data Pipelines, Data Lakes, Redis, MongoDB, ClickHouse, ClickHouse Cloud, Datadog, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), SQL Stored Procedures, MySQL, Cloud Firestore, Google Cloud, IndexedDB
Industry Expertise
Healthcare
Other
AWS ECS Fargate, Open-source LLMs, Data Engineering, APIs, Back-end, Large Language Models (LLMs), FastAPI, Web Scraping, PDF, Tailwind UI, AI Automation, API Integration, Full-stack, Infrastructure, AI Tools, Payment APIs, Component Libraries, Zuora, RESTFul APIs, Microsoft 365, SAP, Supabase, Compliance, Mentorship, Security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Full-stack Development, SaaS, Supabase Auth, Workflow Automation & System Integration, ERP Systems, Automations, CRM, Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, Workflow Automation, AI Voice Agents, Agentic AI, LangChain, RAG Systems, AI Development, Machine Learning, Customer Experience, Development, Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), Sales, Apollo, Browser Automation, ZoomInfo, GeoJSON, OpenStreetMap, AI Integration, Robot Operating System (ROS), Simulations, AI-assisted Development, Data Management, Cursor AI, AI Marketing, Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS), RAG Architecture, Technical Writing, Agentic AI Systems, Image Processing, Real-time Data, Wearable Technology, Webhooks, Cloud Infrastructure, Data Modeling, Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Cloud, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Monitoring, Agentic Development, OpenAI, Cloud Platforms, Commercial Real Estate, ETL Pipelines, Property Valuation, Law, Trademarks, Temporal, Healthcare IT, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Software Architecture, Epic, App Support, Bug Triage, Intercom, Web Development, QR Codes, Enterprise Infrastructure, Pulumi, Startups, Vite, OAuth, Cloudflare, Railway, TOTP, Uptime Monitoring, AI Agent Orchestration, AI Agents, LLM Integration, Speech-to-Text (STT), Text-to-Speech (TTS), Distributed Systems, Enterprise Integration, Multi-tenant Architecture, Finance, Monday.com, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), MLflow, Error Logging, Clinical Research, Platform Engineering, Security Engineering, Consulting, NetSuite, SAP ERP, Architecture, Vibe Coding, Authentication, Document Processing, Fintech, Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Quality Assurance (QA), Technical Architecture, Underwriting, User Interface (UI), Row-level Security (RLS), Scraping, Web App Development, Computer Vision, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), HL7, Data Architecture, Debugging, Troubleshooting, Integration, Application Modernization, SQL Server, System Architecture, ECS, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Serverless, Google Ad Manager, Ads, Google Advertising, API Design, Command-line Interface (CLI), App Store, Calendars, Firebase Cloud Functions, Healthtech, Push Notifications, Azure Function App, Multi-agent Systems, API Gateways, Data Analytics, App Design, IIS, Performance Optimization, eCommerce, Agentic Coding, Microsoft Graph API, Mobile GPS, Activity Feeds, AI-generated Code, Gemini, Front-end, MERN Stack, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Cloud Architecture, System Design, Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Software Development, Amazon RDS, Software Engineering, CI/CD Pipelines, Data Scraping, Legacy Code, ServiceNow, LiDAR, Enterprise Cybersecurity, Data Science, Geospatial Data, Gradient Boosting, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Amazon Route 53, Amazon API Gateway, Dagster, AWS WAF
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