Evanston, IL
60202
(773) 934-4607
paulsmith@pobox.com
I am a systems software engineer specializing in web applications. I
have designed, built, and operated applications at scale. I have expertise
in traditional Unix programming contexts, tools, and languages. I am a
leader in technology that serves the public interest.
2014 - present
Chicago & Evanston, IL
Chief Technologist, co-founder, founding CTO
- Founded Ad Hoc as Chief Technology Officer, a leading technology consulting firm delivering government digital services, growing to over 500 employees and $100,000,000 in revenue in less than 9 years.
- Advised and led technology teams supporting the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other federal agencies.
- Led development and operations
of Premium
Estimation Tool and its
successor, Window
Shopping, a major new consumer-focused portion of
HealthCare.gov
- Helped design, in partnership with the White House, the Centers for
Medicare and Medicare Services, and health insurance companies, a
machine-readable
format for sharing data about provider and formulary networks and the
health plans that cover them, a major new public dataset. In
addition, led development and operations of a system that imported and
indexed this information and made searchable for consumers on
HealthCare.gov
October 18, 2013 – December 24, 2013
Herndon, VA; Tysons Corner, VA; Columbia, MD
Member of the “Ad Hoc Team”
- Part of the group of technologists assembled by U.S. CTO
Todd Park to assess, stabilize, and lead turnaround of site
after disastrous initial launch
- Advised HC.gov leadership on technology strategy during turnaround
- Implemented, deployed, and operated “smart queue” to manage peak demand
- Provided leadership to technology teams across HC.gov
- Executed several bug fixes and performance improvements
- Helped get site to point where it could enroll millions of Americans in health coverage
September 2011 – February 2013
Washington, DC; Chicago, IL
Deputy Director of Technology
- Led software engineering efforts for the DNC during the 2012
presidential election cycle
- Worked closely with Obama for America 2012 (OFA) technology
department on common projects
- Developed, deployed, and operated the party’s polling place locator,
used in common by DNC and OFA, and which received millions of
pageviews in the days leading up to and including Election Day
August 2009 – September 2011
Chicago, IL
Senior Software Engineer
- Transitioned EveryBlock.com to msnbc.com after the latter’s acquistion of the site in August 2009
- Led expansion of EveryBlock.com to 17 cities
July 2007 – August 2009
Chicago, IL
Co-founder, Developer
- Developed and launched major new local news website, funded
by the inaugural Knight Foundation’s New Challenge award
- Developed pioneering custom web-based maps for the site;
described the process
in A List
Apart
1999 – 2006
Chicago, IL
Senior Web Developer
Systems Administrator
- Designed and implemented CNT server and network infrastructure
- Maintained heterogeneous network of Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, and Windows platforms
Other experience
2003 – 2010
Chicago, IL
Co-Founder, Board of Directors
- Grassroots organization advocating for conversion of unused Bloomingdale railroad on north side of Chicago into a multi-use trail and greenspace
National Cancer Institute
1994 – 1995
Frederick, MD
Skills
- Go
- Unix (Linux, macOS, OpenBSD)
- Web application development
- Cloud ops & infrastructure
- Python
- JavaScript
- Parsers & compilers
- C
- PostgreSQL
- Geospatial software
Education
St. Mary’s College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD
1995 – 1999
- Honors program
- Majored in physics and philosophy
References
Available upon request.
This page was last updated on February 1, 2024.