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Kim Gault

Software Engineer

Backend Developer

Experienced in Distributed Systems

AWS Cloud Engineer

Specialized in Microservices and APIs

Certified AWS Solutions Architect

About

Hi! I’m a senior backend software engineer with a strong interest in creating scalable and data-intensive distributed systems. I work a lot with orthogonal design, Kubernetes, Kafka, DynamoDB and Cassandra.

I work from Portland, OR for Zapier as a backend engineer. I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Computer Science in 2011 and received my AWS Solutions Architect (Associate) certification in 2020.

  • Name: Kim Gault
  • YOE: 10 yrs of experience
  • Industry: Software Engineer
  • Residence: Portland, OR
  • Contact: Linkedin
  • Available for Freelance: No
Experience
Jan 2021 - Present
Senior Backend Engineer - Zapier

I'm part of a small but agile team that works on a new core product microservice. I work on the backend system, building out and processing the high-throughput data workflow.

Oct 2019 - Jul 2020
Senior Backend Developer - Instrument

Instrument is a digital agency. Worked on creating distributed backend systems, data pipelines and optimized production with unit/integration tests standards and CI/CD process for data-intensive clients. Favorite project was creating a new backend system for Epic Games. Working with the throughput, scale and pace of a gaming company was a true dream.

Oct 2018 - Oct 2019
Backend Engineer - Vacasa

Created a new reliable and scalable global payments processing system as a microservice to break away and minimized dependency with the monolith. Also worked on data pipeline, chargeback webhooks and setting up batch processing.

Dec 2013 - Sept 2018
Developer - Wieden+Kennedy

Work with the data scientist team to create data models, a date pipeline and a deployment process for a campaign analytics system. Also created internal applications for the global agency, including a Payroll reporting system and Vendor portfolio and contract application.

Oct 2012 - Dec 2013
Software Engineer II (Backend) - CDK Global (ADP)

Backend development on a document scanning and archival products for car dealerships nationally. Helped build out department's test-driven development process.

Aug 2011 - Sept 2012
Programmer - Mutual Assurance Administrators

MAA is a national third-party insurance administrator company. Role included database development, ETL pipelines and automation tools, data stores, data visualization and reporting tools with a focus on security and encryption.

2010 - 2011
Developer - Oklahoma State Department of Health

Created reports and optimized queries for state health data to support evidence-based decision making for public health in Oklahoma, to plan and improve service delivery, evaluate health care systems, inform policy decisions, and aid in research.

Education
2020
Amazon Web Services

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

2011
ADP - Onsite Training

Test Driven Development Week Course

2011
ADP - Onsite Training

Agile Scrum Fundamentals Week Course

2009 - 2011
University of Central Oklahoma

Bachelor's of Science in Computer Science

Knowledge

Strong experience architecting highly available, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems on AWS:

  • API proxy, API Gateway, Koa
  • AWS Lambda, EC2 + AWS Elastic Load Balancing, Kubernetes
  • DynamoDB with DAX cluster, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL, mySQL
  • SQS, Apache Kafka, Kinesis Firehose, Redshift, SNS, S3
  • Terraform, Serverless, Cloudformation, Amazon CDK
  • Cloudwatch, DataDog, SumoLogic, New Relic, Sentry
  • CircleCI, Github Actions, TeamCity
  • Split.io (feature flags)

Some experience working with optimizing client-facing websites:

  • CloudFront, Lambda@Edge, ElasticSearch
  • NginX (including setting up micro-caching with FastCGI)
Published Articles