I’m a systems-focused engineer and Fractional CTO specializing in Rails architecture, DevOps reliability, and
performance optimization. I help teams stabilize critical systems, accelerate delivery, and build technical
foundations that can grow confidently.
While my background includes Unity development, my work today centers on architecting large Rails applications,
resolving complex infrastructure issues, and transforming fragile pipelines into predictable, scalable systems.
What I Bring to Your Organization
Senior Rails Architecture & System Design
- Complex System Rescue — resolving failures rooted in architecture, not symptoms
- Concurrency & Data Integrity — eliminating race conditions with proper locks, transactions, and workflows
- Performance Optimization — increasing throughput, reducing memory use, and removing chokepoints
- Scalable Job Pipelines — designing asynchronous systems that digest thousands of tasks reliably
- DevOps Maturity — Docker, CI/CD, observability, and deployment stability with measurable improvements
Technical Leadership & Delivery Acceleration
- Sprint Compression — helping teams deliver 10-day workloads in 4 days through architecture clarity
- Developer Experience (DX) — building internal tools and patterns that remove friction and guide best practices
- Documentation & Clarity — 4+1 architecture, system maps, and durable reference materials
- Mentorship & Reform — uplifting teams by removing systemic chaos, not blaming individuals
Recent Impact
- Increased image-processing throughput by 1100%, enabling 1,361 images processed in 2 minutes
- Reduced memory consumption by 60% by moving from Buildpacks to a modern Docker architecture
- Resolved silent concurrency corruption inside a legal hearing scheduling system where tests were passing but data was failing
- Stabilized a legacy choir-management system, rescuing 118 failing tests, modernizing Ruby & Rails, and restoring long-term maintainability
- Fixed UTF-8 internationalization failures that blocked global customer onboarding
- Designed async pipelines and CI/CD flows that eliminated deployment instability
Client Impact
"Lee's contributions have significantly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO), Benefits and Memorial (BAM) Services Portfolio, enabling the delivery of critical technology solutions to support the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and National Cemetery Administration (NCA)."
"Under Lee's leadership his team performed some of the fastest, issue-free development I think we've ever seen. His thoughtfulness, foresight, and ability to hop into the trenches as needed to help anyone who is a bit stuck has propelled his team towards completing with their work far ahead of what was previously forecasted."
"Though their tenure with us has been under a year, Lee has made a lasting impact and shown the kind of initiative and maturity that are rare even in more senior professionals."
"Lee played a key role in the development of our bespoke website. This background has further enhanced his creative mind and professional polish."
How I Work
I approach engineering the same way I approach architecture:
identify constraints, model the system, resolve the root cause, and ensure it’s durable.
Whether it’s:
- rewriting an unsafe job pipeline,
- hardening Docker-based deployments,
- untangling a high-risk code path, or
- mapping an entire feature into 4+1 architecture views…
I focus on solutions that scale, survive new requirements, and reduce long-term cost.
My writing on this site reflects that philosophy:
real failures, real constraints, real fixes, and real metrics.
The WhittakerTech Vision
WhittakerTech is my ecosystem of tools, engines, and products built on a simple idea:
Great engineering comes from clarity, modularity, and repeatable systems.
Current initiatives include:
- Ensemblize — scheduling, communication, and organizational tools
- Subscribify — SSOT subscription management across internal and external services
- Red Lily Music — a DSL and UI for composing and exporting music via LilyPond
- Nicodemus — auto-documentation through reflection, metadata, and knowledge graph extraction
- Spectra Galaxy — design-system engine, tokens, and UI primitives for all WhittakerTech apps
Each project advances the ecosystem — modular Rails engines that can be reused, extended, and combined.
Who I Help
For Companies & Teams
- Legacy Rails systems needing modernization
- Systems suffering from concurrency failures or scaling bottlenecks
- Organizations requiring a Fractional CTO to guide architecture and delivery
- Teams needing DevOps clarity and CI/CD reliability
- Products preparing for growth, audits, or investor scrutiny
For Indie Builders & Founders
- 0–1 product acceleration
- Technical leadership without a full-time CTO
- Architecture guidance for long-term sustainability
- Clarity on data models, pipelines, and cost-efficient infrastructure
If your technical challenges feel tangled, risky, or expensive…
I bring the calm and clarity to straighten them out.
Let’s Talk
Whether your Rails application is showing its age, your pipeline is fragile, or your team needs architectural guidance, I’m here to help you move faster with confidence.
Ready to work together?
Get in touch and let’s build something stable, scalable, and exceptional.
Connect with me: