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Luqman (Luke) Samad

Durham, NC | (703) 981-7077 | luke.a.samad@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/lukesamad | US Citizen

Education

Bachelor of Business in Computer Information Systems (2004) Texas State University - San Marcos, TX

Highlights

  • Architectural Leadership: Drives enterprise-scale digital transformations, migrating complex legacy monoliths to scalable, cloud-native microservice and Micro Frontend (MFE) architectures.
  • Full-Stack Engineering: Extensively experienced in end-to-end development, seamlessly integrating high-performance backend ecosystems (Java, Spring Boot, Node.js) with modern reactive frontends (React, Angular).
  • Cloud & DevOps Orchestration: Specializes in CI/CD pipeline automation, zero-downtime deployments, and managing resilient, containerized infrastructure across AWS and Azure (Kubernetes/EKS/AKS).
  • Strategic Alignment: Acts as a cross-functional liaison, translating business objectives into secure, data-driven, and highly optimized technical solutions while maintaining rigorous quality standard governance.

Technical Skills

  • Cloud & DevOps: AWS, Azure, Kubernetes (EKS/AKS), Docker, Terraform, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Ansible, Puppet
  • Languages: Java (8/17/21), Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, Python, Groovy, SQL
  • Frameworks & Core Tech: Spring Boot, Spring MVC, React, Angular, J2EE, Hibernate, JPA, Struts
  • Databases & Messaging: PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, Redis, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Elasticsearch, Solr
  • Architecture & Security: Microservices, Micro Frontends (MFE), OAuth2, Keycloak, JWT, Veracode, Prisma
  • Tools & Observability: Git, GitHub Enterprise, Maven, Gradle, Splunk, Datadog, Atlassian Suite

Projects and Professional Experience

MetLife - Lead Full Stack Software Engineer / Application Development Project Manager (Nov 2024 – Present)

Modernization Architect & Strategic Leadership

  • Architecting Transformation: Orchestrating the digital migration of a high-traffic Employer Portal from legacy J2EE and NANO/Remix architectures to a unified stack of Spring Boot 3 and React Micro Front Ends (MFE).
  • System Decoupling (Code Separation): Leading a mission-critical initiative to split monolithic services (Employee, Employer, Disability) into independent clusters, enabling autonomous team deployments and removing release bottlenecks.
  • Strategic Roadmapping: Driving quarterly planning cycles and defining technical features for 5+ cross-functional teams while serving as the primary technical liaison to Product stakeholders.
  • Cross-Team Alignment: Facilitating weekly technical touchpoints and collaborating with upstream/downstream partners to ensure migration stability and cross-system compatibility.
  • Hands-on Technical Excellence: Maintaining high standards through rigorous Code Reviews, developing Architectural POCs, and contributing directly to the codebase for strategic initiatives.
  • Standards Governance: Implementing corporate standards via Sonar quality gates and expanding Automation Testing coverage to enhance system reliability.
  • Enterprise Migrations: Leading large-scale infrastructure shifts, including moving observability from AppDynamics to Elastic, transitioning to GitHub Enterprise, and upgrading core API Gateways.
  • Security & Compliance Hardening: Orchestrating remediation for vulnerabilities identified via Veracode, Prisma, and Penetration Testing; managing secret storage and corporate identity standards.
  • CI/CD Optimization: Managing the “Bullet Train” deployment pipeline and overseeing Azure DevOps/Kubernetes environments (Helm charts, secrets) to streamline release frequency.
  • AI-Driven QA Agents: Developing automated testing agents using Node.js, Python, GitHub Copilot, and metID (internal AI model) to autonomously scan UI components and enforce strict ADA compliance standards.
  • AI-Accelerated Build Modernization: Leveraging metID and custom Node.js/Python scripts to automate the complex architectural migration of legacy React build pipelines from Gulp to Webpack, significantly optimizing asset bundling.
  • Intelligent Service Virtualization: Engineering dynamic API service mocking strategies powered by metID to autonomously generate mock data, decoupling frontend and backend dependencies and unblocking parallel development.

Technologies: Java 17/21, Spring Boot, Node.js, Python, React, Webpack, Azure, AKS, Kubernetes, GitHub, Azdo, GitHub Copilot, metID, Splunk, Redis, AEM.

