Publication
5 Golden Rules for Great Web API Design
https://www.toptal.com/api-developers/5-golden-rules-for-designing-a-great-web-api
Jordan is available for hire
Hire JordanJordan Ambra
Verified Expert in Engineering
Architecture Developer
Location
Oxford, PA, United States
Toptal Member Since
July 23, 2013
Jordan is a top-notch technical advisor, fractional CTO, and engineer with vast and deep industry experience and the passion and expertise to help businesses solve complex problems. An expert full-stack developer, he brings projects from concept to completion with a proven track record of delivering powerful, stable, and comprehensive solutions.
Portfolio
ConsumerLab.com
Amazon Web Services (AWS), ASP, Python, Python 3, .NET, C#, Django, Django ORM...
Corva
Architecture, Management, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, JavaScript, Java...
Photobooth Supply
Agile Software Development, CTO, Swift, Mobile, Hardware, React, Front-end...
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Docker, Docker Compose, MacOS, JetBrains, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
The most amazing...
...product I've built served nearly 250 million hits every month, with some of the highest speed and reliability on the web.
Work Experience
Digital Transformation Consultant
2017 - PRESENT
ConsumerLab.com
- Architected and implemented two parallel software transformations to upgrade a convoluted and unmaintainable legacy Classic ASP setup to a modern software stack.
- Replaced old and obsolete Classic ASP back-end admin software and thousands of stored procedures with Django and the Django ORM.
- Refreshed and modernized the website, emphasizing searchability and ease of use.
- Fixed various site-wide performance problems and brought the site up to Google's standards for mobile and desktop using Lightspeed and other analysis tools.
- Improved recurring revenue processes and customer management, helping the company double revenue every two to three years.
Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), ASP, Python, Python 3, .NET, C#, Django, Django ORM, AWS Lambda, Docker, SQL Server 2016, Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Mobile, Microservices, iOS, Cloud, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, CTO, Algorithms, Python API, Team Leadership, Salesforce, CRM Implementation (Salesforce), Email Marketing Automation, Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Director of Engineering
2017 - PRESENT
Corva
- Developed multiple products, services, and teams for this energy sector startup as a lead engineer, architect, and, eventually, director of engineering.
- Architected and built a team to support on-premise installations of the Corva product suite, as well as IoT devices in the field, to reliably collect and send data under some of the worst conditions on earth.
- Pivoted to lead Corva's transition after reaching scale from a software product to a complete platform on which third parties could build.
- Hired, managed, and coached dozens of people and teams at Corva, most of which have since taken on leadership roles or founded their own companies.
Technologies: Architecture, Management, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, JavaScript, Java, Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR), Docker, Python, C#, React, Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Mobile, Microservices, Android, iOS, Cloud, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, CTO, Algorithms, Flask, Python API, Azure, Team Leadership, AWS IoT, Internet of Things (IoT), Video Streaming, SMS Marketing, Email Marketing Automation
CTO
2021 - 2023
Photobooth Supply
- Spearheaded a transformation of the struggling engineering department. This involved attracting and hiring top talent, implementing software development best practices, and pivoting the entire company to become a product-led organization.
- Increased revenue by 250% during my tenure. We launched two new products and achieved a 750% increase in team velocity, combining efficiency and capacity.
- Implemented proper and efficient DevOps best practices and focused on improving the stability of the entire software product suite. This included fixing high-priority issues and reducing the total bug count by 90% over 12 months.
- Took a siloed team, instilled a sense of pride and ownership, and injected much-needed energy, allowing them to restore trust in the company and become an incredibly high-functioning, respectful, trustworthy engineering team.
Technologies: Agile Software Development, CTO, Swift, Mobile, Hardware, React, Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Microservices, iOS, Cloud, Startups, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, Algorithms, Team Leadership, AWS IoT, Internet of Things (IoT), Video Streaming, SMS Marketing, CRM Implementation (Salesforce), Email Marketing Automation
Digital Transformation Consultant
2017 - 2022
PharmacyChecker.com
- Architected and implemented software transformations to upgrade from a convoluted and unmaintainable legacy Classic ASP setup to a modern software stack.
