Joseph Guadagno

Vice President of Technology, Head of Engineering, Microsoft MVP, Driving Engineering Excellence through AI-Assisted Workflows & GitHub Copilot, Scaling High-Performance, Remote-First Teams

Joseph Guadagno

602-293-6767

jguadagno@hotmail.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephguadagno

https://www.github.com/jguadagno

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Summary

Strategic Director of Software Engineering and Applications with over 25 years of IT experience, including 10+ years in senior engineering leadership roles. Proven ability to set software engineering vision, develop end-to-end delivery strategies, and drive business outcomes through innovative technology solutions and product roadmap alignment. Expertise in modern engineering practices (Agile, Scrum, DevOps, CI/CD, cloud-native architectures), platform engineering, and managing complex IT infrastructure. Demonstrated success in building and leading high-performing engineering teams, fostering technical excellence, innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Adept at partnering with Product and QA stakeholders to translate requirements into high-quality, customer-focused deliverables while managing large budgets and driving technology transformation initiatives including AI-assisted development.

Experience

Senior Vice President of IT (Technology) Sep 2023 - Dec 2025

*Real Time Technologies Remote*
  • Successfully led a diverse team of technology professionals, fostering a collaborative and innovative environment to drive the company’s technology strategy and operational efficiency forward.
  • Managed cross-functional teams including software developers, QA engineers, and SREs, effectively overseeing offshore vendors and logistics to ensure seamless communication across time zones.
  • Enhanced professional growth through coaching and performance management, consistently setting and achieving performance goals and conducting reviews to improve team productivity and morale.
  • Implemented clearly defined roles and responsibilities, establishing a structured approach to sprint planning and project prioritization to ensure focus on initiatives aligned with the product roadmap.
  • Oversaw the procurement, distribution, and compliance of software licenses to ensure optimal usage and cost-efficiency across the organization.
  • Developed and executed a comprehensive technology roadmap, aligning with strategic business objectives for software engineering to ensure scalability and reliability.
  • Successfully managed relationships with existing vendors and onboarded new partners, negotiating contracts to balance cost efficiency with service quality and technical maturity.
  • Participated in due diligence efforts for mergers and acquisitions, evaluating infrastructure scalability and software architecture to mitigate risk and identify opportunities for innovation.
  • Initiated and established a help desk team responsible for the support of all applications and user hardware, including ownership of team member onboarding and offboarding.
  • Established a Cyber Security team to ensure the security of data and applications, overseeing vulnerability management and incident management strategies to enhance system stability.
  • Migrated multiple on-premises data centers to Azure, transitioning from a hybrid approach to a full cloud strategy with disaster recovery and automated deployment processes.
  • Improved the company’s infrastructure by implementing a consistent and repeatable process for patching and deploying servers and internal infrastructure.
  • Established a process for rolling out new hardware and software for team members.

Senior Director in Engineering Jan 2019 - Aug 2023

*Rocket Mortgage Detroit, MI*
  • Grew owned products and teams from two teams to five teams (55 members) and over 15 products, a 400% increase, through effective leadership and process enablement.
  • Established common processes, including standardized onboarding and CI/CD deployment procedures, increasing deployment frequency by over 500% while enhancing application stability.
  • Enabled team member growth through quarterly training goals and experimentation with new methodologies such as AI/Machine Learning and team reorganizations based on project skill sets.
  • Operated as a fully remote, location-aware team prior to COVID-19, maintaining engagement and accountability across distributed team members in multiple time zones.
  • Mentored other Directors and leaders to improve their coaching skills and advance in leadership.
  • Served as an international public speaker on multiple technology topics and an active blogger, contributing to community outreach and brand awareness.

Team Leader Jan 2014 - Jan 2019

*Rocket Mortgage Detroit, MI*
  • Led a team of Business Analysts, Quality Assurance Engineers, Software Engineers, and a Software Architect to deliver multiple high-quality technical projects.
  • Spearheaded the development of a service enabling clients to automatically gather Asset and Income data, earning U.S. Patent #10,042,949 for innovation in software development.
  • Managed the redesign of a Sales Force automation system, overseeing discovery, project estimation, application architecture, and progress presentations to leadership.
  • Participated in virtual teams, including the Open-Source Big Rock team, to foster an open-source mindset and encourage contributions to GitHub projects.
  • Mentored new and seasoned leaders through regular one-on-one discussions about performance management and technical challenges.
  • Contributed to the Technology Public Relations team and the .NET Interviewers team to identify and close skills gaps.
  • Helped organize the Quicken Loans Technology conference for approximately 1200 team members, featuring 3 tracks and 15 sessions.
  • Participated in a team investigating future technology needs to improve systems and processes for clients and team members.

