277 Main Street, Suite 302, Greenfield MA 01301 USA
413-230-9451 — paul@bissex.net — paulbissex.com/portfolio
Pronouns: he/him
Python Web Development With Django
Published by Addison-Wesley, November 2008 (co-authors Jeff Forcier and Wesley
Chun). One of the first books on the leading Python web programming framework.
408 pages, ISBN 978-0132356138.
Senior Software Engineer
Finetune Learning, July 2024 to present
My team is building the next generation of Finetune’s “AI-human hybrid” system,
which helps assessment creators work more efficiently. Helped organize and
execute transition from legacy platform (Hasura, Chalice) to Django. Reviewed
code for both legacy and next-gen codebases. Advised on architecture and app
design decisions.
Skills/knowledge used: Django, Python, AWS, React, Hasura, Postgres, Cypress, Docker
Senior Software Engineer
LCvista, November 2023 to May 2024
A majority of top US accounting firms use LCvista’s software for learning
management and compliance tracking. I wrote back-end code to power new features
and improvements, and front-end code to bring those features to our 200,000
users. Recognized as a skilled code reviewer. Worked on a major third-party
integration for commerce. Took opportunities to educate other engineers on
Django features that were applicable to their current problems.
Skills/knowledge used: ReactJS, Python, Django REST Framework, Celery, Selenium, Postman
Lead Backend Engineer
Tactiq, March 2023 to August 2023
I was Lead Backend Engineer on the Tactiq “Pipeline” product, a communication
channel connecting over 40,000 chain retail stores to their distributors. I led
the Pipeline back-end engineering team while also writing code. Worked closely
with Product and front-end/mobile engineering to develop new features. Codified
and documented back-end engineering processes.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, AWS Lambda, AWS DynamoDB, AWS CloudFormation
Principal Software Engineer
Routable Inc., May 2022 to January 2023
Helped lead a major change to the internals of the product, a
business-to-business payment platform, to increase sales to enterprise
customers. Established coding standards. Implemented and socialized service
layer architecture. Made feature contributions on front-end and back-end.
Reviewed code weekly from engineers in multiple product areas. Helped create
process changes to improve velocity and quality across all engineering teams.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, Django REST Framework, Celery, database schema design, Pytest
Senior Software Engineer
Phone.com, April 2021 to March 2022
Built and maintained configuration and administration tools for the 45,000
customers of this cloud-based business communications provider. Built and
enhanced tools for customer management of services, users, phone numbers, and
devices. Created front-end components in React; created back-end AWS Lambda
functions in Python. Helped roll out new tooling to automatically enforce code
quality standards. Spearheaded feature releases. Improved automated test
coverage and quality.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, Pydantic, Pytest, AWS Lambda, SQL, ReactJS, Jest, Selenium
Principal Software Engineer
MassChallenge Inc., January 2017 to April 2021
Developed and maintained the Accelerate platform, which runs all MassChallenge
startup accelerator programs globally. Scale: 10,000 industry experts, 25,000
startups, 60,000 entrepreneurs. Led the conversion of our 100,000-line Python 2
codebase to Python 3, and our upgrade from Django 1.x to Django 2.x, both
delivered ahead of deadline and deployed with no downtime. Led a yearlong
re-architecting of the system to fix deployment problems, simplify
troubleshooting, and improve engineer onboarding. Profiled and optimized key
reports and interfaces. Helped raise test coverage from 80% to over 95%.
Reviewed code daily. Mentored junior developers.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, Django, Mypy, AWS ECS, AWS EC2, SQL, GraphQL
Senior Developer
Lionbridge Technologies, Waltham MA, April 2016 to November 2016
Developed and maintained Lionbridge OnDemand, a translation services platform
written in Python using Django Rest Framework. This included a web-based UI as
well as an extensive API customers integrated with their CMS platforms.
Implemented a system for dynamic service rates based on specific source/target
language combinations. Reviewed code changes from junior and senior developers.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, Django REST Framework
Software Developer
Cox Media Group Technology, Atlanta GA, June 2011 to March 2016
Developed and maintained Medley, a web/mobile publishing platform for Cox Media
Group's newspaper/radio/TV properties, handling tens of millions of page views
per day. Medley was written in Python using the Django web framework and the
Ellington CMS framework. Integrated Medley with third-party vendor systems.
Designed second-generation REST API. Maintained ad-serving infrastructure. Did
a development spike to add content versioning to the CMS. Researched NoSQL data
stores (Riak KV and Neo4J) for next generation of the product. Assisted with
hiring; mentored new developers; evaluated contractor work.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, Django
Director of Software Development, Instructor
Hallmark Institute of Photography, Turners Falls MA, Jan 2005 to Jun 2010
Taught web development skills to 150-200 students per year as part of intensive
photography and business curriculum. Developed and maintained web applications
for all parts of the school. Developed and maintained attendance tracking and
reporting system. Created electronic grading system. Instituted project
tracking and source code management. Wrote documentation. Advised management on
web technology decisions.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, JavaScript, SQL, FreeBSD, Apache
Web Developer, Owner
E-Scribe New Media, Greenfield MA, Dec 2000 to June 2011
Developed database-backed web applications for business and nonprofit clients.
Created administrative interfaces for non-technical users. Provided code review
services for Django-based startups. Debugged and enhanced existing sites.
Integrated client sites with third-party services for commerce, email
automation, and search. Hired and managed contractors and interns. Prepared
proposals, managed customer accounts.
Skills/knowledge used: Python, PHP, SQL, Apache
Working as a Software Engineer — Bard College Computer Science Club, April 2024
Pydantic: Better Living Through Type Annotations — Boston Python, March 2023
Working as a Software Engineer — UMass Amherst COMPSCI 320, November 2022
Porting 100,000 lines of Python 2 to Python 3 — Django Boston meetup, September 2019 (video)
Move Fast Without Breaking Things: Testing Python Applications — NERD Summit, March 2019 (video)
NodeJS Two-Day Intensive with Sequoia McDowell, Williamsburg MA, February 2016
MassChallenge, Boston MA — Judge and Mentor for FinTech, HealthTech, and Early Stage startup accelerator programs
UMass Amherst College of Information and Computer Sciences — Guest lecturer
Well.com — Conference host since 2006
Mentoring Club (mentoring-club.com) — Mentor in Software Engineering
Franklin County Technical School, Turners Falls MA — Program Advisory Board for Web and Programming shop; guest speaker
Tech Foundry, Springfield MA — Volunteer Instructor
Technical Reviewer, Pragmatic Bookshelf (https://pragprog.com/)
dpaste.com — Programmer pastebin site written with Django, used by the Django community since 2006. Django debug mode and
iPython %pastebin command both use this site. REST API, HTMX, syntax detection, custom themes, responsive layouts, markup preview.
django-blocklist — Open source Django app for IP-based blocklisting.
B.A. in Languages and Literature, Bard College, Annandale NY