- Replaced old and obsolete Classic ASP back-end admin software and thousands of stored procedures with Django and the Django ORM.
- Refreshed and modernized the website, emphasizing searchability and ease of use.
- Fixed various site-wide performance problems and brought the site up to Google's standards for mobile and desktop using Lightspeed and other analysis tools.
Technologies: JavaScript, Python, Django, ASP, .NET, SQL Server BI, IIS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Mobile, Microservices, Cloud, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, CTO, Algorithms, Python API, Team Leadership, Salesforce, SMS Marketing, CRM Implementation (Salesforce), Email Marketing Automation, Salesforce Marketing Cloud
CTO | Technical Co-founder
2014 - 2019
GivingShared
- Built a payment and event management platform for donating to various causes, including charities, churches, and nonprofits.
- Built the MVP and first several iterations, and then hired and trained several contractors to help boost our output until we had a mature product.
- Gained a solid customer base and a successful exit to a fundraising company.
Technologies: Python, Django, Docker, Amazon Web Services (AWS), HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, User Experience (UX), React, Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Mobile, Microservices, Android, iOS, Cloud, Startups, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, CTO, Algorithms, Flask, Python API, Team Leadership, CRM Implementation (Salesforce)
Digital Transformation Consultant
2016 - 2018
TestingMom.com
- Architected and implemented a software transformation to help the company migrate a custom-coded WordPress website to a separate purpose-built platform for its members.
- White-labeled and spun off the platform into multiple other products and companies.
- Improved the quality and stability of the marketing website and platform, bringing them from an average of 10,000 errors per week down to less than five.
- Revitalized the company by making it cease to micromanage quality issues. This enabled them to assign its in-house developers to focus on creating revenue-generating products, resulting in a threefold increase in revenue within the next two years.
Technologies: WordPress, REST, REST APIs, JavaScript, Python, Django, MySQL, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Zoho, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Mobile, Microservices, Android, iOS, Cloud, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, Algorithms, Python API, Team Leadership, SMS Marketing, CRM Implementation (Salesforce), Email Marketing Automation
CTO
2013 - 2017
RINDR
- Created a product for hand-edited videos for automotive dealerships using a simple iPad-based mobile app and management website.
- Created a system to automatically integrate with car dealership websites to present videos for vehicles on their lots.
- Amassed a solid customer base and achieved a successful exit for the company.
Technologies: Swift, React, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Sass, iPad, Mobile, iOS Video, FFmpeg, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cross-platform, Microservices, iOS, Cloud, Startups, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, CTO, Algorithms, Flask, Python API, Team Leadership, AWS IoT, Internet of Things (IoT), Video Streaming
Architect | Developer | Manager
2012 - 2015
CPA Opinion Partners
- Architected and implemented a software package to automate salary recommendations for company shareholders.
- Created continuous automated integration and a release process using Jenkins and Rackspace Cloud Servers.
- Managed a small team to help design and implement features of the software.
- Automated a series of medium-scale datasets to integrate into the application for calculations and data integrity.
- Created a PDF generation service that converts web pages into PDFs and uploads them to CloudFiles for CDN distribution.
Technologies: JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Django, Python, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Cloud, Startups, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, Algorithms, Flask, Python API, Team Leadership
Developer Operations
2012 - 2013
3S Mobile
- Acted as a technical lead of a small team on a mission to help bring data and technology to farmers in developing countries to help them grow their crops more successfully and efficiently and protect them from disasters.
- Conceived and implemented a bleeding-edge (for the time) CI/CD cycle, which helped the team release verified, high-quality software with automated testing, QA, and deployments.
- Implemented standardized developer environments using Vagrant and Docker.
- Automated all unit, integration, and acceptance testing and made everything work from a command line to a web interface.
- Managed and automated server procurement using AWS and Rackspace.
- Implemented a secure and efficient disaster recovery program with complete instructions for both partial or full recovery.
