Summary
Matt Schouten is a seasoned engineering leader and hands-on builder with 20+ years delivering software and leading teams across rail safety, avionics, fintech, healthcare, and web platforms. Currently Manager of Product Education Engineering at IBM and an independent management coach, he excels in remote, mostly-synchronous environments and often operates as a chief-of-staff style advisor who turns isolated teams into collaborative partners. He has a track record of shipping mission-critical systems (PTC/rail safety tooling, payments platforms, and enterprise web replatforms) while improving hiring, onboarding, and engineering discipline to boost velocity and quality. Known for pragmatic process changes, he repeatedly reduces technical debt and backlog quickly—examples include clearing a 250+ ticket security backlog and slashing provisioning times from days to hours. Matt blends strategic leadership with mentoring, having grown teams, defined ladders, and coached engineers into senior roles. Based in Cedar Rapids with deep remote experience predating 2020, he enjoys building software, people, and repeatable systems that scale.
12 years of coding experience
22 years of employment as a software developer
B.S. Computer Science, B.S. Computer Science at Iowa State University