Web Platform Architect Technical Lead

I modernize the web systems institutions depend on.

For 17+ years, I’ve turned legacy application portfolios and security-conscious workflows into accessible, maintainable platforms—and helped the people around them ship with more confidence.

See the systems Download résumé

Serious systems. Human-sized software. Occasionally, an architecture diagram with fewer arrows than expected.

Yes, that laptop belongs in a museum.The curiosity still ships.

17+years across the full web platform lifecycle

30+simultaneous applications co-owned

20+legacy properties modernized in one year

1 + 4initial workflow application plus four follow-on systems

Selected systems / public-safe edition

Architecture is a decision trail.

Not every system visual can be shared publicly. The judgment can. These are the constraints, decisions, and outcomes behind three systems that changed how people worked.

Enterprise event platform

From spreadsheets to an institute-wide process.

A security-sensitive event program needed to support internal and external attendees, exemptions, payments, communications, and access-controlled activities—without turning every event into a heroic manual effort.

Internal + external attendees
Roles · exemptions · payments
Institute-wide event process

Constraint: Specialized workflows and sensitive data made off-the-shelf event tools a poor fit.
Decision: Build an internally hosted Drupal 9 platform; integrate Georgia Tech CAS and TouchNet; phase a nonessential space-reservation integration to protect the launch.
Outcome: Launched on schedule, became the institute-wide event process, and earned favorable feedback from both administrators and users.

Secure workflow architecture

One useful pattern. Four follow-on applications.

A major military research contract submission process lived in email and spreadsheets. It needed clearer states, controlled access, and more reliable coordination without exposing the work to unnecessary complexity.

Email + spreadsheets
Reusable workflow model
4 follow-on apps

Constraint: High-stakes coordination, role-sensitive information, and a process that needed clear handoffs and controlled access.
Decision: Translate the real workflow into an access-controlled application architecture designed to be understood, operated, and reused.
Outcome: The first application succeeded well enough that the same workflow model became the foundation for four additional applications.

Portfolio modernization

Twenty-plus legacy sites. One year. No magic wand.

A collection of poorly maintained Drupal 6 properties had become a security, accessibility, and support liability. The challenge was not one migration—it was making repeatable progress across an entire portfolio.

20+ Drupal 6 sites
Migration system
Drupal 9 in one year

Constraint: Different content models, themes, owners, and levels of neglect, all competing for attention in a live application ecosystem.
Decision: Create a migration strategy, sequence work through Jira, remediate themes and branding, embed accessibility checks, and standardize testing and releases.
Outcome: More than 20 properties moved from Drupal 6 to Drupal 9 within one year, reducing legacy risk while keeping institutional work moving.

Portfolio stewardship

The portfolio was the product.

At Georgia Tech Research Institute, I was one of two primary engineers responsible for a continuously growing portfolio of 30+ public and internal applications—including the institute-wide intranet, primary public site, secure workflows, and payment-enabled event systems. The work was never just “build the feature.” It was releases, upgrades, incidents, integrations, accessibility, lifecycle plans, and the dozens of human conversations between them.

01Shared architecture and platform decisions
02Availability, upgrades, and incident response
03Reusable deployment and testing standards
04Mentoring, code review, and stakeholder translation

≈30developers and technical leads reached through institute-wide tooling and standards presentations

2×nominated for a GTRI Institute Performance Award

How I work

Listen. Architect. Stay.

Senior engineering is not the loudest answer in the room. It is making the trade-offs legible, choosing what will still work later, and being there when “later” arrives.

01 / Listen
Find the real problem.

I start with users, stakeholders, security, accessibility, and operational reality—not the framework I happen to like that week.
02 / Architect
Make the decision visible.

Data models, roadmaps, diagrams, estimates, and prototypes turn implicit trade-offs into something a team can actually decide together.
03 / Stay
Own what happens next.

Releases, monitoring, upgrades, editor training, keyboard tests, and the odd production mystery are all part of the architecture.

I like systems diagrams, stubborn migrations, and meetings that end with an actual decision.

Father of three. Music lover and performer. Still interested in making tiny universes out of sights, sounds, and the occasional well-named component.

The person in the architecture diagram

Designer roots. Platform depth.

I began in graphic and web design, studied Music Industry Studies and Business, and built a career at the intersection of engineering, accessibility, and communication.

That path still shapes how I work: understand the audience, make the structure coherent, and sweat the details that determine whether a system is genuinely usable. I can move from a data model or deployment pipeline to a stakeholder conversation, code review, or keyboard-accessibility pass without losing the thread.

“The best platform work makes complexity feel calmer for everyone around it.”

What I’m building now

Different scale. Same instinct.

Today I run Tru Nobility’s Shopify platform and AI-assisted content workflow, while providing pro bono platform stewardship to two nonprofits. Build something useful—and stay for what happens after launch.

Shopify platform + structured product content
APIs, automation, and AI-assisted workflows
Pro bono Drupal platform stewardship

Working range

From whiteboard to uptime.

Architecture & platforms

Application architecture, portfolio ownership, legacy modernization, REST APIs, JSON:API, MySQL, MongoDB

Core engineering

Drupal 10/11, PHP, Symfony, JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, React, Vue, Twig, HTML, CSS/SCSS

Delivery & operations

Docker, Linux, Bash, Python, Git, Composer, CI/CD, Deployer, Jenkins, monitoring, backups, environments

Access & confidence

WCAG 2.x, Section 508, Axe, WAVE, Lighthouse, NVDA, keyboard testing, Cypress, Playwright, Behat

Technical leadership

Discovery, roadmaps, estimates, architecture diagrams, code review, mentoring, standards, hiring and vendor advising

Current craft

Shopify platform development, structured content, ecommerce operations, APIs, automation, AI-assisted workflows

The next chapter

Looking for a technical lead who still likes building?

I’m exploring senior web platform architecture and technical-lead roles where complex portfolios, modernization programs, and accessible enterprise systems need both sound judgment and hands-on engineering.

Email Michael LinkedIn Résumé