Technologies: SQL, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Bash, Ruby, Python, DevOps, Docker, Node.js, SQLite, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Architecture, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Mobile, Microservices, Cloud, Startups, Native Mobile Apps, Agile, Mobile Apps, APIs, Algorithms, Python API, Team Leadership, AWS IoT, Internet of Things (IoT)
Principal Engineer and Lead Architect
2007 - 2012
ClickMotive
- Built or contributed to nearly everything for this automotive tech startup, launched new products, and hired and led multiple diverse engineering teams in-person and remotely.
- Scaled the company from one to 150 people over about three years and went from zero customers to thousands, serving tens of millions of hits daily on a web-based platform for dealerships to promote and sell their vehicles.
- Oversaw the hiring, growth, and development of about 40 members in the engineering department, building various specialized teams and generalists to support cross-team collaboration.
- Served over 250 million hits per month, i.e., around 100 hits per second, using two load-balanced web servers and five load-balanced database servers.
- Created a fully-automated, self-managing BI data warehouse and reporting solution, crunching around 1.5TB of data.
- Integrated many third-party data sources into the data warehouse and platform and ensured high quality over a huge dataset.
- Pioneered one of the first continuous integration and automated deployment platforms for SQL Server deployments.
- Created a variety of ETL processes for internal and external data consumption.
- Implemented extremely high-priority monitoring systems to ensure we reached 100% uptime guarantees.
- Created many back-end management tools for account managers and other employees to see or manage relevant data.
Technologies: Windows PowerShell, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, C#, ActionScript 3, .NET, SQL, XML, REST, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Mobile, Cloud, Startups, Agile, APIs, Algorithms, Team Leadership
Freelance Developer
2007 - 2008
VMWare
- Created a VMWare assessment tool in Flash, PHP, and XML that VMWare used to determine how people use their products.
- Created a VMWare introduction marketing piece to help potential customers understand the product.
- Developed a back-end management framework for the Flash, Flex, and AS3 assessment tool.
- Managed communications among four teams that were working on the project.
- Developed a back-end CMS and REST API using CakePHP.
Technologies: CSS, JavaScript, HTML, XML, PHP, Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Web Development, Requirements Analysis, Cloud, Agile
Freelance Developer
2006 - 2008
The Arby's Foundation
- Wrote a CMS and REST API using CakePHP to support the foundation's website.
- Developed a planning/scheduling app to run the foundation's events and manage invites and responses.
- Stored and automatically reported on all data based on event and time triggers.
- Created an automated registration business process from end to end, obsoleting paperwork and human error.
- Used CakePHP and MySQL and performed one of the first Google Maps API integrations.
Technologies: JavaScript, CSS, HTML, PHP, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, Web Development, Requirements Analysis
Freelance Developer
2006 - 2007
Coca-Cola Corporation
- Developed Coca-Cola's history timeline using Flash. It was probably one of Coca-Cola's longest-standing web assets at 9+ years old when it was retired.
- Created Coca-Cola's careers page to help them manage job postings internally and externally.
- Co-developed branding strategies and marketing documentation.
- Fixed a variety of SEO problems to improve long-tail search results.
Technologies: HTML, XML, PHP, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Architecture, Web Development, Software Design, Requirements Analysis
Senior Software Engineer
2006 - 2007
Overhead Door
- Created a unified front-end web framework for all Overhead Door websites and applications to speed up development time.
- Used that framework to write a Salesforce CRM tool in C#/ASP.NET to manage external clients.
- Created automated code generation scripts using MyGeneration to improve developer productivity.
- Developed HR's company-wide annual review survey system to securely store evaluations and report statistics to top executives.
- Implemented and organized SharePoint for the IT department.
Technologies: HTML, JavaScript, C#, XML, VB.NET, Salesforce, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Requirements Analysis, Agile, APIs, Algorithms, Team Leadership
Senior Software Engineer
2004 - 2006
Concentra
- Developed a precursor to Google Maps for Concentra's location finder, integrating with Microsoft MapPoint API.
