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Luqman (Luke) Samad

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

Principal Software Engineer | Lead Full Stack Architect | Staff Engineer

Technical Summary

Hands-on Principal Software Engineer and Lead Full-Stack Architect with 18+ years of experience architecting, building, and optimizing high-scale enterprise systems, cloud-native microservices, and modern web applications. Proven expert in modernizing monolithic legacy applications into decoupled, high-performance architectures utilizing Java (4/5/6/8/17/21), Spring Boot 3, Node.js, Python 3, React Micro Frontends (MFEs), Angular, and AWS/Azure Kubernetes ecosystems. Architected key enterprise Digital Platform engines including Employee Billing, Operational Reporting, Employee & Merchant Onboarding, Benefit Enrollment, and High-Traffic Customer Portals. Technical leader who provides architectural vision, guides 5 Tech Leads and cross-functional engineering teams (40+ developers), and pioneers AI-driven development workflows (metID, GitHub Copilot, autonomous testing agents) to maximize delivery speed, quality, and security.

Core Technical Expertise

  • Languages & Runtimes: Java (4/5/6/8/17/21), TypeScript, JavaScript, Node.js, Python 3, Groovy, SQL, Shell Scripting (Bash), HTML5/CSS3, ColdFusion, .NET.
  • Frameworks & Libraries: Spring Boot 3, Spring MVC, Spring Security, React, Angular (2+), AngularJS, Express.js, Hibernate/JPA, MyBatis, JDBC, Apache Camel, Struts (1/2), GWT, JSF, RichFaces, JBoss Seam, EJB (2/3), CXF, JAX-WS/RS, Axis 1.3, Freemarker, jQuery, Bootstrap.
  • Architecture & Paradigms: Cloud-Native Microservices, Micro-Frontends (MFE), Event-Driven Architecture, Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Domain-Driven Design (DDD), API Gateways (Kong, WSO2), Distributed Caching (Redis), Decoupled Monoliths, Database Sharding & Decoupling.
  • Cloud, Containerization & DevOps: AWS (EKS, EC2, RDS, Beanstalk, S3), Azure (AKS, Azure AD, Functions), Kubernetes, Docker, Helm, Terraform, Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitHub Enterprise, Ansible, Puppet, Hudson, Ant, Maven, Gradle, JFrog Artifactory, Sonatype Nexus.
  • Data, Storage & Messaging: PostgreSQL, Oracle (9i/10g/11g/19c), SQL Server, DB2, Informix, Redis, Kafka, RabbitMQ, Elasticsearch, Solr, Logstash, WSO2 ESB, Apache Camel.
  • Security, Compliance & Identity: OAuth2, JWT, Keycloak, Kong, Veracode, Prisma, Fortify, FedRAMP, SAML, SSO (PeopleSoft/SharePoint), CIS, OWASP, ADA Compliance, Penetration Testing SLAs (0-day/30-day/90-day).
  • Observability, AI & Testing: Splunk, Elastic, Datadog, AppDynamics, SonarQube, JUnit, Mockito, EasyMock, PowerMock, Selenium, HTTPUnit, JMeter, metID (MetIQ LLM), GitHub Copilot, Autonomous Agents.

Projects & Professional Experience

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

  • Digital Platform Architectural Transformation: Orchestrating the end-to-end modernization of MetLife’s Employer Digital Platform, replacing legacy J2EE/React architectures with a unified stack of Spring Boot 3 microservices and React Micro Frontends (MFE).
  • Monolith Decoupling & System Separation: Leading the technical architecture to split massive monolithic codebases (Employee, Employer, Disability, Billing, Reporting, Enrollment, Onboarding) into independent microservice clusters, eliminating release dependencies and reducing deployment build times by 40%.
  • Architectural Leadership Across Teams: Defining technical architecture patterns and feature specifications for 5 Tech Leads and 5+ cross-functional teams (40+ engineers), serving as the core engineering authority across the platform.
  • Code Quality & CI/CD Pipeline Governance: Enforced strict Sonar quality gates and test coverage thresholds across all repositories; re-engineered vulnerability and flaw remediation processes for continuous delivery, managing automated release velocity via the “Bullet Train” pipeline, Azure DevOps, and containerized Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) with Helm rollouts.
  • AI-Driven Code Translation & Refactoring: Engineered an AI-assisted rewrite methodology utilizing metID (MetIQ LLM) and advanced prompt engineering to evaluate reference codebases and automatically translate legacy code into modern microservices and React components; executed multi-month debugging, bug elimination, and architectural cleanup while building custom Node.js/Python autonomous agents for ADA compliance verification, Gulp-to-Webpack build migrations, and API mock virtualization.
  • Penetration Testing & Security SLA Enforcement: Orchestrated technical security remediation across all codebases following client penetration testing audits, provisioning test accounts/data and driving fixes under strict SLAs (Critical: 0-day, High: 30-day, Medium: 90-day); eliminated 100% of security flaws across Veracode, Prisma, and Pen Testing findings within a 3-month mandate.
  • End-to-End Tracing & Observability Architecture: Engineered full-stack distributed tracing across all React Micro Frontends and Spring Boot microservices, establishing complete HTTP call and database transaction traceability; led the enterprise migration off AppDynamics to Elastic, configuring Splunk for centralized log aggregation, telemetry, and real-time incident diagnosis.

