Principal Front End Engineer
Hey, I'm Zan. I've spent my career turning complex technical challenges into elegant solutions that millions of people use every day. From open-sourcing Netflix's deployment platform to architecting Target's global supply chain control plane, I build systems that scale—and teams that thrive.
I design systems that outlive teams
I make the web faster, one optimization at a time
I build languages that engineers speak fluently
I multiply impact through mentorship and vision
Started building enterprise systems at Carlson Wagonlit, learning that scale isn't just about numbers—it's about people using your work in moments that matter. Travel bookings, customer support, global operations. Every line of code served real humans solving real problems.
Helped thousands of students graduate on time by building collaborative planning tools at University of Minnesota. First taste of impact measured in lives changed. Watching students plan their futures with software I built taught me that technical excellence serves human goals.
Discovered consulting at Object Partners: the art of parachuting into chaos and leaving behind clarity. Built training programs, established hackathons, spoke at conferences. Realized technical expertise without teaching is just knowledge hoarded. The best solutions emerge from shared wisdom.
November 2015: We open-sourced Spinnaker. What started as Netflix's internal deployment tool became an industry standard. Watched it grow from our team's solution to a platform thousands of engineers rely on daily. Collaborated with Google, Microsoft, Pivotal to make it work everywhere. This is what legacy looks like.
Now architecting Target's global supply chain platform—the invisible infrastructure keeping shelves stocked and deliveries moving. Leading multiple teams, shaping technical direction for one of America's largest retailers. Member of CIO advisory council, publishing tech radar for the entire organization. The problems are harder. The stakes are higher. The impact is exponential.
The languages I think in
From vanilla JavaScript to TypeScript, React to Svelte—I don't just use tools, I understand their trade-offs. Each choice is deliberate. Each line of code serves a purpose.
Building beyond the browser
Full-stack isn't about knowing everything. It's about understanding the entire system—from browser rendering to database queries—and making architectural decisions that serve users.
Making deployment boring (in the best way)
Continuous delivery isn't magic. It's engineering discipline. Docker, Spinnaker, multi-cloud deployments—I've built pipelines that let teams ship with confidence, not fear.
Where state lives and events flow
MongoDB for flexibility. PostgreSQL for reliability. Redis for speed. Kafka for scale. Every data choice is a bet on the future of your system.
Designing systems and growing people
Staff engineering isn't about writing more code. It's about multiplying impact—through architectural decisions that enable teams, technical direction that charts the course, and mentorship that grows the next generation.
Making engineering teams faster and happier
Good tooling is invisible. Great tooling makes you forget it exists. I build developer experiences that remove friction and spark joy.
Target
Jul 2017 – Present
What do you build when Target needs to track millions of products across thousands of locations in real-time? A control plane that becomes the nervous system of global retail.
The Challenge: Target's supply chain moves billions of dollars worth of products annually. The existing systems couldn't scale with the business. We needed a next-generation platform that could handle enterprise-scale logistics while empowering teams to move faster.
My Approach: Led technical vision for multiple front-end teams, establishing the tech stack, tooling, patterns, and practices. Focused on building systems that would outlive the teams that created them. Mentored engineers at every level, growing senior and staff talent who could multiply the impact.
The Impact: Delivered a control plane and visualization UI that powers Target's global supply chain operations. As a member of the CIO advisory council, helped establish the technical "paved road" and publish quarterly tech radar for the entire organization. The platform doesn't just move products—it enables hundreds of engineers to ship with confidence.
What I Learned: At this scale, technical decisions are business decisions. Architecture enables or constrains entire product roadmaps. The best systems make complexity invisible to users while empowering engineers to solve problems we haven't imagined yet.
Netflix
Nov 2014 – Apr 2017
We had a problem: deploying to AWS was painful. We built Spinnaker. Then we gave it to the world.
The Problem: Every Netflix deployment was a small act of courage. Teams feared shipping. Rollbacks were harder than moving forward. At Netflix scale, fear costs millions in lost velocity and innovation.
The Solution: As a full-stack engineer on the Delivery Engineering Tools team, I built the web-based UI that became the face of Spinnaker. Developed backend micro-services integrating with Netflix's internal ecosystem. Made deployment boring—in the best way. Teams could ship across multiple AWS regions with confidence, not prayers.
The Defining Moment: November 2015. We open-sourced Spinnaker. Collaborated with Google, Microsoft, and Pivotal to make it work on their cloud platforms. Watched it grow from our team's internal tool to an industry-standard platform that thousands of engineers rely on daily.
The Legacy: Walk into most tech companies today—they're either using Spinnaker or a tool inspired by it. That's what happens when you solve a problem so well that you can give the solution away and it still changes an industry.
