Abram Clark
Senior Backend Software Engineer | Systems Architect | Data Engineer

quuxman [at] gmail
Seattle, WA
https://abramclark.dev/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/abramclark
Professional Summary

I'm a senior software engineer with 20+ years of experience designing scalable backend systems, APIs, and data architecture. I've spent the last eight years building high-volume shipping infrastructure at EasyPost, leading service extractions, performance-critical services in Python and Rust, and large-scale migrations with no customer-visible downtime. I enjoy architecting new systems from scratch, designing schemas, simplifying overly complex systems, mentoring engineers, streamlining development, and building software that remains reliable and maintainable as it grows. Currently I'm contributing to an open source LLM-driven social media aggregator and search tool, and learning the ins and outs of reinforcement learning.

I'm looking for a challenging software engineering role building a meaningful product; something that provides obvious customer value in addition to generating revenue. I especially enjoy working across multiple systems and projects, learning on the job, and designing things from scratch starting from business goals.

Skills
Languages - Python • Rust • Go • Ruby • JavaScript • Haskell
Backend - API Design • Distributed Systems • Microservices • Event-Driven Systems • Kafka • REST • Data Pipelines
Databases - Schema Design • Data Modeling • PostgreSQL • MySQL • MongoDB
Cloud & DevOps - Linux Admin • Google Cloud • AWS • Docker • CI/CD • GitHub • TDD
Current Interests - Reinforcement Learning • LLMs • Vector Search • Knowledge Graphs
Work Experience
April 2017 to Jan 2025 - Backend Senior Software Engineer @ EasyPost
Built and maintained scalable backend services supporting a high-volume shipping platform using Python, Rust, MySQL, Ruby, Kafka, and related technologies.
  • Led the design and implementation of an in-house address verification system that replaced a slow, unreliable, and expensive external API call. The final service was implemented in Rust, runs roughly 50× faster, has experienced no production outages, and delivers substantial annual savings.
  • Designed and implemented multiple extractions from an overloaded monolith and DB, delivering with zero customer-visible downtime while preserving API compatibility through careful migration planning and automated testing.
  • Participated in design and implementation of the back end for new API products: carbon offsets, insurance purchases, and customer data analytics tool. The last was more efficient and extensible than existing internal systems, so was extended for an internal fraud prevention API.
  • Mentored engineers on architecture, schema design, and company best practices, improving technical proficiency and consistency across teams.
  • Improved developer tooling, build automation, and CI/CD pipelines, reducing friction with devops and improving consistency between repositories.
Dec 2021 to Feb 2022 - System Architect / Virtual CTO Consultant @ GlasFunds
Senior Consultant for a private equity funding platform
  • Planned and executed live database migration from overburdened Airtable MVP to PostgreSQL with zero downtime.
  • Designed and implemented schema for handling the intricacies of a two-sided bidding market and the enterprise needs of financial compliance
  • Consulted with the web development team to correctly implement the most complex and critical data model code. Specifically ensuring:
    • Accuracy and security of financial transactions
    • Overall data security, transparency, and correctness
    • Correctly handling the many interrelated many-to-many relationships in an immutable DB that also needed to track updates to many models
  • Established architecture and engineering practices that enabled the platform to transition from an Airtable MVP to a production financial system while maintaining data integrity and regulatory requirements.
August 2009 to 2016 - Cofounder, CTO @ NewHive
Conceived of and created a social media creativity platform.
  • Founded and architected a social creativity platform from inception through millions of users across more than 100 countries.
  • Recruited and led the engineering team while remaining primary architect and contributor.
  • Designed and implemented a browser-based visual editor and scalable backend infrastructure using Python, MongoDB, AWS, and JavaScript.
2006 to 2008 - Lead Software Engineer @ Internet Community & Entertainment Corp.
  • Designed and developed backend of auction system using PHP and PostgreSQL, including test framework to verify consistency of auction transactions.
  • Developed and refactored UI code in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS.
2003 to 2007 - TA for Web Tech Solutions course @ ISchool, University of Washington
2003 to 2006 - Developer @ ISchool, University of Washington
  • Developed and refactored department tools using ASP.NET, C#, and MS SQL Server.
  • Linux system administration for faculty research projects.
Interests

Piano, Bicycling, CAD design + 3D printing, generative art, electronics



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