The Online Resume of Matthew Spence
Professional Summary
Accomplished Staff Engineer & Technical Leader with 20+ years of experience architecting high-availability platforms and AI-driven systems. Expert in modernizing legacy architectures, orchestrating AI agent workflows, and scaling fullstack ecosystems across TypeScript, Node.js, Ruby, and Kubernetes. Proven track record of delivering systemic impact—from reducing infra costs by 22% to launching revenue-driving product lines. I bridge the gap between complex technical strategy and high-impact product execution.
Living in San Diego, CA with full permanent US residency. Originally from the UK.
Work Experience
VP of Software Engineering
CLICS AI-enabled Hair Color Dispensing March 2024 - Present
Achievements
Maintained 100% uptime & 0 incidents through major framework upgrade & cloud infrastructure migration. Hardened platform security & disaster recovery posture. Established on-call rotation & incident response procedures. Reduced infrastructure costs 22% through strategic vendor consolidation.
Launched AI-powered education assistant, addressing $10M in traditional education costs & eliminating critical scaling blockers.
Identified & deployed new checkout workflow software, introducing $2.5k/month recurring revenue per location & driving behavior towards high-margin up-sell products.
Architected modernized platform to address legacy code & technical debt in the "age of AI". Created developer experience optimized for AI agent utilization. Overhauled code review & release management processes to ensure platform quality & availability. Led PCI compliance & data security initiatives.
Responsibilities
Own software roadmap & present to C-suite & board. Ensure platform availability & performance, 100% uptime is critical to business success.
Steward 10-year codebase & team culture towards modern, maintainable architecture optimized for AI agent contributions. Guide engineering team to rapidly deliver viable products from concept to launch & beyond.
Manage & mentor software engineers & managers, ensuring efficiency, quality, & personal development. Liaise with hardware, support, operations, & cross-functional teams to ensure platform alignment & success.
Skills & Technologies
- AI Orchestration & Monitoring
- AI Agent Development
- AI Code Generation
- RAG
- TypeScript
- React
- Fastify
- Node.js
- PostgresSQL
- Redis
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- AWS
- Git
- Product Design
- Slack
- ClickUp
- PCI
- Budget Management
Senior Engineering Manager: Companies
June 2024
Lead Engineer: Carbon
June 2023
Lead Engineer: Front End
October 2021
Novata ESG Data Collection October 2021 - March 2024
Achievements
Joined as engineer #1. Established the team, scaling it out to 30+ engineers, oversaw & contributed to numerous hires. 0% voluntary attrition in our first 2 years. Shipped a product that has provided ESG data collection for over 10,000 companies at a 87% report completion rate. Facilitated a customer base of private market investors, representing $12 trillion of assets under management, over $50 million in investment to date, & eight figure annual recurring revenue.
Spearheaded new carbon calculation & emissions data for private companies. I built a team & product that delivered 7 figure annual recurring revenue in its first year of launch.
Promoted to Engineering Manager of "Novata for Companies." Led multiple squads on core architecture, carbon calculation, and regulatory frameworks, ensuring high-velocity delivery across the full product lifecycle.
Drove AI adoption with integration & coordination of 3rd party AI solutions. In addition to in house models designed to streamline user workflows & reduce friction in the data collection process. Negotiated & managed relationships with enterprise vendors.
Responsibilities
Direct cross functional product engineering teams to bring new products to market with high velocity. Oversee delivery through the full product lifecycle. Supervise & mentor technical contributors and rising leaders, ensuring efficiency & quality across the team. Conducted annual performance reviews, established career development frameworks, & provided regular feedback to guide employee growth & development.
Communicate & collaborate with varied stakeholders & customers across the business to ensure product aligns with the needs of customers & the goals of the business.
Skills & Technologies
- TypeScript
- React
- Express
- Node.js
- PostgresSQL
- Redis
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- AWS
- Git
- AI
- Product Design
- Slack
- Jira
- SOC2
- PCI
CTO & COO
Friends or Friends Ecommerce January 2021 - September 2021
Achievements
Created packaging, fulfillment & support processes that have achieved industry leading dispatch times & customer satisfaction (trustpilot.com, reviews.io). Built an ecommerce fulfillment team with specialist skills around the care & dispatch of live plants from the ground up. Procured & out fitted a warehouse space optimized for the business's operations. Cultivated leadership roles within the team, gradually transferring responsibility to make teams self managing.
