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Adam Kecskes — Engineering and Operations Management

I have three creeds that drive my vision of a successful team, project, or company:

  1. We don't blame, we solve (and when we solve, we do it at the root level).
  2. The customer will always change their mind at the last minute, so plan for it.
  3. Communication and collaboration are ongoing — and very much human — activities.

Leadership and Technical Roles​

Operational Program Management Consultant​

Apr 2018 - Present @ Austin, TX

  • Defcon AI/Zaelot Consulting: Led a small, high-performing team to develop a prototype website using Vue and a Python/Django backend running on GCP that served a complex mathematical modeling system for managing logistics for the US military. Stepped in as TypeScript developer as needed.
  • Axon Consulting: Provided hiring and project management services for a modernization project, moving a trust verification service originally using decade-old PHP code over to Vue and Python on GCP to improve maintainability, performance, and customer usability.
  • Various: Provided interviewing services for technical roles, especially in software development; offered leadership consulting and coaching; trained teams to improve agile and continuous delivery practices.
  • Get sense of how I work through my PDF, Truly Professional Instant Messaging (with Slack!) 🔗.

Product Operations Manager​

Phi Labs Global ~ Web and Blockchain Development​

Sep 2022 - Apr 2023 @ Austin, TX

  • Delivered a comprehensive and collaborative product release forecast to the leadership team, resolving over a year of planning challenges.
  • In under two months, transitioned from a “spreadsheets and emails” mentality over to using Monday.com for sales and business development and Jira for software development, ensuring on-time delivery.
  • Developed the initial React code base for Area-52.io, , an online Rust training platform, and created its inaugural course.

Director of Service Delivery​

AktaryTech ~ Web Development Consulting Services​

Apr 2021 - Present @ Austin, TX

  • Provided multi-hat services including business development, project management, and software coding. Collaborated with potential clients to determine a good client-consultant fit while developing time and cost estimates for their respective budgets and needs to ensure project success.
  • Managed and mentored a team of 4-5 developers of various skill levels in development best practices, including establishing continuous delivery pipelines for consistent and transparent client updates.
  • Authored the initial UI for several client projects using TypeScript, React, and Tailwind CSS frameworks.

ERP Solutions Consultant​

CESCO Magnetics ~ Food Safety Product Manufacturing​

Nov 2020 – Aug 2021 @ Georgetown, TX

  • Implemented inventory migration program from spreadsheets and Microsoft Access to Global Shop Solutions ERP.
  • Established best practices for use of BOMs and routers on the shop floor, in office, and with sales.
  • Eliminated tedious steps in quality assurance certification process.
  • Provided analysis of various business functions including inventory tracking, order processing, and manufacturing steps.

Public Speaking & Leadership Coach​

Dec 2016 - Mar 2020 @ Austin, TX

  • Lead a number of public speaking training sessions for various non-profits.

Director of IT & Business Operations Manager​

Digital Turbine ~ Mobile Application Marketing​

Oct 2014 – Mar 2015 @ Austin, TX

  • Contributed technical expertise, identifying and addressing process weaknesses, minimizing risks in cloud and client services, and refining product management procedures across the US, Australia, and Israel.
  • Led the successful transition of the company's primary product from IPv4 to support IPv6 on Amazon AWS EC2 & ELB instances.
  • Collaborated with business account teams at leading wireless service providers like Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular to ensure seamless product launches.

Operations Program Manager​

Intel Corporation ~ Semiconductor Manufacturing​

Aug 2011 – Oct 2014 @ Hillsboro, OR

  • Led the implementation of PMO and DevOps systems for a newly formed IoT device-focused division, coordinating over 100 developers and various SME teams in science, R&D, design, and UX.
  • Directed the creation of a cohesive project workflow across teams using Jira, Jenkins CI/CD, and other tools for a diverse set of large teams and a half dozen project managers based in the US, France, and Germany.
  • Worked closely with science and R&D teams to ensure a secure system for recording discoveries.

