Summary
Mele Sax-Barnett is a seasoned engineering leader with 14 years of experience, currently serving as Senior Director of Engineering at Airship in Portland, Oregon. She has risen through technical and customer-facing roles at Airship— from technical support and customer engineering to leading Web Platform, Internal Tools, Systems, and Security teams—demonstrating deep institutional knowledge and cross-functional influence. Her background in GIS and transportation work at TriMet and involvement with OpenStreetMap US inform a practical, data-driven approach to product and infrastructure decisions. An Executive MBA from the University of Oregon complements her hands-on technical leadership with strategic and operational rigor. Known for prioritizing reliable internal developer experiences and secure platforms, she blends customer empathy with engineering discipline to scale teams and systems.
13 years of coding experience
11 years of employment as a software developer
Executive MBA, Executive MBA at University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business
Graduate Certificate in GIS Graduate Certificate in Transportation Studies other postbacc courses Geography Urban Planning, Graduate Certificate in GIS Graduate Certificate in Transportation Studies other postbacc courses Geography Urban Planning at Portland State University
BA Philosophy, BA Philosophy at Reed College
High School Diploma, High School Diploma at Kalaheo High School