Developed bespoke software to meet the legal requirements for the distribution of plants. Designed & built to satisfy statutory standards with the absolute minimum impact on warehouse operations. This software allowed for an over 50% reduction in fulfillment costs.
First role outside of software engineering. Tested my ability to creatively solve problems in an unfamiliar & high pressure environment. This experience was invaluable in my development of my ability to think outside the box & pragmatically solve complex problems in a novel domain.
Responsibilities
Establishing operations & providing all necessary technical solutions. Sourcing and/or implementing software to facilitate marketing, sales, operations, & customer support, quickly & efficiently, with minimal cost.
Additionally everything & anything required getting a bootstrapped start up ecommerce store off the ground. This truly was a many hats role, & at times included stepping well out my comfort zone into areas such as marketing, sales, customer support & plant care.
Skills & Technologies
- JavaScript
- PostgresSQL
- React
- Redux
- Ruby
- Rails
- Heroku
- Git
- Product Design
- Ship Station
- Shopify
- Slack
Lead Engineer, Analytics
Groove Helpdesk SaaS Feb 2017 - May 2021
Achievements
Architected a hybrid event-streaming and analytics engine using Keen.io and Elasticsearch. This custom solution bypassed 3rd-party limitations while leveraging managed infra benefits, enabling high-performance reporting for thousands of SaaS customers.
Designed and deployed a highly resilient data collection endpoint boasting 99.99% uptime, serving as the backbone for the company's customer-facing analytics product.
Responsibilities
Plan & execute architecture, & end-to-end implementation of the company's customer facing analytics & reports product. Ensuring quality of work for contributing engineers assigned to the analytics team. Liaise & coordinate with other teams, specifically system administrators, & Head of Engineering. Define & outline product requirements & vision with Head of Product.
Groove is a fully remote team distributed across several timezones. This role required a high level of autonomy solving complex problems alone when other team members were simply offline. Equally it required planning & collaboration with a number of teams & individuals spread across said timezones.
Skills & Technologies
- JavaScript
- Docusaurus
- MySQL
- ElasticSearch
- Kafka
- React
- Redux
- Ruby
- Rails
- AWS
- Git
- TDD
- jQuery
- Emotion
- User Experience
- Product Design
- Code Review
- Trello
- Slack
Staff Software Engineer
Holiday Extras Vacation Marketplace Dec 2015 - Feb 2017
Achievements
Spearheaded the development and release of a post-checkout trip planner that increased average customer lifetime value by 21%. Provided a mix of personalized free content & tools along with time sensitive product suggestions to lift per trip spend on our platform.
Responsibilities
Produce bug free, future proofed code, setting the standard by which others developers work. Translate the needs of the business into solutions. Working to & on the company values, the team standards & best practices.
Identify, react quickly & take ownership of any serious problems with quality. Improve the performance & development of the team. Sharing & supporting individuals by helping create team processes, following them & enforcing their use by others. Identify technical potential in others & work with them to improve.
Staying abreast of what’s going on in the industry & using this to improve skills and/or the skills of others. Working on a range of systems & constantly update any gaps in knowledge.
Work closely with the leaders of the business & external contacts. Communicate well, be supportive, flexible & take a balanced view between tech & business need. Create constructive & positive debate around solution creation. Foresee & tactfully explain the risks involved, presenting solutions where necessary.
Skills & Technologies
- JavaScript
- React
- Backbone
- Redux
- Ruby
- Rails
- AWS
- Git
- TDD/BDD
- CoffeeScript
- jQuery
- Less/CSS
- Scrum
- Pods
- User Experience
- Product Design
- Code Review
- Jira
- Slack
- Pair Programming
CTO & Technical Cofounder
Trakio Analytics SaaS Apr 2013 - Dec 2015
Responsibilities & Achievements
Helping companies increase activation & reduce churn by understanding their users better. Executed a number of pivots searching for a repeatable & scalable business model. Each time creating hypotheses & testing them.