Director of Software Development & IT Operations​

Viva! Vision, Inc. ~ Mobile Entertainment Software​

Dec 2005 - Sep 2010 @ San Diego, CA

  • Initially hired on as senior software developer, acted as prototype-to-production developer, translating inefficient C++ and Java code hacks into consistent and releasable products, incrementally improving the release process as needed, and streamlining manual processes
  • As team lead, managed a team of 6-10 software developers, mentoring extant and recruiting new talent.
  • As director, initiated a project to optimize the infrastructure and code base, boosting client and DB performance, accelerating the release cycle time, and reducing labor costs by enhancing user interfaces.

Sr. Software Engineer Lead​

Kyocera Wireless Corp. ~ Mobile Phone Manufacturing​

Feb 2003 - Dec 2005 @ San Diego, CA

  • Established a coding and design standard in collaboration with PM, UX, and UI design groups, allowing us to create brand consistency, and well-vetted UIs, and reduce the time to market.
  • Optimized C/C++ code base build times from four hours to under 30 minutes through code refactoring and dependency corrections, resulting in significant cost savings and eliminating any XKCD 303 effect.
  • Evolved personal and organizational strategies for recruiting excellent talent as part of the committee to hire over one hundred new developers in only a few months.

Software Engineer & Project Manager​

Qualcomm, Inc. ~ Wireless Telecommunications​

Feb 1997 - Feb 2003 @ San Diego, CA

  • Prompted by a single support call, started a cascade of project and program improvements encompassing sales, manufacturing, software, hardware, design, testing, repair, and user experience to revamp and improve the product lifecycle to the point where the company was attractive enough to be purchased by Kyocera Wireless.
  • Headed C UI development for the original smartphone lineup on PalmOS, working to create a pixel-consistent and user-friendly experience.
  • Learned way too much about email and support call centers while providing technical support for the Eudora email client and server applications.

Customer Support Supervisor​

CTS Network Services ~ Internet Service Provider​

Mar 1996 - Feb 1997 @ San Diego, CA

  • Managed the technical support team and engaged with the network team to solve outages and calm down customers when those outages were self-inflicted (there's a lesson here!).
  • Created training courses for new customer support employees.

Software Developer Proficiencies​

Present​

  • Frontend: TypeScript plus React, Vue, and Next.js, using Tailwind and Sass for CSS.
  • Backend: Node.js (with Express), PostgreSQL (with TypeORM), StrapiCMS, and Rust with working knowledge of AWS (mainly S3) and GCP (Cloud Storage, Google App Engine, and Google SQL).
  • Supplementary: VBA, Google App Scripts, git.
  • Dabbled: Go, Rust, GitHub Actions.

Past​

  • C, C++, Objective-C, C#, Java, PHP, MySQL, Joomla.

Education​

University​

  • B.A. in Mathematics @ University of California | San Diego, CA 1996
  • B.S. in Computer Science @ Coleman University | La Mesa, CA 1998

Language​

  • CEF B1 in Spanish @ Camino Barcelona | Barcelona, Spain 2024

Professional Development​

  • Professional Scrum Master @ Scrum.org | Austin, TX, 2020
  • Advanced Communicator & Leadership Awards @ Toastmasters International | TX & OR | 2013-Present
  • Certified Usability Analyst @ Human Factors International | Hillsboro, OR 2012

Volunteer Work​

Technical Consultant​

Outdoor Outreach ~ Leadership training for at-risk youths​

Jul 2009 - Jul 2011 @ San Diego, CA

Provided technical advice ranging from computer systems to best practices for operations. Also participated in several fund-raisers.

Cook and Recycling Manager​

Potluck in the Park ~ Providing weekly meals for the homeless​

Mar 2013 - Mar 2014 @ Portland, OR

Cooked and served meals as well as managed the recycling process for all of the discarded packaging.