Leadership across design systems, automation, and invention.
From enterprise-scale platforms to entrepreneurial hardware, each role sharpened the blend of design sensibility, engineering discipline, and operational clarity.
Sr. Software Engineer & Co-Tech Lead, Kroger Design System
The Kroger Co. · Cincinnati, OH
- Re-architected the web platform library, reducing surface area from six packages to three cohesive deliverables.
- Shaped automated asset generation for tokens and icons, cutting release time by 89%.
- Transformed ~4,500 Figma variables into CSS tokens using a graph traversal pipeline.
- Built a custom HTML-to-TSX generation framework to accelerate component authoring.
- Delivered a CSS mask-image icon system that lowered bundle size by 40%.
- Partnered with web performance teams on font-loading strategies that drove $5.9M in annualised incremental revenue.
- Led a four-person workstream to migrate kroger.com to the updated component library.
- Authored a codebase crawler to detect outdated APIs, reducing migration effort by 80%.
IT Leader & Full Stack Engineer
Designs Direct Creative Group · Covington, KY
Started as a designer before transitioning into engineering leadership in 2015.
- Delivered one new tool, app, or service every month for eleven consecutive months in 2020, offsetting $200K in operational costs.
- Architected automated product rendering for 31 product categories, increasing output by 477% and avoiding more than $500K in annual spend.
- Built a server-rendered factory quote browser that eliminated 780+ hours of manual data entry annually.
- Created an automated image parser that enabled tens of thousands of personalisable designs to flow into Walgreens' photo kiosk editor.
Founder & Product Inventor
Gadgetek · Wilder, KY
- Took the META accessory from ideation to production-ready prototype, including embedded electronics and manufacturing prep.
- Filed patents and trademarks to secure intellectual property.
- Engineered prototypes using C++, Arduino, 3D printing, and CAD.
- Launched a Kickstarter campaign with full creative assets, video, and positioning.
- Coordinated sourcing and logistics with manufacturing partners to ready mass production.
- Integrated microcontrollers and custom firmware into the accessory for configurable input.
COO & Executive VP
Rebel Internet Systems & Technologies · Springboro, OH
- Led due diligence for the acquisition and modernised infrastructure post-purchase.
- Reduced data centre expenses by 50% by consolidating to a single rack of modern cluster servers.
- Drove development of proprietary IP, including SendForth!, a REST email relay built with Node.js, Express.js, EJS, and MongoDB.
Proof points and ongoing learning.
Claude with the Anthropic API
Hands-on credential covering production prompt design, safety filters, tool use, and deployment patterns for Claude models.
View certificateAI Agent Fundamentals – Hugging Face
Project-based course building retrieval-augmented agents, toolchains, and evaluations with open tooling.
View certificateCS50 AI with Python
Harvard's graduate-level survey of search, knowledge, learning, and language models implemented in Python.
View certificateHuman-Centered Design Practitioner – LUMA Institute
Certified practitioner across the LUMA design-thinking system: research, sensemaking, ideation, and delivery rituals.
View certificateHashing, Dictionaries, and Sets in JavaScript
CodeSignal assessment covering algorithmic complexity, hashing primitives, and high-performance data structures in JS.
View certificateWhat collaborators say.
Dan is a highly collaborative developer who enjoys interacting with others and sharing ideas. He's talented with both engineering and design, and this allows him to execute with a high level of thoughtfulness and consistent excellence. He shows an enthusiasm for web development that is refreshing to work with. He's a great communicator with a friendly personality, and would be an excellent leader.
Amelia Y.Design & engineering impact.
of professional software engineering experience spanning process automation, image generation, design tooling, full stack web development, and enterprise UI design systems.
of professional design experience across home decor, branding, print, UI/UX, and digital product design.
of professional design & engineering experience creating impact.
Citrus Design System @ Kroger | skillhubai.com | DesignerPower UXP | MyPrice
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