As the CTO I was responsible for planning, building, managing, & documenting several production services & client libraries starting from the initial design phase. I automated the provisioning of our hardware infrastructure on AWS using Chef, along with service monitoring & redundancy, having had no previous experience of SysAdmin. I recruited & managed all our technical employees & contractors, coordinating their on-boarding, training, & providing direction & mentorship for their personal development. Utilizing online tools to collaborate remotely, often across timezones.
Working on Trakio has been the single most informative period of my life. Coming to San Francisco, interviewing for YC, taking part in the Alchemist Accelerator, experiencing nacho "cheese", the people I have met, the lessons I have learned. It has been eye opening to say the least.
Skills & Technologies
- Ruby
- Rails
- OAuth
- MongoDB
- WebSockets
- RabbitMQ
- Redundancy
- HAProxy
- Nginx
- Monit
- Capistrano
- AWS
- Git
- D3
- Load Testing
- Highcharts
- jQuery
- Application Design
- User Experience
- Product Design
- Infrastructure Design
- Technical Support
CTO & Technical Cofounder
Virally Lead Generation SaaS Jun 2012 - Apr 2013
Responsibilities & Achievements
I conceived & delivered a working prototype as a proof of concept inside of two weeks. I led & managed the team that then fleshed this concept into an off the shelf solution to generate & manage leads from long form content marketing. The product we built enabled customers to achieve conversion rate increases of 122-200%, & secured us a 6 month up front contract with GFK.
While at Fruitbowl, a client came to us with a problem. We immediately saw the resell value in the solution & spun it out into its own startup: Virally, a lead generation tool for companies with downloadable content marketing. It uses social network authentication to easily & seamlessly submit users' details in return for valuable downloadable content.
My cofounder & I realized it was heading in a direction that we weren't passionate about, & had limited long term sustainability issues with increased public awareness around privacy & personal data. We both sold our stake in Virally to our investors to start Trakio.
Skills & Technologies
- Ruby
- Rails
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- Less/CSS
- PostgreSQL
- Heroku
- CDN
- Git
- Social Auth
- TDD/BDD
- Product Design
- Lean Startup
- Trello
Senior Consultant & Lead Developer
Fruitbowl Media Agency Mar 2012 - Aug 2012
Responsibilities & Achievements
I increased the size & breadth of the company's portfolio by adding more advanced web application work. I built a team capable of delivering this more complex work by recruiting an additional designer & developer, & training existing staff.
I started working with Fruitbowl Media as a freelancer in November 2011, & it wasn't long before they asked me to join them full time as lead developer, to expand their current bread & butter of static marketing sites toward larger web application projects.
I wasn't at Fruitbowl long before we decided to spin out one such project we were working on with a client into its own fledgling company.
Skills & Technologies
- PHP
- Wordpress
- HAML/HTML
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- CSS/Less
- Photoshop
- MySQL
- PostgreSQL
- TDD/BDD
- Git
- Account Management
- Project Management
- Trello
Web Developer
University of Kent Web Development Team Nov 2007 - Mar 2012
Responsibilities & Achievements
I built & maintained several key systems including the University's password reset system, on boarding for new students & online maps. I successfully orchestrated the implementation & launch of the University's student fee gateway by a 3rd party vendor, a service that processes tens of millions of dollars worth of tuition each year. I oversaw the transition of the main marketing site's web framework, a key component of the University's web presence, to this team. I championed the adoption of agile processes, working to refine a scrum based process that allowed us to be an agile team within a slow & bureaucratic department. I implemented & consulted on several user experience improvements across various teams & services which contributed to a raise in our student satisfaction rating, the key performance metric for our department.
After graduating I moved from my part time roll into a full time position, & switched to a team that was responsible for many of the University's online web applications.
I am most proud of the transition the team made during the time that I worked there, & my contribution to that transition. When I started we were a poorly performing team with very little coherence, struggling to deal with the bureaucracy of the wider organization. By the time I left we had implemented continuous improvement & evolved our own flavor of agile scrum that allowed us to function most effectively given the constraints of the environment in which we operated.
