Back-End & APIs Cloud & AWS AI/LLM Integration

Hi, I'm Donnovan.

Senior software engineer with deep back-end experience — PHP, Node.js, REST APIs, AWS, and databases — plus front-end fluency and hands-on AI/LLM integration. Most recently led engineering at NASCAR.

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About Me

Building digital
experiences that matter.

Senior software engineer with over a decade building back-end systems, APIs, and cloud infrastructure at scale. I specialize in PHP, Node.js, AWS, and database design — and bring full front-end fluency when the work calls for it. From serverless architectures processing high-volume event streams to LLM-integrated content platforms serving millions, I focus on systems that are reliable, maintainable, and built to grow.

API & Systems Design

I design clean API contracts and database schemas first — then build the services and integrations around them.

Cloud-Native Engineering

Experienced with AWS Lambda, SQS, and serverless patterns — architecting infrastructure that scales without babysitting.

AI/LLM Integration

Hands-on with LLM APIs, RAG pipelines, prompt engineering, and AI-driven workflow automation in production systems.

Tech Stack

PHP Node.js REST APIs MySQL PostgreSQL AWS LLM APIs React TypeScript WordPress

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Experience

My professional journey.

Senior Software Engineer / Development Manager

NASCAR

2023 – 2025

Led a headless WordPress platform at scale — PHP REST APIs and React surfaces powering content across major NASCAR properties for millions of monthly visitors
Shipped serverless Lambda and SQS pipelines for automated content ingestion and processing, improving reliability and cutting manual operational load
Connected Adobe Journey Optimizer and Experience Platform, including LLM-assisted workflows, to speed campaigns and deepen fan engagement across digital and broadcast
Rebuilt MyProfile Rewards end-to-end — registration, authentication, dashboard, and points APIs — with stronger session handling and a more consistent member experience
Turned attendance and engagement requirements into scalable back-end design; supported internal AI efforts with data and APIs for race analytics and leadership-facing simulation tools
Raised the bar for the web team through code review, API versioning, deployment practices, and clearer engineering standards

Senior Software Engineer

AlphaSense

2022 – 2023

Helped ship AlphaSense Assistant (Alphred) — a GenAI Q&A experience over earnings calls, filings, and research with citation-backed answers
Built high-throughput REST APIs for the enterprise search layer, wired to AlphaSense's domain-tuned ASLLM for financial language and jargon
Shipped recommendation and summarization features (e.g. call highlights, guidance shifts) with ML and product, and contributed to permissioned Enterprise Intelligence search
Hardened React surfaces and data layers — Core Web Vitals work plus schema and pipeline design supporting low-latency indexing over structured and unstructured content

Senior Software Engineer

PriceWeber

Apr – Aug 2022

Delivered bespoke WordPress and PHP back-ends for Fortune 500 campaigns, including responsive, cross-device front ends
Automated marketing reporting with PHP and REST-driven pipelines so client teams could focus on analysis instead of manual assembly
Ran technical audits across SEO, accessibility, and Core Web Vitals, then prioritized fixes that improved visibility and performance

Software Engineer

Sagefrog Marketing Group

2019 – 2022

Led delivery of 30+ enterprise B2B WordPress builds — custom themes, plugins, and ACF-driven CMS patterns that routinely cleared strong Lighthouse targets
Introduced a decoupled WordPress + Vue headless stack for faster loads and flexible, API-first content delivery
Built PHP and REST automation for marketing analytics and reporting, cutting manual prep time and tightening data quality
Mentored engineers and standardized PHP/JS practices and code review, lifting team velocity and maintainability
Drove technical SEO, structured data, and performance work across client portfolios with measurable CWV and organic gains

Full-Stack Software Engineer

Freelance

2012 – 2022

Shipped 50+ custom WordPress themes, plugins, and PHP applications for healthcare, finance, and e-commerce — from discovery through launch and ongoing support
Designed relational schemas and REST APIs with an emphasis on query performance, integrity, and long-term maintainability
Produced end-to-end audits for SEO, Core Web Vitals, and WCAG, turning findings into concrete engineering roadmaps
Operated client infrastructure on AWS (S3, CloudFront, EC2) with CDN and server-side tuning to support growing traffic