Software Architect Aug 2013 - Jan 2014

*Rocket Mortgage Detroit, MI*
  • Contributed to a net-new project, assisting with its design and development, and subsequently transitioned into the technical lead role.
  • Mentored team members, assigned development tasks, attended sprint planning meetings, and performed code reviews to ensure high coding standards.
  • Ensured a successful pilot launch and subsequent rollouts of the project, providing training and development support to the transitioning team.
  • Delivered several training events and presentations on topics including “Debugging Applications”, Twitter Bootstrap, and ReSharper.

Senior Software Engineer Jan 2013 - Aug 2013

*IO Phoenix, AZ*
  • Conducted research, design, and discovery for new features or products, and investigated existing problems to find solutions.
  • Presented at several “Lunch and Learns” to educate fellow software developers on modern technologies and frameworks.
  • Helped set development standards and best practices, improving current software development standards documentation and selecting appropriate automation tools.

Technology Advisor Dec 2006 - Jan 2013

*Wells Fargo Chandler, AZ*
  • Created and implemented development coding standards and best practices for the Technology Operations group of approximately 400 developers.
  • Served as the internal developer evangelist for Microsoft development technologies, providing internal training classes on architecture and .NET development.
  • Acted as a technical lead to join troubled projects, fixing issues and assisting with complex implementation or integration challenges.
  • Implemented an internal NuGet server for common and internal libraries to improve release management.

Technology Lead Present

*Wells Fargo Chandler, AZ*

Technologies Used: C#, SQL Server 2008, Windows Services, Entity Framework, Team Foundation Server (TFS), Visual Studio, jQuery, jQueryUi, Telerik Controls, NHibernate, ELMAH, WCF, Log4Net, Custom Threading Library, Custom TCP/IP messaging, CodeSmith, NUnit, SQLite, Oracle, Custom CodeSmith Schema Provider, Rational ClearQuest, Rational ClearCase, Nuget, Red Gate SQL Toolbelt.

  • Served as the lead developer for several internal applications and third-party implementation projects using .NET and SQL Server.
  • Sat on the Source Code Control Advisory committee, tasked with setting standards for Source Code Control across the entire bank.
  • Assisted in the implementation of the Enterprise Microsoft Team Foundation Server for improved CI/CD workflows.
  • Implemented a metric reporting system that consumed data from multiple locations and displayed results using a pluggable framework.
  • Started an internal .NET user group to provide education on modern technologies and build an internal community.
  • Improved the performance and reliability of the “CORE” application, reducing error messages from 300 per day to one or two per week.
  • Created a custom ADO.NET provider and SQL client application for querying data stores using SQL syntax.
  • Developed a web service for queries to the ClearQuest data store using web services protocols or JavaScript objects.
  • Generated and executed unit tests using NUnit and added logging with log4net for multiple applications to ensure software quality.
  • Created a custom task scheduler application that allowed users to create tasks using any .NET language.
  • Developed custom CodeSmith templates to generate NUnit tests for existing .NET assemblies, driving automation in the QA process.

Lead Software Developer Jan 2006 - Jun 2006

*Intel Corporation Chandler, AZ*

Technologies Used: ASP.NET, C#, IIS6, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft Excel, Ajax Professional.NET, Infragistics NetVantage, ComponentArt WebUI.

  • Improved the performance and reliability of an internal billing website supporting 600 users globally, enhancing search speeds and page load times.
  • Enhanced the user interface using Ajax technology for dynamic page loading and improved security and database interfaces.
  • Reviewed third-party developed code to ensure adherence to general programming requirements and coding standards.
  • Created a dynamic reporting application utilizing reflection and developed a Microsoft Excel add-in to programmatically merge cells.