Technologies: Java 17/21, Spring Boot 3, Node.js, Python 3, React, Webpack, Azure, AKS, Kubernetes, GitHub Enterprise, AzDO, GitHub Copilot, metID, Splunk, Redis, AEM.

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

  • High-Throughput Microservice Architecture: Architected high-performance technical solutions for critical Enrollment, Distributions, and Tax Elections platforms using Java 17/21 and Spring Boot in the Non-Qualified (Non-Qual) retirement space.
  • Full-Stack Legacy Migration: Led the complete refactoring of legacy Spring MVC monoliths into containerized Spring Boot microservices and Node.js services running on AWS EKS.
  • EAI & Financial Service Integration: Engineered messaging and integration routes using Apache Camel, streamlining multi-system financial workflows and automated transaction reporting.
  • Distributed Caching & Telemetry Tuning: Implemented Redis distributed caching strategies for high-frequency data access and integrated Splunk monitoring for real-time telemetry, increasing API throughput by 35%.
  • Quality Standards & Engineering Mentorship: Scaled engineering best practices across teams by instituting mandatory Test-Driven Development (TDD), peer code reviews, and automated Jenkins/GitHub release pipelines.
  • Frontend Engineering Architecture: Scaled responsive financial frontend interfaces utilizing Angular and Adobe Experience Manager (AEM).

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 (Dec 2020 – March 2022)

  • Cloud Microservices Engineering: Designed and implemented a scalable, cloud-agnostic microservice platform using Java 8/Spring Boot containerized on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
  • Frontend Architecture Overhaul: Led the technical migration from AngularJS to React, designing a modular component library and modern state management patterns.
  • IaC & Security Integration: Authored Terraform scripts for automated infrastructure provisioning and integrated Keycloak with Kong API Gateway for enterprise OAuth2 authentication.
  • Database Query Optimization: Optimized complex PostgreSQL stored procedures, triggers, indexes, and execution plans, resolving data bottlenecks and improving query execution times by 50%.

Technologies: Java 8, Spring Boot, Azure, AKS, Kubernetes, Terraform, Git, Postgres, Maven, Gradle, Jenkins, React, AngularJS, Kafka, Keycloak, Kong, Puppet, Logstash, Elasticsearch.

Bank of America Merchant Services – Senior Java Full-Stack Engineer (Aug 2019 – Dec 2020)

  • E-Commerce & Merchant Onboarding Engine: Architected Spring Boot microservices powering the digital storefront, shopping cart checkout, and merchant Onboarding flows for Clover payment systems.
  • Payment Processing REST Services: Designed resilient RESTful services for payment processing, containerized and deployed on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
  • Identity Governance & Admin Portal: Built a secure OAuth2 identity framework (Spring Security, Azure AD, JWT, serverless Azure Functions) and a full-stack Angular / Spring Boot administration suite for merchant onboarding and enrollment management.
  • Automated Integration Testing Suite: Built and maintained integration testing suites using Python 3 clients to validate end-to-end transaction flows, payment gateway APIs, and system reliability under load.
  • Decoupled Storefront Architecture: Drove system decoupling for high-traffic merchant acquisition portals, achieving low latency and high availability.

Technologies: Java, Spring Boot, Angular, Azure, AKS, Azure AD, OAuth2, JWT, Azure Functions, Python 3, REST APIs, Spring Security.

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

  • National Artifact Migration: Executed a seamless migration of national artifact repositories from Nexus to JFrog Artifactory with zero developer downtime and 100% data integrity.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Automation: Architected automated build and deployment pipelines using Jenkins, Groovy, and Shell scripts for high-security federal applications.
  • Identity & Access Tooling: Engineered a custom Java LDAP automation tool to modernize user onboarding, system monitoring, and cross-platform integrity checks.
  • DevOps Infrastructure Hardening: Managed and hardened core infrastructure components including GitHub, Fortify, and Nexus, providing expert troubleshooting for a national-scale service team.