Fidelity Investments – Principal Software Engineer (March 2022 – Oct 2024)

  • Architecting Non-Qual Transformations: Orchestrating high-quality technical solutions for critical Enrollment, Distributions, and Tax Elections applications using Java 17/21 and Spring Boot within the Non-Qualified (Non-Qual) retirement space.
  • Full-Stack Lifecycle Management: Leading the evolution of a diverse ecosystem, transitioning from legacy Spring MVC to modern Spring Boot microservices and Node.js backends, ensuring seamless service continuity.
  • Service Orchestration & Integration: Implementing robust messaging and routing logic using Apache Camel, streamlining complex service-to-service communication and financial business process automation.
  • Cloud Infrastructure & CI/CD: Overseeing containerized deployments via AWS EKS (Kubernetes) and managing automated build/release pipelines through Jenkins and GitHub to accelerate delivery cycles.
  • Observability & Performance Optimization: Leveraging Splunk for deep-system monitoring and Redis for distributed caching to drive strategic performance tuning and measurably improve system reliability.
  • Security & Integrity Hardening: Collaborating with enterprise security teams to implement critical enhancements and remediate vulnerabilities, maintaining the highest standards of application integrity and compliance.
  • Engineering Mentorship: Scaling technical excellence by mentoring junior and mid-level developers, enforcing rigorous standards for Code Reviews, Test-Driven Development (TDD), and secure coding practices.
  • Frontend Modernization: Managing and scaling enterprise-grade frontend architectures utilizing Angular and AEM (Adobe Experience Manager) to deliver responsive and intuitive financial interfaces.

Technologies: Java 17/21, Spring Boot, Node.js, Angular, Apache Camel, AWS EKS, Kubernetes, GitHub, Jenkins, Splunk, Redis, AEM.

ERP International LLC. – Senior Application Architect (December 2020 – March 2022)

  • Architecting Digital Transformation: Orchestrating a strategic, cross-team initiative to modernize legacy systems into a scalable, cloud-agnostic microservice architecture.
  • Frontend Modernization: Leading the successful migration from AngularJS to React, re-engineering the frontend architecture for maintainability and introducing modern, reusable component patterns.
  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Implementing automated infrastructure provisioning and environment management using Terraform to ensure consistency across deployment environments.
  • Cloud Orchestration: Architecting and managing containerized environments within Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), ensuring high availability and seamless scalability for mission-critical services.
  • Security & Identity Hardening: Integrating and customizing enterprise security solutions, including Keycloak and Kong API Gateway, while engineering custom authentication and session management flows.
  • Microservice Engineering: Developing and delivering high-performance Spring Boot/REST microservices, optimizing data flows and system reliability to support enterprise scale.
  • Database Optimization: Improving system performance and data integrity by optimizing PostgreSQL procedures, triggers, and advanced indexing strategies.

Technologies: Java 8, Spring Boot, Azure, Redhat, Kubernetes, Git, Postgres, Maven, Gradle, Jenkins, React, AngularJS, Kafka, Puppet, Logstash, ElasticSearch, Kaban

Bank of America Merchant Services(Independent) – Senior Java Full-Stack Engineer (August 2019 – December 2020)

  • E-Commerce Engine Architecture: Architecting and delivering high-performance Spring Boot microservices to power the digital storefront and “shopping cart” checkout experience for Clover payment systems.
  • Payment & Processing Orchestration: Designing scalable, mission-critical RESTful services for payment and card-processing solutions, containerized and deployed via Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
  • Identity & Access Governance: Engineering a robust OAuth2 authentication and authorization framework, integrating Spring Security, Azure AD, and JWT with serverless Azure Functions for secure identity management.
  • Full-Stack Lifecycle Development: Developing a comprehensive admin suite using Angular and Spring Boot to streamline post-application management, merchant onboarding, and order fulfillment.
  • Automated Quality Engineering: Building and maintaining sophisticated integration testing suites using Python 3 clients to validate end-to-end transaction flows and system reliability.
  • System Decoupling & Modernization: Driving the shift toward a decoupled architecture, ensuring high availability and low latency for high-traffic merchant acquisition portals.