Software Programmer Analyst Jul 2005 - Jan 2006

*Express Scripts Tempe, AZ*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Basic.NET, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Oracle 9.0i, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, Crystal Reports.

  • Established a process for application development, including creating a source code control repository and procedures for requirements gathering and testing.
  • Refactored several applications to utilize stored procedures and leverage framework features for better scalability.
  • Managed one major release of the letter generating application for approximately 150 users.
  • Implemented a fax notification application to inform users of successful transmissions.
  • Initiated a data warehouse project to store approximately 100 gigabytes of Pharmacy data.
  • Implemented several data extracts using SQL Server Reporting Services and Microsoft Excel.

Development Manager and Manager of Imaging Practice Dec 1998 - Jul 2005

*Guardian Life Insurance New York, NY*
  • Managed a team of four, handling personnel issues, work assignment, task completion, and performance reviews.
  • Created status reports, attended status meetings, and gathered requirements for new systems.
  • Optimized current applications by re-architecting them with newer technologies to improve operational efficiency.
  • Performed day-to-day programming tasks including designing Kofax Batch Classes and modifying website components.
  • Created a conversion application to migrate documents to a FileNet repository.
  • Developed a secure remote scanning facility enabling agencies to scan and transmit documents securely.
  • Optimized the existing Optika workflow application and developed a disaster recovery solution for imaging systems.
  • Contributed to a team responsible for creating a workflow RFI and gathering business requirements.
  • Created Forms Design Guidelines for Visual Basic development and served on the Enterprise Architecture team.

Project Manager Dec 1998 - Jul 2005

*Guardian Life Insurance New York, NY*

Technologies Used: Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft ASP, Microsoft VBA, FileNet SDK, Desaware NT Service Toolkit, OCR for AnyDoc, DCOM, Accusoft ImageGear, XML.Visual Basic 5.0 – 6.0, Microsoft InterDev, FileNet IDMIS, Datacap 2000, Microsoft Ado, Oracle 8.0.5, Windows Scripting Host, IIS 4.0, Active Server Pages, HTML, Dynamic HTML, ASP, Accusoft ImageGear, Digital Certificates, COM, DCOM, XML, and NT services.

  • Managed a project designed to accelerate underwriting of insurance applications by enabling agencies to scan applications for storage in FileNet.
  • Led the project team of 4 developers, 1 DBA, and 1 system administrator from end-to-end.
  • Transitioned from lead developer to project manager, building the Billing Information Storage and Retrieval System (BISAR).
  • Responsibilities included installing and configuring a FileNet Image Services server and implementing a Datacap capture system.
  • Built scripts for retrieving data files from the corporate mainframe and uploading them to the Oracle validation database.
  • Trained all users on the administration and use of the BISAR system.
  • Evaluated other capture and imaging products for production use.
  • Designed and developed a connection pooler to FileNet, saving the company over $400k in licensing fees.
  • Created an imaging framework on top of the FileNet API for easier, object-oriented access.
  • Developed FileNet Visual Basic COM wrappers that return results as XML documents.

Technical Consultant Dec 1998 - Jul 2005

*Guardian Life Insurance New York, NY*

Technologies Used: Microsoft InterDev, ASP, Microsoft Ado, UDB, IIS 4.0, Active Server Pages, and HTML.

  • Served as an imaging consultant for a major merger, providing recommendations for imaging and workflow application design.
  • Headed the development team for an imaging workflow project, designing the backend workflow database and form data storage.
  • Designed and developed over 10 components for interacting with FileNet and SQL Server.
  • Built a custom SGML parser to read export files.
  • Worked on the Online Electronic Forms Repository project, creating a prototype Internet site for searching forms databases.
  • Participated in vendor meetings to determine suitable applications for the project.
  • Designed the backend database for the forms repository and created the conversion program to DB2.

Director of Technology Apr 1998 - Oct 1998

*DeBari Associates New York, NY*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 3-6, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Word, Microsoft FrontPage, Microsoft ADO, Microsoft RDO, Microsoft DAO, ODBC, Microsoft SQL Server, Kofax Imaging, Caere OCR, Seagate Crystal Reports, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Team Manager.

