James Sumners
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Specialties: JavaScript, Linux
A software engineer with a background in Linux administration
https://james.sumners.info/
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Open Source
In my personal time, I am a prolific contributor to open source projects, particularly in the JavaScript ecosystem. Listed here are a few of the major projects that I work on.
Pino
Core Maintainer, September 2016 - Present
https://github.com/pinojs/pino
Pino is a logging library for applications built with JavaScript on Node.js. It prioritizes speed and machine parsebility over anything else.
Fastify
Core Maintainer, September 2017 - Present
https://github.com/fastify/fastify
Fastify is an HTTP framework for applications built with JavaScript on Node.js, an alternative to the well known Express framework.
LDAPjs
Lead Maintainer, August 2019 - Present
https://github.com/ldapjs/node-ldapjs
LDAPjs provides a framework for building LDAP servers, and a client to interact with standard LDAP servers, for applications built with JavaScript on Node.js.
Experience
Mezmo
Software Engineer III, May 2022 - January 2023
I was a backend software engineer on the ecosystem team. My work involved maintaining open source modules for client usage, implementing new customer centric features, and getting an API gateway ready for use:
–	Designed and implemented a Kong plugin to block requests (Lua)
–	Added sliding window support to the in-house developed Kong rate limiting plugin (Lua)
–	Maintained the Mezmo OpenTelemetry exporter module (Go)
–	Designed and implemented AWS Lamba job to email customers about API token expiration, and expire outdated tokens in the MongoDB database (JavaScript)
–	Designed and implemented an API for customers to query their data usage in relation to their billing (JavaScript)
–	Improved feature parity in the the company’s open source Terraform provider module (Go)
–	Managed deployments of my work to the company’s Kubernetes environments
–	Worked to improve documentation, with a particular focus on documentation that benefits new hires
Knock
Senior Software Engineer, May 2020 – March 2022
Software Engineer, May 2018 – May 2020
I was a backend software engineer specializing in Node.js based development with JavaScript. In this position I:
–	Built and maintained the frameworks the backend services were built upon
–	Built and maintained internal tooling to make developers’s day-to-day easier
–	Built and maintained tooling to run audits against all Git repositories maintained by the organization
–	Worked with project managers, designers, and frontend engineers to build RESTful services to solve business needs, including modeling data to be stored in MySQL databases
–	Stayed abreast of changes in the technology stack to keep it updated with the latest security advisories
–	Provided guidance to our devops for the requirements our backend systems needed for deployment
–	Developed and maintained the Docker images used for deploying services
–	Built RESTful services to integrate internal and third party data
–	Built a resilent webhook ingestion system atop Fastify, AWS SQS, and AWS Lambda with Go
–	Implemented eventing between services with AWS Lambda and AWS SQS
–	Lead a weekly cross team open meeting that gave backend engineers space to discuss their work and discovered challenges
–	Mentored junior engineers and peers
–	Assisted with interviewing to hire new backend engineers that would be a culture and talent fit for the team
–	Lead initiatives around open source, including informing the crafting of a company open source contribution policy
Clayton State University (Technology Infrastructure)
Linux System Administrator, November 2014 – April 2018
I was the lead system administrator for all Linux systems used by Clayton State University. In this position, some of my various duties included:
–	Implementing SSL termination and load balancing for campus websites using HAProxy and UCarp
–	Primary administrator for all Linux based servers (50+)
–	Maintained and packaged Red Hat RPMs
–	Setup and administered Red Hat Satellite
–	Used Ansible to manage configuration
–	Developed campus student web portal
Clayton State University (Enterprise Applications)
Database Developer/Linux Administrator, March 2009 - November 2014
In this position I was a web developer, database developer, and Linux system administrator. Some of my accomplishments in this position include:
–	Developed a replacement SSO connector for Ellucian’s Luminis 4 web portal
–	Wrote and maintained Oracle PL/SQL packages to facilitate backend operations, e.g. scheduled emails with inline attachments and data integration between systems
–	Maintained all Linux systems powering the campus Student Information System (Banner)
–	Developed a two-factor authentication add-on for the campus’s Luminis 4 implementation
–	Developed REST based web APIs for data integration between systems like the Student Information System and the campus web portal
Platypus Web Productions
Lead Web Developer, April 2009 – December 2009
Platypus Web Productions was a short lived independent web design and development firm established by me and a partner. In my role as the web developer I:
–	Developed a simple PHP templating engine for use in client projects
–	Worked with the lead designer to devise workable web site designs
–	Implemented web site designs from lead designer in PHP, HTML, and CSS
–	Implemented dynamic functionality of designs using JavaScript and jQuery
Skill Set Summary
Node.js
	JavaScript
	Fastify
	
Docker
	AWS Lambda
	AWS SQS
	
MySQL
	Git
	Mentorship
	
Effective Communication
	Open Source
	Go
	
Kubernetes

Education
B.Sc., Mathematics; Clayton State University (Morrow, GA)
References
Available upon request
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james.sumners@gmail.com • (404) 939 – 3576