Federal Reserve Bank (Independent) – Java Developer/DevOps (March 2019 – June 2019)

  • Mission-Critical Repository Migration: Orchestrating a high-stakes, short-term migration of the national service team’s artifact repository from Nexus to JFrog Artifactory, ensuring 100% data integrity and zero disruption to active development cycles.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Engineering: Architecting and implementing sophisticated automated build and deployment pipelines using Jenkins, Groovy, and Shell scripts to streamline delivery for high-security federal applications.
  • Identity & Access Automation: Engineering a custom LDAP automation tool in Java to modernize user onboarding, system monitoring, and cross-platform integrity checks.
  • DevOps Infrastructure Governance: Managing and hardening core infrastructure components, including GitHub, Fortify, and Nexus, while providing expert-level troubleshooting for a national-scale service team.

Technologies: Java, Groovy, Jenkins, JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus, GitHub, Fortify, LDAP, Shell Scripting, Linux.

Audible (Amazon/Independent) – Senior Java Engineer (Sept 2018 – March 2019)

  • Database Transformation (Amazon Rolling Stone): Leading a critical architectural shift for the “Amazon Rolling Stone” initiative, migrating a legacy monolithic Oracle database to a high-performance, distributed PostgreSQL ecosystem.
  • Zero-Downtime Data Orchestration: Engineering sophisticated Batch Jobs and synchronization services to maintain data parity across disparate database environments, enabling a seamless traffic “cut-over” with zero system downtime.
  • Data Integrity Engineering: Developing real-time migration tools and automated Data-Comparison Scripts to validate 100% record integrity during the transition from proprietary to open-source storage.
  • Microservices Modernization: Designing and deploying new Java-based microservices to support the decentralized data architecture, ensuring high availability and scalability for Audible’s content delivery.
  • Resiliency Testing: Authoring comprehensive integration and regression test suites to harden the new architecture and verify system stability under high-traffic migration scenarios.

Monster.com – Application Architect / Senior Developer (March 2012 – September 2018)

  • Full-Stack SaaS Development: Leading the end-to-end development of a global HR SaaS platform compliant with US Federal regulations; utilized Java, Spring, and JDBC/JPA/MyBatis to build resilient enterprise solutions across multiple product rewrites.
  • Legacy Modernization (Struts to Angular): Directing the migration of legacy Struts 1/2 applications into a modern RESTful API and Angular (2+) ecosystem; authored reference implementations for high-traffic recruitment modules.
  • Cloud Migration & AWS Engineering: Architecting and deploying AWS infrastructure for 45+ US Federal Agencies; leveraged Beanstalk, Docker, and F5 for load balancing and high availability.
  • DevOps & Infrastructure Automation: Engineering custom internal tools including a Java-based AWS Management Dashboard and automating server provisioning, certificate management, and Solr Search deployments using Ansible, Groovy, and Jenkins.
  • Security & Compliance Hardening: Implementing FedRAMP, CIS, and OWASP standards; enhanced system security through SAML integrations, auditing, encryption, and custom authentication flows for vendor integrations.
  • Integration & Middleware Orchestration: Leading the migration of the SOA Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) from Oracle OWSM to WSO2; developed complex Groovy ETL jobs for client data synchronization using SOAP and JAX-WS/RS.
  • Database & Performance Engineering: Optimizing high-volume Oracle stored procedures and analytics queries; significantly improved data-tier reliability and reduced operational overhead for large-scale database installations.
  • Agile Collaboration & Workflow: Facilitating global team alignment via the Atlassian Suite (Jira/Confluence) and integrating Slack notifications into automated deployment and release pipelines.

Technologies: AWS, Solr, Tomcat, WSO2, F5, Angular 2+, RHL7, iOS, Struts 1/2, Spring Boot, JDBC, JPA, MyBatis, Oracle, Jenkins, Maven, CXF, Perforce, Java, Groovy, Freemarker, jQuery, Bootstrap, CSS, HTML, REST, SOAP, JAX-WS, JAX-RS, Terracotta.