  • Managed a technical staff of six programmers and 2 network administrators, overseeing all in-house development for custom document imaging projects.
  • Developed custom export applications for clients to use with their document systems.
  • Conducted interviews for prospective candidates and managed performance expectations and terminations.
  • Maintained the computer network consisting of over 300 computers across multiple locations.
  • Maintained client contact to ensure the accuracy of provided data.

Vice President Dec 1997 - Mar 1998

*Bear Stearns New York, NY*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 5.0, ADO, AS/400

  • Managed the development of 15 projects, including managing developers and holding monthly code reviews to ensure quality.
  • Created several graphical custom controls and a project documenting utility add-in.

Project Leader Jul 1997 - Dec 1997

*Lehrer McGovern Bovis New York, NY*
  • Served as the primary developer and contact for building a customizable project tracking system for the American Museum of Natural History.

Senior Programmer Jun 1996 - Dec 1997

*Lehrer McGovern Bovis New York, NY*
  • Served as the primary developer for a nationwide project management system for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
  • Managed development and evolution of the product through constant contact with the GSA via meetings and calls.
  • Created new database tables, assigned team resources, and provided clients with updated application versions.
  • Assigned and reviewed the work of other developers and interacted with the team.
  • Developed and implemented financial and contract modules to track project spending and estimated costs.
  • Project Life Cycle: Full life cycle, and deployment to 12 regional offices.

Project Manager Sep 1996 - Dec 1997

*Lehrer McGovern Bovis New York, NY*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 5.0, ADO, VBSQL, SQL Server, Wise Installation, Microsoft Project, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Crystal Reports. Visual Basic 4.0, DAO, Microsoft Access, and Crystal Reports.

  • Met with Princeton University staff to determine needs for a project management system and led the project development team to build the system.
  • Project Life Cycle: Full Life Cycle.

Programmer Analyst Jun 1995 - Jun 1996

*Norwood Computer Services Hicksville, NY*
  • Developed and implemented a payroll and invoicing system with interaction with Microsoft Word and Excel.
  • Managed transactions with accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger.
  • Project Life Cycle: Full Life Cycle.

Network Administrator Present

*Norwood Computer Services Hicksville, NY*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 3.0, Crystal Reports, Microsoft Access, Sybase, FoxPro, and MAS90. Windows NT 3.51, Novell NetWare 2.1, Ascend Communications, and ISDN.

  • Managed a 40-computer wide area network across four cities in the U.S.
  • Configured and maintained Windows NT and Novell Servers.
  • Configured workstations for seven workgroups and their software.

Programmer Feb 1991 - Feb 1993

*Patriot Computer Services Queens, NY*

Technologies Used: QuickBASIC

  • Created a real estate database system to track available and rented apartments.

Area Manager Dec 1987 - Jun 1995

*RGIS Inventory Specialist Westbury, NY*

Technologies Used: Visual Basic 3.0, Microsoft Access

  • Developed a time sheet and invoicing system used to bill over 100,000 customers annually.

Skills

Leadership: Help Desk, Project Management, Product Management, Microsoft Project, Cyber Security, Business Analysis, Quality Assurance, Performance Management, Contract Negotiation, Team Building, Vendor Management, Strategic Sourcing, Product Owner, Mergers & Acquisitions, Due Diligence, Status Reporting, Team Collaboration, Project Estimation, Discovery, Presentations, Open-Source, Mentoring, Public Speaking, Blogging, Community Engagement, Internal Developer Evangelism, Implementation Technologies, Development Standards, Troubled Project Recovery, Requirements Gathering, Client Management, Technical Staff Management, In-house Development Management, Off Premises Team Management

Industries: Mortgage Applications, Asset, Income, and Tax Data Gathering, Mobile, FinTech, Insurance, Mortgage Process, Accounting, Real Estate, Imaging

Cloud: Azure, AWS, GCP, Infrastructure Scalability, Cloud Migration, Disaster Recovery

Technology: C#, Entity Framework, ASP.NET, Windows Services, Microsoft Visual Basic, jQuery, Visual Studio, jQueryUi, Team Foundation Server (TFS), Telerik Controls, ELMAH, WCF, Log4Net, Nuget, NUnit, Rational ClearQuest, Rational ClearCase, Red Gate SQL Toolbelt, Crystal Reports, OCR for AnyDoc, Site Reliability Engineering, Cyber Security Engineering, Software Architecture, Application Architecture, SDLC Process Design, Debugging Applications, Bootstrap, Architecture Training, Git, GitHub, Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, BitBucket, Confluence, Performance Improvements, Reliability Improvements, TypeScript, OCR, Imaging, Workflows

Database: SQL Server, SQLite, Oracle, MySql, Postgres, Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, Microsoft Access

Speaking Engagements/Presentations

For a list of past and present speaking engagements please visit: https://www.josephguadagno.net/speaking-engagements.