Skills & Technologies
- Apache
- PHP
- Symfony
- Drupal
- MySQL
- HTML
- XML
- XSLT
- CSS
- JavaScript
- jQuery
- Photoshop
- Wireframing
- Application Design
- User Experience
- User Testing
- Load Testing
- TDD/BDD
- Agile
- Scrum
- Sharepoint
- Project Management
Web Developer/Designer
University of Kent Departmental Support Team Nov 2005 - Nov 2007
Responsibilities & Achievements
I lead the work of translating an established print based design & branding to the web for use across a range of uses & departments. I implemented that design into a flexible PHP/CSS based template that was successfully rolled out across dozens of departments & publishers managing content on https://www.kent.ac.uk. I successfully project managed the adoption of site template upgrades for several large departments, & account managed several others. I was promoted twice during my two years in this team.
Given how long I'd been experimenting with web technologies for, my university studies did little to challenge me & so I found a part time job for the University as a designer/developer in their fledgling Departmental Web Support Team. We worked with departmental web teams to deliver their web sites under a consistent brand.
Early on I was given the opportunity to work on creating a standardized template that could be used across the large number of academic & nonacademic departments. I was the main designer & developer on the first 3 generations of this centralized template. & contributed to later versions of the framework as a senior developer as part of a larger team.
I progressed within the team, starting as a part time junior designer to working full time hours as a senior designer/developer. As a senior, I was responsible for mentoring & supervising junior staff & project managing the development of departmental web projects.
Over the years that I worked on the system we evolved it into to a PHP framework that allowed departmental editors to write HTML in Dreamweaver as they were used to. We would post process their HTML to build advanced dynamic UI elements that would not otherwise be possible with Dreamweaver alone.
Skills & Technologies
- Photoshop
- Dreamweaver
- Apache
- PHP
- MySQL
- HTML
- CSS
- SVN
- Application Design
- Wireframing
- Customer Support
- Account Management
- Project Management
- Training
University of Kent
Multimedia Design & Technology BSc Sept 2004 - July 2007
A course that can be described as computer science with an emphasis on graphic design & web technologies. It perfectly suited my interests in both the aesthetic design, & the underlying programming of software.
Skills & Technologies
- Graphic Design
- Photography
- Computer Architecture
- C++
- Java
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- .Net
- 3D Animation
- Flash Animation
- Flash
Macromedia Flash
Nelson's Leavers Interactive Yearbook Academic Year 2003/04
An interactive Flash application presented on a DVD data disk. With farewell messages, photo galleries, videos & easter eggs. Developed & produced during my last year of high school, mostly for the love of it, but with a nice little profit at the end.
The web back then wasn't what it is now, & I was frustrated with the limited interactivity of web pages, so I turned to the only place there was to turn in 2003: Macromedia Flash!
Along with two like minded friends we finished the project on time & made ourselves some beer money for the summer. Most importantly though, I learned things that were far more valuable given my future in software engineering than anything I learnt in class.
- Flash
- ActionScript
- Photoshop
- Video Editing
I Catch the Programming Bug
Operation Flashpoint Released Summer 2001
Writing custom mission scripts for Operation Flashpoint was what first really got me into programming. I probably would have found my calling with out this game but even so I owe a lot to it for first igniting my passion for programming.
When I purchased a copy of Operation Flashpoint it was as "just another game" but when I discovered the scriptable mission editor I was hooked. I'd used PHP before but only as a templating language, this was something else entirely. I could make characters move across the virtual map engaging each other at my whim, I was hooked!
From here I started exploring more & more of the potential of PHP as a programming language. Building the foundation for a passion for making things, which is as strong today as ever.
Royal Hospital School
GCSEs & A Levels (UK High School) Sept 1997 - July 2004
My high school education lacked any formal programming education but that didn't stop me learning. I spent a lot of (my teachers will say too much) time tinkering away on my own web projects.
The Royal Hospital School, is an income assessed private boarding school with a strong naval tradition. Boarding with boys & girls from a wide range of backgrounds has given me many insights & oppotunities I simply would not have had access to at any other school.
Extra curricular activities like the Combined Cadet Force & the Duke of Edinburgh Award have provided me with the skills & resilience to prepare & deal with most of what life has had to throw at me.