Red Hat – Solutions Consultant (July 2009 – March 2012)

  • Enterprise Middleware Strategy: Delivering expert architectural consulting for high-profile federal and commercial clients, specializing in JBoss EAP and SOA-P migrations, modernization, and performance tuning.
  • Application Stack Prototyping (USPTO): Architecting the next-generation stack for the Revenue Accounting and Management System (RAM) using Spring, CXF, and GWT; served as lead developer and integration specialist.
  • Infrastructure Migration & Optimization (CDC): Orchestrating large-scale WebLogic-to-JBoss migrations and cluster optimizations; resolving complex application bottlenecks and providing technical mentorship to administrative teams.
  • Next-Gen System Architecture (US Courts): Serving as principal architect and developer for mission-critical applications leveraging JBoss Seam, JSF/RichFaces, JMS, and JPA on DB2 environments.
  • Legacy Modernization (GEICO): Leading the transformation of legacy Swing applications into modern web platforms; integrating Spring, RichFaces, and JPA while establishing best practices for the development team.

Technologies: JBoss EAP/SOA-P, RHEL, Spring, GWT, JPA, RestEasy, Maven, Apache Velocity, CXF, SQL Server, IIS, JMeter, RichFaces, Seam, Drools, EJB3, SOAP, JAX-WS/RS/RPC, Ant, SVN, Oracle, DB2, JSF, Hibernate, Axis, Selenium, Hudson.

Lockheed Martin – Solutions Architect (January 2008 – July 2009)

  • Architectural Oversight: Providing technical leadership for the analysis, maintenance, and refactoring of legacy applications and complex Oracle stored procedures.
  • Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA): Designing and guiding the implementation of robust web services leveraging Axis 1.3, JPA, and Hibernate to enhance system interoperability.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Engineering: Optimizing build and deployment workflows by authoring Ant and Maven scripts; establishing Hudson for automated continuous integration across Java and ColdFusion environments.
  • Quality Governance: Defining comprehensive testing strategies and ensuring code integrity through the development of unit and integration test suites using JUnit, HTTPUnit, and Selenium.
  • Web Framework Design: Architecting enterprise web applications utilizing JSF and Struts frameworks, ensuring scalable and maintainable front-end structures.

Technologies: Windows XP, RHEL, Tomcat, OC4J, Oracle 10g, JDeveloper, Hibernate, JPA, JSF, Struts, JUnit, Ant, Maven 2, Java 4/5/6, Eclipse, CVS/SVN, Hudson, TOAD, Cognos, ColdFusion, .NET.

Actuate – Staff Consultant (April 2007 – January 2008)

  • Security & Identity Integration: Designing and implementing complex security extensions for GEICO, integrating PeopleSoft and SharePoint for Single-Sign-On (SSO) and Page-Level Security.
  • Enterprise Reporting Infrastructure: Re-engineering the Marriott Hotels Report Server security extension and performing requirements analysis for the US Foods enterprise Actuate upgrade.
  • Application Management: Maintaining the iPortal J2EE application and managing global source control while developing sophisticated HR performance reports.

Technologies: Windows XP/2000, SVN, Actuate e.Report/e.Spreadsheet Designer, Actuate iServer/iPortal, PeopleSoft, Oracle 9i/10g, Informix.

BearingPoint – Senior Systems Analyst (April 2006 – April 2007)

  • J2EE Module Leadership: Acting as a key developer for the PCARSS (Plant Clearance Automation and Reutilization Screening System), leading the development of two major modules for government property redistribution.
  • Data Modeling & UI Engineering: Utilizing Hibernate for advanced data modeling and JSF for building intuitive user interfaces, enabling real-time tracking of high-value government assets.
  • Full SDLC Contribution: Driving development from requirements through deployment in a Tomcat and Oracle Application Server environment, resulting in significant projected cost savings.

Technologies: Windows XP, Tomcat, Oracle Application Server, Oracle 10g, Hibernate, JSF, JUnit 4.0, Ant, Java 4/5, Eclipse, SVN, Cruise Control.

Iogen Technologies – Java Programmer (January 2006 – April 2006)

  • Module Enhancement (NIH): Scaling the User Administration module of a Grants Management application for the National Institute of Health using Struts, EJB, and JDBC.
  • Persistence & Data Access: Optimizing database interactions within an Oracle 9i environment to improve system performance and user management workflows.

Technologies: Windows XP, OC4J, Oracle 9i, Struts, JDBC, EJB, JavaScript, Log4j, Eclipse, Clearcase.