- Created applications and Windows services to automatically merge HR data into Active Directory and create logins for 11,000 employees using C#, SQL Server, and Oracle.
- Developed a custom search robot and engine in C# as a service, stored on SQL Server, including spell-checking and a precursor to Google's OneBox technology for semantic indexing.
- Created a contact management system to direct public queries to appropriate people in the company automatically.
- Authored technical and persuasive articles for internal and external clients.
- Wrote a series of software libraries, including a precursor to jQuery or Backbone.js, common .NET data access libraries, spell-checking, and UI controls.
- Architected and maintained Concentra's custom intranet portal, similar to SharePoint.
Technologies: JavaScript, VB.NET, C#, ASP.NET, .NET, Visual Basic, jQuery, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Leadership, Requirements Analysis, Agile, APIs, Algorithms, Team Leadership
Principal Application Developer
2002 - 2004
DBU
- Redesigned DBU's internal and external websites to reduce the effort required to find information.
- Created one of the first large-scale Flash applications, the university's online admission application.
- Developed a first-of-its-kind multi-camera streaming web app for DBU's online baseball broadcast.
- Developed a student worker time entry application in Flash.
- Mentored and taught other developers of best practices.
Technologies: JavaScript, ASP, ActionScript 3, Agile Software Development, ASP.NET, Apache, WebSockets, Video Streaming, User Experience (UX), Front-end, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Architecture, DevOps, Web Development, Software Design, Requirements Analysis, Agile, Algorithms
Experience
Skills
Languages
CSS, SQL, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, C#, Bash, Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET), Sass, Python, GraphQL, TypeScript, HTML, Less, Java, C, C++, Haskell, Perl, Lua, Swift, ActionScript 3, XML, VB.NET, Visual Basic, Python 3, CoffeeScript
Frameworks
Bootstrap, Django, Ruby on Rails (RoR), ASP.NET, Flask, React Native, CakePHP, Selenium, Next.js, Angular, ASP, Zend Framework, Windows PowerShell, Capybara, .NET
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, jQuery, Google AdWords, React, REST APIs, Stripe, Stripe API, Stripe Connect, Python API, jQuery UI, Facebook API, FFmpeg, Django ORM
Tools
Google Analytics, GitHub, Jenkins, Git, TeamCity, Xcode, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Sublime Text, PyCharm, Apache, uWSGI, VirtualBox, Watir, Chef, Docker Compose, JetBrains, Amazon Elastic Container Registry (Amazon ECR), SQL Server BI
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), REST, Scrum, Test-driven Development (TDD), Cross-platform, DevOps, Microservices, Microservices Architecture, App Development, Requirements Analysis, Agile, Functional Programming, Behavior-driven Development (BDD), MapReduce, Management
Platforms
Ubuntu, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Mobile, AWS Lambda, iOS, Unix, Linux, AWS IoT, Rackspace, Salesforce, Kubernetes, Heroku, Azure, Docker, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), WordPress, Android
Storage
Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, NoSQL, SQLite, Memcached, RavenDB, Databases, SQL Server 2016
Other
Architecture, Lean Development, User Experience (UX), CTO, Serverless, Full-stack, Full-stack Development, Podfile, Front-end, API Integration, Data Scraping, APIs, Data Visualization, Web App Development, Scalability, Advisory, Technology Strategy & Architecture, SaaS, POS, Software Architecture, User Interface (UI), Project Consultancy, Consulting, Web Development, CI/CD Pipelines, Technical Leadership, Software Design, Leadership, Cloud, Startups, Native Mobile Apps, Mobile Apps, Algorithms, Team Leadership, Internet of Things (IoT), Email Marketing Automation, Video Streaming, Fintech, SMS Marketing, CRM Implementation (Salesforce), Hardware, WebSockets, iPad, iOS Video, IIS, Zoho, Websites
Education
2002 - 2005
Bachelor's Degree in Management Information Systems
Dallas Baptist University (DBU) - Dallas, Texas, USA