For a list of presentations that I can/have done, please visit: https://www.josephguadagno.net/presentations

Published Articles

I actively publish content on my blog at https://josephguadagno.net and have guest posts on the Telerik blog. Here is a list of older articles I have written before my blog became active.

Title Url Published
Guadagno Task Scheduler https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18795/Guadagno-Task-Scheduler October 2008
log4net XmlConfigurator Simplified https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/19207/log4net-XmlConfigurator-Simplified June 2007
Task Plug-in: A Flexible .NET Plug-in Architecture https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18480/Task-Plug-in-A-Flexible-NET-Plug-in-Architecture April 2007
Customizing Folders in C## https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/18811/Customizing-Folders-in-C May 2007

Community Work

Organization / Work Role When
.NET Foundation Board of Directors President 2023-2024
.NET Foundation Board of Directors Vice President and Outreach Committee 2022-2023
.NET Foundation Member Committee Member 2019-2021
INETA Community Leadership Summit at Microsoft TechEd Organizer 6/2012
MVP 2 MVP Sessions at the Microsoft Global MVP Summit Organizer 2/2012
INETA Community Leadership Summit at Microsoft TechEd Organizer 5/2011
MVP 2 MVP Sessions at the Microsoft Global MVP Summit Organizer 2/2011, 2/2012, 2/2013, 3/2013, 11/2013, 11/2014
INETA North America Vice President 4/2013 - Present
INETA North America President 3/2011 – 3/2013
City of Chandler - Parks and Recreation board Board Member 3/2011 - Present
Gangplank Jr. Organizer 1/2010 - 12/2010
SEVDNUG Social Mixer Organizer 1/2010 - Present
Desert Code Camp Organizer 10/2009 - Present
INETA North America Marketing Director 11/2009 - 2/2011
TechLunchSouth Organizer 1/2009 - 3/2012
Redwood Estates Homeowners Association President 5/2007 - 5/2012

Community Websites

Used for Site
The site for Desert Code Camp, the Phoenix area code camp. https://www.desertcodecamp.com
The site for the Southeast Valley .NET User Group in Chandler, AZ * https://www.sevdnug.org
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at Microsoft Global MVP Summit. * https://www.mvpsummitevents.info
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at Microsoft TechEd. * https://www.techedevents.info
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at Connections conference. * https://www.devconnectionevents.info
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at the Professional Developers Conference (PDC). * https://www.pdcevents.info
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at the Mix conference. * https://www.visitmixevents.info
The site for tracking all the events and after parties at SQL Pass Summit. * https://www.passsummitevents.info

Note: * Indicates that the site is no longer active

Affiliations, Awards and Certifications

Company Affiliation / Award / Certification When received
Microsoft Microsoft Developer Services MVP 2009 through present
Progress Telerik Progress Telerik Ninja 2021 through present
Progress Telerik Telerik Ninja 2018 through 2021
Telerik Telerik MVP 2009 through 2013
Microsoft Microsoft Visual Basic MVP 1996

Additional Information

I have had two articles published in a magazine, one in Windows Developers Journal, and the other in Microsoft Developers Network library. I have received the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award, which is awarded to developers who aid other developers or community using Microsoft technologies. I belonged to the beta test teams for the following products. Dundas TCP/IP Software, Symantec Anti-Virus, Microsoft Windows 95,98, Millennium Edition, Microsoft Visual Basic v5.0, Microsoft Windows 2000, and Microsoft Outlook 2.x and 98. I have worked with the following operating systems, Microsoft Windows, Versions 3.0 - 98, Microsoft Windows NT, Versions 3.51 – 2000, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, MS-DOS, Versions 3.3 - 6.22, and Windows NT Server, Version 3.51 –2008.

Resume in Word