
Michael Childs
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Engineer and Developer
Fort Collins, CO, United States
Toptal member since September 20, 2024
Michael is a versatile software engineer and architect with over 16 years of experience delivering scalable, high-performance systems across diverse industries. He excels in designing robust architectures, optimizing back end and cloud infrastructures, and developing intuitive front-end solutions. Michael combines technical expertise with leadership skills, driving innovative and reliable solutions tailored to evolving business needs.
Portfolio
Experience
- Java - 12 years
- MongoDB - 8 years
- PostgreSQL - 6 years
- AWS IoT - 4 years
- Rust - 4 years
- Oracle Database - 4 years
- Flutter - 1 year
- Firebase - 1 year
Availability
Preferred Environment
Rust, Python, Java, Linux, Windows, AWS IoT, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Go
The most amazing...
...project I've taken on involved creating a scalable analytics platform that transformed complex data into actionable insights in real time.
Work Experience
Independent Contractor
Valkonis
- Reduced egress and compute costs for a surveillance client by designing and building a GraphQL API server in Rust while utilizing Juniper and Axum.
- Enhanced the surveillance offering by developing a media pipeline server in Rust using Tokio, supporting RTSP/RTP, WebRTC, and various file sources and sinks.
- Developed infrastructure as code (IaC) scripts and designed an AWS deployment topology using Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS).
- Designed the data model, recovery procedures, and migration strategy for a mass-scale Apache CouchDB deployment.
- Implemented UI, state management, and testing approach for Android/iOS app for university seminary students and ancient language enthusiasts.
Technical Lead
ThreatX
- Led the development and deployment of a comprehensive security analytics platform, providing real-time insights and enhancing customer engagement.
- Spearheaded cross-service API specifications, ensuring consistency and seamless integration across all services while driving key product innovations.
- Streamlined CI/CD pipelines with automation tools, reducing deployment times and increasing team efficiency in fast-paced production environments.
- Led a team of seven to develop and support React front end and API service.
Senior Software Engineer
Pelco
- Architected a high-throughput event processing and distribution system, enhancing real-time data handling.
- Implemented this system and improved overall reliability and performance.
- Mentored a team of engineers, driving significant improvements in code quality, system performance, and overall project delivery timelines.
Software Engineer
GHX
- Engineered a high-scale patient record integration network, enabling seamless data exchange and real-time access across multiple healthcare providers.
- Developed and automated a robust test framework, reducing manual testing efforts and improving product release cycles.
- Spearheaded the automation of CI/CD pipelines, increasing deployment efficiency and minimizing errors in production releases.
Experience
GraphAI
Education
Master's Degree in Computer Science
Colorado State University - Fort Collins, CO, USA
Skills
Libraries/APIs
REST APIs, React
Tools
Apache JMeter
Languages
Java, JavaScript, Rust, Python, CSS, Dart, Go
Platforms
Oracle Database, Linux, Windows, AWS IoT, Firebase, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
Storage
MongoDB, PostgreSQL, CouchDB
Frameworks
Flutter
Other
Back-end, API Integration, Fault Tolerance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), AI Pipeline, Leadership, Data Engineering, Machine Learning
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring