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Zak Lyons

Senior Software Engineer

Résumé

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Summary

Senior full-stack engineer with 7+ years shipping Django and React/TypeScript products end-to-end. Solo-built an autonomous AI agent platform on Django/Python and React/TypeScript with Postgres + pgvector, Celery, Redis, and Docker. Production Django experience in regulated domains: crisis telehealth in active ERs, federal ICHRA compliance, and post-acquisition healthcare integration. I own backend, frontend, infra, and integrations under ambiguity, and I mentor other engineers along the way.

Current Projects

Founder / Builder - Kaelbot.com

Autonomous AI career operator | Austin, TX | Present

  • Solo full-stack ownership: Django/Python backend, React/TypeScript frontend, PostgreSQL with pgvector for semantic memory, Celery for background jobs, Redis, and Docker.
  • Implemented LLM tool-calling orchestration against 25+ structured tools the agent invokes itself (lead creation, resume tailoring, cover-letter generation, dossier synthesis, artifact storage, preference clustering).
  • Architected per-user persistent memory and preference learning so the agent retains durable facts across sessions, supersedes corrected memories, and adjusts from user feedback.
  • Built autonomous web-research investigations: the agent generates its own search queries from user context, executes them on a schedule, and synthesizes results into ranked Leads with fit scores.
  • Shipped a tailored-resume and cover-letter generator that re-emphasizes existing user material without inventing experience, with factual integrity enforced at the prompt layer.
  • Designed Gmail OAuth integration and an outbound drafting pipeline; autonomous send is pending Google verification review.
  • Heavy use of AI-assisted development workflows to move solo at the pace of a small team.

Experience

Software Engineering Consultant (Contract) - Incora (Wesco Aircraft Hardware Corp.)

Chemical management and supply-chain software | Remote | Apr 2024 - Dec 2025

  • Modernized React-based frontend applications for critical chemical management programs, improving legacy tcmIS workflows used across supply-chain and warehouse operations.
  • Built and updated UI workflows that bridged newer tcmIS 2.0 functionality into the legacy tcmIS Classic experience, reducing the need for users to move between separate applications.
  • Collaborated with Program Management to define requirements, diagnose root causes using transactional data, design solutions involving tcmIS code changes, and track execution.
  • Supported receiving and warehouse QA workflows spanning Receiving Status/QVR, Catalog Part Verification, Implementation Builder, and Invoice Builder, including browser, SSO, tab, and scrolling integration issues.

Senior Full Stack Developer - EBPI Institute (Jaspr Health)

Crisis telehealth platform for emergency departments | Remote | Oct 2022 - Nov 2023

  • Architected a guided telehealth product in Django and React, deployed across multiple hospital systems.
  • Built and shipped as one of two engineers on a regulated, Epic-integrated crisis intervention platform deployed in active ER settings.
  • Overhauled multi-tenant auth/authz architecture to enable white-label deployments for client organizations.
  • Built peer management dashboard and collaborative tooling for distributed clinical staff.
  • Built real-time Slack/SMS alert system enabling rapid clinical response to patient distress signals.
  • Platform adopted by NY Mercy hospital network; Baylor Scott & White and additional hospital systems were in active acquisition before product sunset.
  • Mentored junior developers and ran post-mortems that improved delivery cadence.

Full Stack Developer - Take Command Health

ICHRA health benefits startup | Dallas, TX | May 2019 - Oct 2020

  • Built first-to-market ICHRA compliance platform from scratch on Django under federal regulatory deadlines; launched on schedule.
  • Shipped self-guided ICHRA sign-up flow through rapid product pivots and legal uncertainty.
  • Delivered React admin dashboards for real-time enrollment, claims, and compliance visibility.
  • Shipped "Rosie," an OCR-powered automation bot that transformed claims intake and drove major support-efficiency ROI.
  • Built internal tools platform from zero, replacing spreadsheet workflows and saving ops staff hours daily.
  • Internal tooling supported company scale from 9 to 120 employees (13x headcount growth).

Python/Django Developer - Ontrak Health

Healthcare platform integration post-acquisition | Remote | May 2021 - Oct 2021

  • Integrated React Native mobile app with Django backend during a complex post-acquisition system merge.
  • Owned support and feature work for existing clients while paying down dual-codebase technical debt.
  • Acted as direct stakeholder liaison aligning engineering with evolving business requirements.

Full Stack Developer - Real Geeks (Fidelity National Financial)

Real estate technology platform | Remote | Oct 2020 - Apr 2021

  • Led Python 2 to 3 and Django 1.10 to 3.2 modernization of a platform serving thousands of agents with zero downtime.
  • Established engineering standards and scaled agile processes across distributed teams.
  • Drove developer culture via lunch-and-learns, shared tooling, and structured planning.

Co-Founder / Lead Developer - CenTex Paranormal

Scientific instrument hardware + software company | Austin, TX | Jan 2013 - May 2019

  • Built a TypeScript web app for real-time sensor data visualization with interactive charting and data management.
  • Co-founded and bootstrapped a niche electronics company end-to-end: designed, built, manufactured, and sold the EDI/EDI+ instrument line.
  • Ran sales, marketing, fulfillment, support, and inventory solo.

Additional Experience

Co-Owner / E-commerce Operations - Swan Trading Company

Online bookselling business | Georgetown, TX | 2012 - Present (concurrent)

  • Co-own and operate a long-running multi-channel used-book business across Amazon, AbeBooks, Biblio, and other online marketplaces.
  • Manage sourcing, cataloging, pricing, inventory, order fulfillment, returns, customer service, and marketplace quality for a catalog of 5,000+ active listings.
  • Maintain structured inventory and sales workflows focused on listing accuracy, fast fulfillment, shipping efficiency, and margin.

Skills

Backend
Django, Django REST Framework, Celery, PostgreSQL, Redis, pgvector
Frontend
React, TypeScript, React Native, Redux, Next.js, Webpack
Languages
Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL, HTML/CSS
AI / LLM
Tool-calling orchestration, pgvector semantic memory, autonomous agent loops, prompt-layer safeguards, document/OCR processing, AI-assisted development workflows
Automation & Integrations
REST APIs, OCR/Document Processing, Twilio, Slack API, Gmail OAuth, Epic EHR
DevOps & Tools
Docker, CI/CD, Git, Sentry, AWS
Founding-Engineer Range
End-to-end product ownership, zero-to-one delivery, ambiguous-spec execution, stakeholder liaison, regulated/compliance environments
Leadership
Technical mentoring, agile/scrum, cross-functional communication, post-mortems

Education

Self-taught developer | 7+ years professional software engineering across healthcare, real estate, fintech, and IoT.