Object Partners, Inc
Sept 2009 – Nov 2014
Consulting taught me that every company thinks their problems are unique. They're usually wrong. The patterns repeat. The solutions adapt.
The Art of Parachuting In: As a Principal Consultant focused on Grails/Spring/AngularJS, I helped Twin Cities startups get products to market. Each engagement was different. Each problem was familiar. The skill wasn't just writing code—it was recognizing patterns, teaching teams, and leaving behind systems they could maintain without me.
Building Beyond Billable Hours: Co-authored Grails training courses that outlived any single project. Established the annual company-wide hackathon that became part of the culture. Spoke at Gr8Conf US, MidwestJS, GroovyMN, and AngularMN—not for glory, but because technical knowledge grows when shared.
The Transformation Moment: Led the Virtuwell.com team through a crucial migration—converting their monolithic Grails/GSP architecture to a modern AngularJS frontend with RESTful micro-services. Enabled nationwide scale. But more importantly, I showed the team how to fish. They could own the system long after I left.
What Consulting Taught Me: Technical expertise without teaching is just knowledge hoarded. The best solutions emerge from collaborative wisdom. And sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is make yourself unnecessary.
University of Minnesota & Carlson Wagonlit Travel
Jun 2000 – Sept 2009
Before Netflix and Target, I learned the fundamentals: building systems that serve thousands, maintaining code you didn't write, and shipping features that actually matter to users.
University of Minnesota (2006-2008): Senior Java Developer building the Grad Planner application. Helped thousands of students graduate on time by giving them tools to collaboratively plan their course schedules. First taste of impact measured in lives changed. Learned that technical excellence serves human goals.
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (2000-2006): Cut my teeth on Java back-end systems supporting a global travel booking platform. Enterprise scale. Real users. Real money. Every deployment mattered. Learned that code in production is different from code on your laptop. Learned to maintain systems built by engineers who'd moved on. Learned that scale isn't just about numbers—it's about people using your work in moments that matter.
The Foundation: These years taught me to care about operations, not just features. To think about the engineers who come after me. To build systems that serve real human needs, not just technical curiosity. Everything that came later—Netflix, Target, open source—was built on this foundation.
The invisible infrastructure that keeps America's shelves stocked and deliveries moving.
My Role: Principal Engineer leading technical vision for control plane and visualization UI serving enterprise-scale global operations.
Technologies: Modern JavaScript frameworks, micro-service architecture, real-time data visualization, enterprise-scale platform engineering
The Stakes: Target's supply chain moves billions of dollars worth of products annually across thousands of locations. The existing systems couldn't scale with business growth. Every minute of downtime costs real money. Every inefficiency cascades across the entire operation.
The Challenge: Build a next-generation control plane that handles enterprise-scale logistics while empowering teams to move faster. Make complexity manageable. Turn data into actionable insights. Create a platform that hundreds of engineers can build on confidently.
The Solution: Led technical direction for multiple front-end teams, establishing the tech stack, tooling, patterns, and practices. Built visualization UI that makes complex supply chain operations comprehensible at a glance. Designed systems that would outlive the teams that created them. Mentored engineers to multiply the impact.
The Impact: Delivered control plane platform that now powers Target's global supply chain operations. Established technical standards adopted across the organization. As member of CIO advisory council, helped publish quarterly tech radar guiding all of Target's engineering. The platform doesn't just move products—it enables engineers to ship with confidence.
The Legacy: At this scale, your technical decisions become your organization's technical decisions. The patterns you establish become the paved road others follow. The engineers you mentor become the leaders who shape the next generation of systems.
Every Netflix deployment was a small act of courage. We wanted to make it boring.
My Role: Sr Software Engineer building the web UI and backend micro-services that became the industry's deployment platform of choice.
Technologies: Full-stack development, micro-services, AWS multi-region deployment, web-based UI, REST APIs, multi-cloud orchestration
The Stakes: At Netflix scale, deployment fear costs millions. Teams were scared to ship. Rollbacks were harder than moving forward. Innovation slowed because the friction of deployment made experimentation too risky.
The Challenge: Build a multi-cloud continuous delivery platform that makes deployment so reliable that engineers stop thinking about it. Work across AWS regions and accounts. Integrate with Netflix's sprawling internal service ecosystem. Make it simple enough that any team can use it, powerful enough to handle Netflix's complexity.
The Solution: Built the web-based UI that became the face of Spinnaker—visual pipeline editor, deployment status, rollback controls. Developed backend micro-services integrating with Netflix's internal services. Made deployment boring in the best way. Teams could ship across multiple AWS regions with confidence, not prayers.
The Defining Moment: November 2015. We open-sourced Spinnaker. Collaborated with Google, Microsoft, and Pivotal to make it work on their cloud platforms. Watched it grow from our team's internal tool to a platform thousands of engineers rely on daily.
