Staff Software Engineer · 20 Years Experience

Jelani Asim Etienne

Professional Summary

Senior/Staff-Level Software Engineer with 20 years of experience architecting and scaling high-performance, consumer-facing web platforms serving millions of daily users. Specializes in modern frontend architecture (React/JavaScript), leading the design of scalable, component-driven systems and modernizing legacy platforms.

Expert in React and modern JavaScript (ES6+), with backend systems engineering in Java (17–20), building resilient APIs and cloud-native services on GCP that power high-traffic applications.

Proven track record of owning end-to-end frontend architecture — from design systems and state management to performance optimization and API integration.

Led platforms like VALET (reduced errors/tickets by 60–70%) and Canary (enabled data-driven frontend optimization and user insights).

Strong focus on pragmatic execution, observability, and building scalable systems that balance speed, reliability, and long-term maintainability.

Career

Professional Experience

Home Depot

SR Software Engineer

02/2011 — 01/2026
Atlanta, GA

Architected and delivered full-stack, high-traffic web applications for HomeDepot.com, serving millions of daily users using React, modern JavaScript (ES6+), and Node.js.
Designed and developed backend services in Java (17/18/19/20), building scalable RESTful APIs that powered React frontends with clean API contracts, optimized payload delivery, and resilient service orchestration.
Engineered and maintained backend-to-frontend integrations ensuring structured, performant data flow across distributed systems.
Designed and implemented VALET (Volume, Availability, Latency, Errors, Tickets) — an SLO-driven observability dashboard built on GCP, integrating production telemetry, logging pipelines, and BigQuery analytics.
- Reduced production errors and support tickets by 60–70%
- Improved SLA adherence and significantly reduced MTTR
Created Canary, a backend-powered analytics platform leveraging BigQuery to capture component usage, user interaction flows, and engagement metrics across HomeDepot.com.
- Enabled data-driven frontend optimization and experimentation
- Improved rollout confidence and visibility into feature performance
Designed and deployed cloud-native services on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), integrating logging, monitoring, and scalable analytics pipelines.
Leveraged BigQuery for operational intelligence, performance modeling, and consumer behavior analysis to inform engineering decisions.
Reduced production defects by ~60% through API contract enforcement, defensive error handling, expanded automated testing (JUnit), and improved CI/CD validation.
Optimized frontend performance, improving page load times by 30–40% through rendering optimization, bundle tuning, and delivery strategy enhancements.
Enhanced CI/CD pipelines (Git/GitHub-based workflows) to improve release stability, deployment safety, and rollback efficiency.
Mentored engineers on scalable system design, API architecture, observability engineering, and cloud-native best practices.

ReactJavaScript (ES6+)Node.js Java (17–20)REST APIsGCP BigQueryCI/CDGit/GitHub Observability EngineeringSLO Governance Cloud-Native Architecture AI-Assisted Dev (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot)

Poopa's Farm Products and Services Ltd.

Shareholder & IT Advisor

09/2017 — Present
Roseau, Saint George Parish, Dominica

Act as shareholder and strategic technology advisor, helping guide long-term digital and operational strategy for a Caribbean agribusiness
Advise leadership on technology architecture, digital systems, and process improvements to optimize production, inventory, and operational workflows
Evaluate and recommend technology solutions, vendors, and system modernization initiatives aligned with business growth objectives
Provide technical and strategic insight to leadership, supporting scalable operations, risk-aware decision making, and long-term operational efficiency

IT GovernanceTechnology RoadmappingIT AdvisoryDigital TransformationIT Strategy

PrimeTime IT Solutions

Lead Web Developer

03/2005 — 03/2013
Atlanta, GA

Lead end-to-end delivery of client web projects, from requirements gathering and architecture through development, launch, and ongoing support
Own technical direction, UI/UX design, and database architecture across multiple concurrent projects with varied technology stacks
Design and build database-driven websites and e-commerce platforms supporting diverse client business operations
Manage project intake, prioritization, and execution to ensure on-time delivery and consistent quality standards

HTML5/CSS3ASP.NETPHP Database DesignUI/UX

UCB Pharma

Web Developer

10/2007 — 08/2009
Atlanta, GA

Designed, implemented, documented, and supported web-based data-driven applications across the full SDLC
Developed frontend and server-side components using ASP, HTML, CSS, and RedDot CMS
Optimized intranet, internet, and database systems for performance and reliability while providing end-user support

ASPRedDot CMSOracleWebTrends

UPS

Web Specialist

06/2006 — 10/2007
Alpharetta, GA

Supported enterprise intranet and internet platforms for UPS Professional Services and Strategic Accounts divisions
Designed and developed scalable, secure web applications using ASP, ASP.NET, HTML, CSS, and PHP
Collaborated with business analysts and architects to translate functional requirements into technical solutions

ASP.NETPHPOraclePhotoshop

Capabilities

Core Competencies

⚡

Frontend Architecture & Performance Engineering

React.js, Angular, modern JavaScript (ES6+), HTML5, CSS3, component-driven architecture, rendering optimization, SEO strategy, performance tuning (Core Web Vitals), scalable design systems

🔧

Backend & API Engineering

Java (17–20), Node.js, RESTful services, GraphQL, API contract design, service orchestration, payload optimization, backend-to-frontend data delivery, distributed systems fundamentals

☁️

Cloud-Native & Data Platforms

Google Cloud Platform (GCP), cloud architecture design, BigQuery analytics, logging/monitoring pipelines, scalable service deployment, data-driven performance modeling

📊

Observability & Reliability Engineering

SLO/SLI definition, error budget governance, production telemetry analysis, MTTR reduction, incident trend modeling, reliability dashboards (VALET), consumer interaction analytics (Canary)

🧱

Full-Stack Systems Development

End-to-end application delivery, frontend/backend integration, SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle), system scalability, concurrency considerations, performance-aware architecture

📦

Content & Platform Engineering

Headless CMS (Contentful), CMS integrations, structured content modeling, WordPress, RedDot CMS

🤖

AI-Assisted Development & Engineering Productivity

ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot, prompt engineering, AI-assisted code generation, refactoring and debugging, test generation, documentation automation, developer workflow acceleration, LLM integration strategies

👥

Engineering Leadership & Delivery

System design, architectural decision-making, technical mentorship, code quality standards, CI/CD automation, cross-functional collaboration, Agile/SDLC execution

🧪

Quality, Testing & Optimization

JUnit, automated testing strategy, cross-browser validation, debugging, performance monitoring, A/B testing frameworks, defect reduction strategy

Jelani Asim Etienne

Professional Experience

Core Competencies

Education

Interests