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

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

  • Zero-Downtime Data Architecture Shift: Led the database decoupling effort for the “Amazon Rolling Stone” initiative, migrating a monolithic Oracle database to distributed PostgreSQL on AWS RDS.
  • Data Parity & Batch Orchestration: Engineered Java batch synchronization services and automated comparison scripts to ensure 100% record integrity during live traffic cut-over with zero system downtime.
  • Microservices Modernization: Designed and deployed new Java microservices supporting decentralized data architecture for Audible content delivery.
  • Resiliency & Regression Testing: Authored integration and regression test suites using EasyMock, Mockito, and PowerMock to harden architecture under high-traffic migration scenarios.

Technologies: AWS RDS, EC2, Java 8, Oracle, Spring, Postgres, Hibernate, EasyMock, Mockito, PowerMock, Amazon Native Tooling (Brazil).

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

  • Federal SaaS Platform Engineering: Led full-stack development of a global HR SaaS product for 45+ US Federal Agencies using Java, Spring, and JDBC/JPA/MyBatis across multiple product rewrites, ensuring compliance with FedRAMP, CIS, and OWASP standards.
  • Framework Modernization: Directed the migration from Struts 1/2 to Spring Boot REST APIs and Angular (2+); built reference implementations for recruitment, onboarding, and reporting modules.
  • AWS Cloud & F5 Load Balancing: Deployed AWS infrastructure using Beanstalk, Docker, and F5 for load balancing and high availability.
  • DevOps & Internal Tooling: Engineered custom internal tools including a Java-based AWS Management Dashboard and automated server provisioning, certificate management, and Solr Search deployments using Ansible, Groovy, and Jenkins.
  • Security & SAML Hardening: Enhanced system security through SAML integrations, auditing, encryption, and custom vendor authentication flows.
  • ESB & Middleware Integration: Led SOA Enterprise Service Bus migration from Oracle OWSM to WSO2; developed complex Groovy ETL jobs using SOAP and JAX-WS/RS.
  • Database Query Optimization: Optimized high-volume Oracle stored procedures and analytics queries, significantly reducing operational overhead for large-scale database installations.
  • Agile Workflow Integration: Integrated Slack notifications into automated deployment pipelines and managed workflows via the Atlassian Suite (Jira/Confluence).

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

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

  • Enterprise Middleware Strategy: Delivered architectural consulting for federal and commercial clients specializing in JBoss EAP and SOA-P migrations, modernization, and performance tuning.
  • USPTO Revenue System Architecture: Architected the next-generation stack for the Revenue Accounting and Management System (RAM) using Spring, CXF, and GWT; served as lead developer and integration specialist.
  • CDC Middleware Migration: Orchestrated large-scale WebLogic-to-JBoss migrations and cluster optimizations, resolving application bottlenecks and providing technical mentorship to administrative teams.
  • US Courts System Architecture: Served as principal architect for mission-critical judicial applications leveraging JBoss Seam, JSF/RichFaces, JMS, and JPA on DB2 environments.
  • GEICO Application Transformation: Transformed legacy Swing applications into modern web platforms integrating Spring, RichFaces, and JPA while establishing development team standards.

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 (Jan 2008 – July 2009)

  • Architectural Oversight & Legacy Refactoring: Provided technical leadership for analyzing, maintaining, and refactoring legacy Java applications and complex Oracle stored procedures.
  • SOA Web Services Engineering: Designed and guided implementation of web services leveraging Axis 1.3, JPA, and Hibernate for cross-system interoperability.
  • CI/CD Pipeline Engineering: Optimized build and deployment workflows by authoring Ant and Maven scripts; established Hudson for automated continuous integration across Java and ColdFusion environments.
  • Testing & Quality Governance: Defined testing strategies and ensured code integrity through unit and integration test suites using JUnit, HTTPUnit, and Selenium.
  • Web Framework Design: Architected enterprise web applications utilizing JSF and Struts frameworks.

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 – Jan 2008)

  • Security & Identity Integration (GEICO): Designed complex security extensions for GEICO, integrating PeopleSoft and SharePoint for Single-Sign-On (SSO) and Page-Level Security.
  • Enterprise Reporting Infrastructure: Re-engineered the Marriott Hotels Report Server security extension and performed requirements analysis for the US Foods enterprise Actuate upgrade.
  • Application Management: Maintained the iPortal J2EE application, managed source control, and developed 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 (PCARSS): Served as key developer for the PCARSS (Plant Clearance Automation and Reutilization Screening System), leading development of two major modules for government property redistribution.
  • Data Modeling & UI Engineering: Utilized Hibernate for data modeling and JSF for building user interfaces enabling real-time tracking of government assets.
  • Full SDLC Contribution: Drove development from requirements through deployment in a Tomcat and Oracle Application Server environment.

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 (Jan 2006 – April 2006)

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

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

Education

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