Boarding from the early age of 12 & being away from my family has meant that from an early age I have had the self discipline & independence to work well on my own. Whilst the comradery & nature of boarding have instilled a great appreciation for working as part of a team.
A Levels
- Business
- Physics
- Maths
- Politics
GCSEs
- English Literature
- English Language
- Maths
- Double Science
- Geography
- History
- Maths
- French
Thanks to my Uncle
My First HTML editor Summer 1997
HotMetal PRO first starts my love affair with computers & the web
I've been playing around with the web since my Uncle gave me a web development magazine with a free version of HotMetal PRO on the accompanying demo disc (in the days when demo discs were still a thing). This introduced me to the thrilling world of marques, frames & animated GIF buttons.
Skills & Technologies
- HTML
- CSS
- PHP
- Awesome Animated GIFs
- Including but not limited to "Under Construction" workmen
Professional Summary
Accomplished Staff Engineer & Technical Leader with 20+ years of experience architecting high-availability platforms and AI-driven systems. Expert in modernizing legacy architectures, orchestrating AI agent workflows, and scaling fullstack ecosystems across TypeScript, Node.js, Ruby, and Kubernetes. Proven track record of delivering systemic impact—from reducing infra costs by 22% to launching revenue-driving product lines. I bridge the gap between complex technical strategy and high-impact product execution.
Living in San Diego, CA with full permanent US residency. Originally from the UK.
Years of Experience
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Software engineering21+ years
-
Technical leadership11+ years
-
Scrum & Agile methodologies14+ years
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Leading remote teams11+ years
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Start ups (as founder & employee)12+ years
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React, Ruby & Rails10+ years
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Highest level of educationMultimedia Design & Technology BSc(Computer Science with Graphic Design)
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Example Code
A Typescript library for automatically mocking HTTP requests based on their contract schemas.
A Ruby on Rails & React app for the required documenation for distributing live plants within the UK.
Not technologies I'd use if I was starting today. But I'm a pragmatist at heart & if it aint broke don't fix it.
High-Level Competencies
Technical Strategy & Architecture
- Platform Modernization
- AI Orchestration & Agent Workflows
- Event-Driven & Distributed Systems
- Scalable Fullstack Architecture (TS/Node/React)
- Legacy System Hardening
Cloud & Infrastructure
- Kubernetes (EKS/Docker)
- AWS Ecosystem (ECS, RDS, S3, Lambda)
- Infrastructure as Code & CI/CD
- Disaster Recovery & Security (PCI/SOC2)
- Cost Optimization & Vendor Management
Leadership & Product
- Team Building & Mentorship
- Product Strategy & Growth
- Agile/Scrum Leadership
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Microservices
- API Design
Other Interests
I understand the importance of a balanced lifestyle, & have many interests beyond software development. Here's how I like to recharge:
Ultra Marathons
I love being outside & away from the city. I completed my first 50K in October & my next is coming up in April.
Being a Dad
I say being a Dad but really I mean vicariously reliving my childhood, going to scouts & playing Lego.
Building Models
At my core I like to build things, building software is incredibly rewarding but sometimes it's nice to work on something physical.
Snow sports
I'm a proficient skier & a distinctly average boarder. California wasn't the best move for snow sports but one day I'll make it back to the slopes.
Other Interests
Ultra Marathons
I'm an ultra runner. Which is to say I'm good at running slowly & eating a lot.
Other Previous Roles
Staff Software Engineer
Holiday Extras Dec 2015 - Feb 2017
CTO & Technical Cofounder
Virally Jun 2012 - Apr 2013
Senior Consultant & Lead Developer
Fruitbowl Media Mar 2012 - Aug 2012
Web Developer
University of Kent - Web Development Team Nov 2007 - Mar 2012
Education
University of Kent
Multimedia Design & Technology BSc Sept 2004 - July 2007
Royal Hospital School
GCSEs & A Levels (UK High School) Sept 1997 - July 2004
A Levels
- Business
- Physics
- Maths
- Politics
GCSEs
- English Literature
- English Language
- Maths
- Double Science
- Geography
- History
- Maths
- French