The Impact: Deployment fear vanished at Netflix. Teams shipped faster, experimented more, innovated boldly. Then we gave it to the world. Now it powers continuous delivery at organizations worldwide.
The Legacy: Walk into most tech companies today—they're either using Spinnaker or a tool inspired by it. That's what happens when you solve a problem so well that you can give the solution away and it still changes an industry. This is what legacy looks like.
When a healthcare startup needs to scale nationwide, you don't just refactor code—you transform how they build.
My Role: Led development team through architectural transformation from monolith to modern micro-services.
Technologies: AngularJS, Grails, RESTful APIs, micro-services, healthcare compliance (HIPAA)
The Stakes: Virtuwell was preparing for nationwide rollout. Their monolithic Grails/GSP architecture couldn't scale with demand. Development velocity was slowing. Every feature took longer than the last. Healthcare compliance made every change risky.
The Challenge: Modernize architecture without disrupting live patient care. Maintain HIPAA compliance throughout migration. Train the team on new patterns while delivering features. Leave them with a system they could own and evolve after I left.
The Solution: Led migration to AngularJS (1.x) frontend with RESTful Grails-based micro-services. Incremental transformation—no big-bang rewrites. Paired with their developers daily. Taught architectural thinking, not just coding patterns. Built automated tests so they could refactor with confidence.
The Impact: Enabled nationwide scale. Development velocity increased. Teams could work independently on different services. But more importantly, I made myself unnecessary—they owned the system completely.
What I Learned: Consulting isn't about being the hero who swoops in and saves the day. It's about teaching teams to save themselves. The best outcome is when clients don't need you anymore.
Technical knowledge grows when shared. I built communities where wisdom compounds.
My Role: Principal Consultant establishing Grails practice, co-authoring training, speaking at conferences, and fostering technical communities.
Focus Areas: Grails, Spring Framework, AngularJS, technical training, conference speaking, community building
The Context: Object Partners was a well-established JEE/Spring consultancy. Grails was the new kid on the block. The Twin Cities had a nascent modern web development community. There was expertise scattered across individuals, but no shared knowledge base.
The Opportunity: Build something that outlasts billable hours. Create training that scales beyond individual engagements. Grow a community where knowledge compounds through sharing.
What I Built: Co-authored comprehensive Grails training course—used internally for onboarding, externally for clients. Spoke at Gr8Conf US, MidwestJS, GroovyMN, and AngularMN—not for personal glory, but to contribute to collective wisdom. Established annual company-wide hackathon that became part of company culture. Each talk, each training, each hackathon multiplied impact beyond any single consulting engagement.
The Impact: Helped establish Object Partners as a leader in JVM-based web frameworks. Trained dozens of developers who went on to train others. Built a community where knowledge circulates and compounds. The training materials are still in use today.
The Philosophy: Technical expertise without teaching is just knowledge hoarded. The best solutions emerge from collaborative wisdom. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is make your knowledge accessible to others. That's how expertise multiplies. That's how communities grow. That's how industries evolve.
Technical knowledge grows when shared. I speak at conferences, lead training, and contribute to open source not because I have all the answers, but because the best solutions emerge from collective wisdom.
Watching an internal tool become an industry standard taught me that great software is as much about community as code. We built Spinnaker to solve Netflix's deployment problems. We open-sourced it because we believed others faced the same challenges. Turns out we were right. The platform grew beyond anything we imagined—not because we had all the answers, but because we invited the world to contribute theirs.
Every talk is a conversation. I've spoken at Gr8Conf on Grails and Spring patterns, at MidwestJS on frontend architecture, at local meetups on everything from micro-services to modern JavaScript. I learn as much from the questions as I teach from the content. The hallway conversations after talks? That's where the real knowledge transfer happens. That's where patterns crystallize. That's where communities form.
Co-authoring training courses forced me to distill complex patterns into learnable chunks. Teaching makes you better at your craft. When you have to explain why a pattern works—not just how—you understand it deeper. Led training sessions for both internal teams and external clients. Watched developers have "aha" moments when concepts clicked. Those moments are why I teach. Knowledge that stays in your head helps one person. Knowledge you share multiplies.
Local meetups are where I've learned, shared, and stayed connected to developers outside enterprise walls. Established Object Partners' annual hackathon—not for the code produced in 24 hours, but for the collaboration it fostered. Active in GroovyMN and AngularMN because strong local communities make everyone better. The best ideas don't come from isolated experts. They emerge from diverse perspectives colliding in productive ways.
Interested in discussing frontend architecture, performance optimization, or technical leadership? I'm always open to connecting with fellow engineers and exploring new opportunities.