Summary
James Carlson is an engineering manager and former CTO with eight years of software experience building full-stack web applications and leading cross-functional teams from startups to enterprise environments. He combines hands-on proficiency in React, Next.js, Node.js, Laravel, and Postgres with a track record of shipping MVPs, driving architecture decisions, and reducing engineering costs through thoughtful hiring and offshore management. Promoted rapidly into management at Lendio, he instituted feedback-driven continuous improvement, ROI-focused dashboards, and workflows for asynchronous global teams while contributing to company-wide AI enablement. Trained in leadership and research, he applies servant-leadership principles and academic rigor to foster alignment, ask better questions, and turn ambiguous problems into pragmatic systems. Notably, he has repeatedly taken ownership of complex legacy features and documentation, making inherited codebases maintainable and impactful for stakeholders.
8 years of coding experience
10 years of employment as a software developer
M.S., Interdisciplinary Studies (Business), M.S., Interdisciplinary Studies (Business) at Texas Tech University
Bachelor of Science, Business Management, Organizational Behavior/Human Resources, Bachelor of Science, Business Management, Organizational Behavior/Human Resources at Brigham Young University
Web Development, Web Development at Devmountain
English