Product-focused software engineer · Denver, CO
Zach Sykes
Building workflow-heavy applications with React, TypeScript, Next.js, and .NET — focusing on making complex workflows intuitive.
I'm spending my time on an app that helps people budget and manage debt.
- React
- TypeScript
- Next.js
- .NET
Now
Currently working on
The personal project I am spending my time on. Shipped work is in the section below.
Budgeting and debt planning
Personal · in progressA personal project I am spending my time on: an app that helps people budget and manage debt from the accounts, paychecks, bills, and balances a household actually has. In progress.
- Home, accounts, transactions, income, bills, budgets, and debts are in the product today.
- A debt summary totals recorded balances, this month’s interest, minimums, and how much of known credit limits are in use.
- Bank linking is optional. A separate worker syncs connected accounts, and access tokens are encrypted before they are stored.
At a glance: Next.js and a .NET API over PostgreSQL, with household-scoped sign-in, manual records, CSV import, and optional bank sync.
Featured projects
Selected projects
Deeper write-ups on selected work — with demos and source links where available.
Planning Poker — internal collaboration tool
ShippedReal-time estimation platform for distributed delivery teams at Forvis Mazars, integrated with Jira for viewing stories and updating estimates. Replaced manual estimation coordination with a single internal workflow that improved session consistency and reduced meeting friction.
At a glance: 0-to-1 internal product: React/TypeScript, WebSocket realtime, Jira integration, .NET services — adopted across all verticals.
Agentic chat with tool use + evals
ShippedStreaming chat where Claude calls seven structured resume tools (get_role, search_resume, list_projects_by_skill, get_metrics, list_recent_shipped, get_narrative, get_faq). Tool calls show up in the transcript. Evals hit the same HTTP endpoint; results power the pass/fail table on the project page.
At a glance: Structured tool use over real data, with evals so regressions show up as failing rows—not just a prettier UI.
About
How I work
I build and own production applications across frontend architecture, backend APIs, cloud infrastructure, and observability, with a particular focus on making complex workflows intuitive for users. The goal is not a longer tech list — it is turning operational complexity into understandable, maintainable experiences.
I partner directly with product, design, and business stakeholders to ship features that stick: clear contracts, reusable patterns, and production health (Grafana, Application Insights, GitHub Actions, Azure Pipelines).
Role fit
What I bring
- Full-stack product engineering
- Production API ownership
- React/TypeScript frontend delivery
- Backend systems across stacks
- Observability and reliability
- Internal tools and stakeholder-facing systems
Currently seeking
Looking for a full-time product engineering role where I can own a workflow from the interface through the API, and stay with it after it ships.
Frontend and full-stack work is home base. I'm also interested in backend-heavy product work, internal tools, and teams that treat reliability as part of the feature. I like partnering with product, design, and the people who use the system. Based in Denver, and open to hybrid or remote.
Chat Demo
Portfolio assistant — production AI integration
I build production software; this assistant is one example — a streaming chat backed by a real ASP.NET Core API, structured data, and guardrails. Ask about my work, stack, or role fit.
Starter prompts — tap to send.
Try one of these — each one fires a structured tool call so you can see how it works.
Experience
Career so far.
Senior Software Engineer
June 2023 – present
Forvis Mazars (remote)
Promoted to Senior Software Engineer in September 2026, after Full Stack Software Engineer from June 2023. Own production reliability and end-to-end delivery for React, TypeScript, and .NET applications, including incident response, event-driven integrations, the Blazor-to-React transition, and Planning Poker.
Kitchen Manager
2012 – 2022
Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company
Earlier career: led kitchen operations for a 40+ person team, including hiring, onboarding, training, scheduling, and performance management.
Software Engineering Bootcamp
Graduated
General Assembly
Career change from operations leadership into software engineering.
The traditional resume page has the print-friendly layout and download.
Contact
Email is the fastest way to reach me.
For hiring or anything that needs a real thread, email or LinkedIn is best. The chat here reads from structured resume data—it isn't a direct line to me.