Luke Shudtz
PRINCIPAL ENGINEER
SYSTEMS & TEAM LEAD | PRODUCT LEADER | PROJECT MANAGER | NETWORKING | FULL-STACK DEVELOPER | DEVOPS | AWS
Versatile and seasoned Principal Engineer and Full Stack Web Development Leader offering over two decades of experience, including full-stack build-outs, DevOps, system monitoring, problem-solving, and team leadership.
Expert at leading complex projects and mentoring engineering teams while managing the entire software development lifecycle from requirements analysis through delivery and support.
Skilled in end-to-end development encompassing front-end, back-end, database management, deployment, and cloud infrastructure, ensuring robust scalability, performance, and security.
Experienced in driving the adoption of CI/CD pipelines, implementing best practices in testing and optimization, and fostering professional growth within teams.
Adept at collaborating with cross-functional partners and senior stakeholders, taking full ownership of high-impact projects, and continuously delivering secure, reliable, and user-focused web solutions.
Core Competencies:
Strategic Planning | System Architecture Design | Full Stack Web Development | DevOps & CI/CD | Cloud Infrastructure (AWS) | Database Management | Application Performance Optimization | High-Traffic Systems | Team Leadership & Mentoring | Project Management | Cross-Functional Collaboration | Software Lifecycle Management | Code Quality & Best Practices | Problem Solving & Troubleshooting | Security & Compliance (PCI) | Technical Decision Making | Feature Development | Testing & Debugging | Infrastructure Monitoring | Migration & Integration Projects | User Experience Optimization
EDUCATION
BACHELOR OF ARTS, Business Finance, Computer Science | Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, IL
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Principal Engineer | 2023 - 2025
ShareASale by Awin| Chicago, IL
Provide principal engineering leadership for a high-traffic advertising tracking platform, delivering technical direction, project management, and cross-team collaboration to ensure system performance, compliance, and product excellence.
Key Achievements:
- Oversee uptime and optimal performance of a high-traffic advertising tracking software platform.
- Manage all aspects of an industry-leading Shopify plugin, ensuring successful integration and client satisfaction.
- Lead major client platform migration projects, coordinating technical requirements and smooth execution.
- Direct and groom project roadmaps, offering technical oversight and clear prioritization based on industry trends and business needs.
- Collaborate with senior product leaders on planning and alignment of engineering initiatives.
- Operate fluidly across multiple teams in the US, Europe, and South America to deliver cohesive solutions.
- Create and analyze transactional data reports to identify and address anomalies.
- Ensure strict PCI compliance for all company websites.
- Maintain and strengthen strategic partnerships with providers, including CyberSource and Authorize.net.
Lead Engineer | 2021 - 2023
ShareASale by Awin| Chicago, IL
Delivered technical leadership for infrastructure transformation, system reliability, and process modernization to support a robust web platform and development team.
- Executed successful data center migrations, moving infrastructure from physical servers to virtual machines and transitioning environments from NTT to AWS.
- Monitored and maintained high-traffic, high-availability application and database servers on the Windows platform, implementing data backup procedures and application failover solutions.
- Managed external DNS operations and directed incoming traffic security and optimization through Cloudflare.
- Played a key role in modernizing the software development lifecycle by advancing version control, deploying CI/CD pipelines, and establishing coding standards using GitLab.
Senior Engineer | 2008 - 2021
ShareASale by Awin| Chicago, IL
Conducted end-to-end development and engineering support for a range of web-based business solutions, focusing on scalability, usability, and system integration
Key Achievements:
- Developed a solution to integrate the web application with AWS S3, enabling secure backup and efficient serving of large client asset volumes.
- Designed and implemented a mobile-friendly mini site tailored for a specific group of business application users.
- Created innovative advertising tools that leveraged data feeds, images, and videos to enhance client marketing capabilities.
- Developed a comprehensive internal system for managing client accounts, streamlining administrative processes, and improving data accessibility.
- Contributed expertise across the full technology stack, ensuring seamless functionality from frontend interfaces to backend infrastructure.
TECHNOLOGY
Development: ColdFusion, JavaScript (JS), HTML, CSS, Node.js, Python
Backend & Database: SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, RDS, Databricks
Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS, Cloudflare
Server & Systems: Windows Server, IIS
APIs & Data Exchange: REST, JSON, XML, AJAX
Programming & Scripting: Python, PowerShell
Version Control & DevOps: Git, GitLab, CI/CD, System Monitoring, DevOps Practices
Monitoring: DataDog, Fusion Reactor, OpsGenie