Fractional Engineering & Tech Leadership

Wesley Choate

Senior Staff Engineer · Tech Lead · Backend Architect

20+ years building backend systems that hold up under real pressure. Available for fractional and contract engagements — API architecture, microservices, and technical leadership for teams that need senior experience without a full-time hire.

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20+
Years of backend engineering experience
95%
Reduction in critical code vulnerabilities for a major telecom client
510%
Performance improvement on a legacy medical documentation system
80%
Time reduction on a core business process through service integration

What I Do

Senior engineering leadership,
on your terms

I work best with startups and growing teams that need a senior hand without a full-time commitment.

⚙️
API Architecture & Design
REST API design, contract definition, and implementation across multiple client types — mobile, web, and connected devices.
🔧
Microservices & Monolith Decomposition
Phased migration from monolithic architectures to independently deployable microservices that scale and deploy faster.
👥
Fractional Tech Lead
Technical direction, solution design, architecture decisions, and team mentorship for cross-functional engineering pods.
🔒
Security & Code Quality
Static analysis, vulnerability remediation, and security hardening for applications handling sensitive data.
☁️
Cloud & Data Engineering
AWS infrastructure, Databricks pipelines, and cloud-native backend patterns for modern engineering teams.
🤖
AI-Assisted Development
Leveraging AI development workflows to move faster across the full stack — architecture through documentation — without sacrificing quality.

Proven Results

Real outcomes from real engagements

A track record built across ad tech, streaming media, telecom, and behavioral health.

→
Reduced critical and high code vulnerabilities by 95% on a CPI data-handling application, serving as primary security focal point
→
Engineered integrations that cut a core business process by 80% in time and significantly reduced errors
→
Led clinical module development that directly contributed to three new major enterprise sales
→
Improved document storage performance by 510% through a targeted rewrite of a legacy medical documentation system
→
Led phased decomposition of a large Java monolith into microservices at SiriusXM, improving scalability and deployment speed
→
Led full SVN to Git migration enabling a faster, more agile release cycle across an entire product team

Core Stack

Modern backend, built to scale

20 years of Java backend experience, current across cloud, data, and AI-assisted development workflows.

Languages
Java Kotlin Scala
Frameworks & APIs
Spring Boot REST APIs SOAP Microservices
Cloud & Data
AWS Databricks Looker Docker
Tools & Practices
Git Atlassian Suite CI/CD Agile

Experience

Two decades across industries

Ad tech, streaming, telecom, behavioral health — complex systems, different domains, same fundamentals.

2022 — Present
Integral Ad Science
Senior Staff Software Engineer & Tech Lead
Tech Lead of a full-stack product pod. Guiding architecture decisions and end-to-end delivery across Java backend services, React, and Databricks data pipelines.
2017 — 2023
SiriusXM
Senior Staff Software Engineer
Owned the REST API layer for a streaming platform serving millions of active subscribers. Led phased monolith-to-microservices decomposition.
2013 — 2016
TEKsystems
Senior Software Engineer
Primary security focal point for a major telecom client. Eliminated 95% of critical code vulnerabilities and engineered integrations that cut a core process by 80%.
2002 — 2013
LWSI
Senior Software Engineer
11 years building behavioral health software. Led modules that drove three new enterprise sales, improved system performance by 510%, and led Git migration.

Get in Touch

Let's talk about
your engineering needs

Available for fractional and contract engagements. 10–20 hours per week alongside my current role.

Available for new engagements
✉
wesley.choate@protonmail.com
in
linkedin.com/in/wesleychoate
⚡
GoFractional Profile