⋅ Senior engineering leader with extensive experience in tech, including early-stage startups
⋅ Hands-on, mission-focused, user-centered, product-minded, data-driven, design-conscious
⋅ Deliver ambitious, innovative product initiatives through deliberate, informed improvements
⋅ Experience in roadmapping, budgeting, and strategic planning (technical, product)
⋅ Drive hiring, mentoring, and promoting of exceptional software engineers
⋅ New York / Brooklyn based; comfortable with onsite, hybrid, or remote
Skills and Expertise
Engineering Leadership ⋅ Startups ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) ⋅ Roadmapping ⋅ Product Development ⋅ Mobile Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design (UED) ⋅ Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) ⋅ Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) ⋅ Haptics (Touch) ⋅ Affective (Emotion) Computing ⋅ Research Design
Experience
Director of Engineering, Mobile | Engineering Lead, Consumer Experiences
Latch · Full-time
2016–2023; New York, New York, USA
Software engineering lead managing the technical teams of Latch’s Consumer Experiences business unit. Latch's focus is making spaces better places to live, work, and visit. Technical lead of the Consumer native mobile app; built the Android version from ground up; grew and retained the mobile team, including iOS; oversaw the mobile platform.
» Mobile Application Development ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Product Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Java ⋅ Kotlin ⋅ Android ⋅ MVVM ⋅ RxJava ⋅ iOS ⋅ SQL ⋅ Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) ⋅ Internet of Things (IoT)
Senior Software Engineer | Technical Lead, Android
Amplify Education; Mobile Division · Full-time
2013–2016; New York, New York, USA
Software engineering lead at an educational technology company developing the Amplify Mobile Learning System, an Android ecosystem designed for K–12 classrooms.
» Mobile Application Development ⋅ Agile Methodologies ⋅ Product Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Continuous Integration ⋅ Test-Driven Development ⋅ Pair Programming ⋅ Java ⋅ Android ⋅ SQL
Doctoral Research Scientist
SPIN Research Group; Dept of Computer Science; University of British Columbia · Full-time
2004–2012; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Inventor and chief architect of the Haptic Creature, an animal-like social robot designed to communicate with humans solely through touch. Managed all aspects of the robot’s creation: look and feel, behavior, software, mechatronics, user testing. Supervised a cross-functional team of more than a dozen individuals.
» Human-Robot Interaction ⋅ Haptics ⋅ Affective Computing ⋅ Interaction Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ User Research ⋅ Experimental Design ⋅ Statistics ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ Python ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ PIC Microcontroller
Lecturer
Dept of Computer Science; St. Edward’s University · Full-time
2002–2004; Austin, Texas, USA
Developed and taught an assortment of Computer Science courses at a private university.
» Advanced Object-Oriented Programming ⋅ Human-Computer Interaction ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ General Problem Solving ⋅ Analytical Thinking ⋅ Mentoring
Senior Software Engineer
Various Startups · Contract
2000–2001; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at several early-stage startups.
» Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ Python ⋅ Jython ⋅ SQL
Senior Software Engineer
Enetica · Full-time
2000; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at seed-stage startup creating a platform for robust deployment of distributed web applications.
» Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ Linux ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ JavaBeans ⋅ Java Message Service (JMS) ⋅ SQL ⋅ Java Code Conventions
Senior Software Engineer
IBM · Full-time
1999–2000; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end of Tivoli Job Scheduling Console, a multi-tier application uniting disparate workload (job) scheduling products.
» Application Development ⋅ UNIX ⋅ Java ⋅ Java Swing ⋅ JavaBeans ⋅ SQL
Senior Software Engineer
OTPI · Full-time
1998–1999; Austin, Texas, USA
Software engineer for front-end at seed-stage startup creating productivity tools targeting entrepreneurial and small business markets.
» Web Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Rapid Prototyping ⋅ PHP ⋅ SQL
Senior Software Engineer
Novo Media Group · Full-time
1996–1998; San Francisco, California, USA
Software engineer at early digital agency developing web applications for multinational clients.
» Web Application Development ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ UNIX ⋅ Java ⋅ Java AWT ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ C++ ⋅ PHP ⋅ Perl ⋅ SQL
Software Engineer
SGI (Silicon Graphics, Inc.) · Full-time
1993–1996; Mountain View, California, USA
Software engineer for the Indigo Magic Desktop User Environment, SGI’s pioneering UNIX desktop user interface.
» Application Development ⋅ Project Management ⋅ User Experience Design ⋅ Usability Testing ⋅ UNIX ⋅ C (Programming Language) ⋅ C++ ⋅ X11 ⋅ Motif
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Science
University of British Columbia; Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Thesis – The Haptic Creature: Social Human-Robot Interaction through Affective Touch
Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science
University of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Thesis – Webjumper: An Icon-based Framework for Managing Bookmarks on the World Wide Web
Bachelor of Science (BS) in Computer Science
University of Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Minor – Electroacoustic Music
Patents
Graphical Method and System for Accessing Information on a Communications Network
U.S. Patents 5,737,560 and 5,877,767 and 7,032,185
Method and Computer Program Product for Accessing a Web Site
U.S. Patent 6,072,491
Publications
A complete list of my publications is available at <yohanan.org/steve/academia>.
Portfolio
A selection of my previous projects is available at <yohanan.org/steve/projects>.