Misha Thomas

I bring over 18 years of experience in IT, beginning my career as a Java developer and progressing through roles like Technical Lead, Program Manager, and now playing the dual role of Technical Lead and Offshore Project Manager in my current assignment.

Over the years, I have handled the full cycle of enterprise software delivery — from requirement analysis and solution design to implementation, deployment, and support. I’ve worked with large distributed teams, including multi-vendor setups, ensuring timely and quality deliverables.

• AWS Certified Developer - Associate, 2025-01-01
• Sun Certified Java Programmer
• W3Schools JavaScript Certification

12 Months, Standard Life Phoenix Project EMBER 

Technical Lead & Offshore Project Manager, 

Project Overview: Led the modernization of a legacy Java-based application by transitioning to a React Native frontend and integrating a structured backend API layer. The Ember project serves as the foundation for all new feature releases for Standard Life Phoenix accounts, ensuring a scalable, secure, and efficient platform. The project involved seamless integration between modern APIs and legacy export systems, improving maintainability and performance., Roles and Responsibilities:, Architecture Design and Planning: Analyzed the existing legacy Java system and designed a scalable and modular architecture using React Native for the frontend and Node.js (Hono) for the API layer, ensuring seamless interaction with the legacy Export API., Technology Evaluation and Integration: Selected and integrated modern technologies, tools, and frameworks to replace outdated Java components. Implemented React Native for UI development, Node.js for backend API handling, and Axios for API requests, improving performance and interoperability., System Modernization: Led the end-to-end modernization of the Standard Life Phoenix account platform, replacing the old Java-based UI with a React Native-based dashboard. Designed an API gateway layer to bridge the new architecture with the legacy export API., Authentication and API Security: Designed and implemented a secure authentication mechanism using OAuth, JWT, and secure cookies to ensure API security and compliance with enterprise security policies (GDPR, CCPA)., Technical Leadership: Led offshore and onshore engineering teams, ensuring cross-functional collaboration between frontend, backend, and DevOps teams. Provided mentorship, conducted technical reviews, and enforced coding standards to maintain a high-quality software development lifecycle., Performance Optimization: Identified performance bottlenecks in the API layer and implemented optimized data retrieval strategies, reducing latency and improving system response times., Collaboration and Communication: Acted as the bridge between technical teams and business stakeholders, ensuring that modernization efforts aligned with business objectives and compliance requirements., Sprint Planning and Agile Management: Managed sprint planning, backlog prioritization, and roadmap execution, collaborating with product owners, engineering teams, and external vendors., CI/CD Automation & Deployment: Designed and implemented CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions & Expo EAS, reducing deployment times by 40% and ensuring seamless software delivery., Incident Management and Support: Led troubleshooting efforts for critical issues in the modernization process, ensuring quick resolution and minimal downtime., Risk Management and Security Compliance: Evaluated potential technical risks associated with modernization, implemented mitigation strategies, and ensured adherence to security best practices. 96 Months, Technical Lead in Nielsen Audio Client Delivery, Project Overview: Led the architectural design, development, and modernization of a suite of legacy Java web applications and web services, leveraging Java/J2EE technologies., Roles and responsibilities:, Architecture Design and Planning: Analyzed existing system architecture and designed scalable, robust solutions for legacy Java web applications, ensuring alignment with business goals., Technology Evaluation and Integration: Selected and integrated appropriate technologies, tools, and frameworks, particularly focusing on Struts and Spring Boot to enhance application performance and scalability., System Modernization: Planned and executed modernization initiatives, migrating legacy systems to contemporary architectures, and refactored existing codebases to improve maintainability, performance, and security., Technical Leadership: Led cross-functional development teams, provided technical guidance, conducted code reviews, and enforced coding standards to maintain high-quality software development., Performance Optimization: Identified performance bottlenecks and implemented solutions, resulting in a significant increase in application performance and reliability., Security and Compliance: Implemented security best practices to protect applications and data, ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulatory requirements., Collaboration and Communication: Collaborated with business stakeholders to gather requirements and translate them into technical solutions, effectively communicating architectural decisions., Documentation and Reporting: Created and maintained comprehensive architectural documentation, technical specifications, and user guides, and provided regular progress reports to management., Continuous Improvement: Stayed current with emerging technologies and industry trends, driving continuous improvement initiatives to enhance development processes and software quality., Incident Management and Support: Provided technical support and troubleshooting for critical issues in legacy applications, leading root cause analysis and implementing permanent fixes., Strategic Planning: Participated in strategic planning sessions to align IT initiatives with business objectives, contributing to the long-term technology roadmap., Risk Management: Identified technical risks and developed mitigation strategies, implementing robust disaster recovery and business continuity plans for legacy systems. 48 Months, Nielsen Audio Panel, Technical Architect for 30-member Member Team, Project Overview: Spearheaded the technical architecture for a suite of legacy Java/J2EE applications with extensive use of Oracle databases. The project included managing multiple scheduled batch jobs and the introduction of AWS services to support a new line of business., Roles and Responsibilities:, Architectural Leadership: Directed the design and implementation of the system architecture for legacy Java/J2EE applications, ensuring the architecture met business requirements and performance goals., Database Optimization: Optimized Oracle database performance, overseeing schema design, indexing, and query optimization to enhance application efficiency and responsiveness., Batch Job Management: Managed the scheduling, execution, and monitoring of multiple batch jobs, ensuring timely and reliable data processing., Cloud Integration: Led the integration of AWS services into the existing infrastructure to support the new line of business, leveraging cloud technologies for enhanced scalability and flexibility., Team Coordination: Coordinated with cross-functional teams, providing technical leadership and mentoring to ensure successful project delivery., Performance Tuning: Conducted in-depth performance analysis and tuning for both the applications and the Oracle database, identifying and resolving bottlenecks., Security Enhancements: Implemented robust security measures, including data encryption, access controls, and compliance with industry standards to protect sensitive information., Stakeholder Collaboration: Worked closely with stakeholders to gather requirements, translate them into technical solutions, and ensure alignment with business objectives., Documentation: Developed and maintained detailed technical documentation, including system architecture diagrams, technical specifications, and operational procedures., Innovation and Improvement: Identified opportunities for technological innovation and continuous improvement, staying abreast of emerging trends and best practices in Java/J2EE and AWS technologies., Incident Response: Led the incident response for critical issues, performing root cause analysis and implementing permanent solutions to prevent recurrence., Strategic Planning: Contributed to strategic planning sessions, aligning IT strategies with business goals and ensuring the technical roadmap supported future growth and scalability., Risk Mitigation: Assessed and mitigated technical risks, implementing strategies to ensure system reliability and business continuity.