Shutterfly - Atlanta, Georgia (April 2024 - Present)

Senior Engineering Manager

• Managing and leading a 9-person software engineering team focused on building highly immersive and engaging e-commerce software products for Shutterfly’s on-demand textile manufacturing corporate brand, Spoonflower.
• Owning operations and engineering impact focused on customer acquisition, increasing revenue through conversion, system design and architecture enhancements to drive shopping experience on the Spoonflower site.
• Mentoring and coaching direct reports towards career growth and high performance.
• Collaborating with key stakeholders in Product Management, Architecture, Senior and Corporate Leadership, DevOps, and QA to execute engineering vision towards customer-focused, value-added results.
• Hands-on software engineering using TypeScript, AWS, Terraform, Chakra, and Storybook.

Microsoft - Atlanta, Georgia (October 2021 - January 2023)

Senior Engineering Manager

• Manager of 15 person team of combined Software Engineer and SRE (Site Reliability Engineer) direct reports, and vendors across 3 US locations for M365 and Office.com suite (200+ products & services) in the Azure cloud space. Hiring manager for my primary team and organization, and part of hiring committee for other Microsoft teams seeking new engineering talent.
• Provided engineering management, communication, and leadership towards launching over 20+ new Azure services on the M365 cloud space of Office.com services.
• Mentored, coached, and helped advise on the career growth of direct reports through a growth mindset.
• Established and scaled new Atlanta, GA office engineering space for culture, processes, and SRE/Software Engineering capabilities for over 30+ Software Engineers, SREs, System Engineers. Representative, lead, and coordinated for 9 different cross-organizational partner teams.
• Partnered and communicated cross-functionally with Microsoft Product Managers, Designers, Senior Management and Leadership, and Software Engineering stakeholders to execute business strategy, created OKRs and launched M365 cloud products in engineering in Experiences & Devices and M365 organization. Improving service health, product vision, and prioritization.
• Applied sound engineering principles and contributed to my team’s goals through managerial vision.
• Led cloud service process improvements and gave thought leadership for Office and M365 Azure services, and oversaw product launch campaigns for new Microsoft software service products in Azure cloud environments.

JET-M (Conceptual MVP Project) - McDonough, Georgia (May 2022 - November 2022)

Freelance Product Designer and Product Manager

• Product Designer, Product Manager, and technical advisor for client conducting mental health research graduate studies project that incorporates generative AI and behavioral science psychology to prevent the likelihood of trauma from PTSD and other mental disorders. This product through various user activities would guide the user to mental health resources and quick access to emergency responses in the event of a mental health crisis.
• Collaborated with client through stages of the product lifecycle towards potential future software engineering implantation to design a product in the form of a conceptual MVP tool.

Lockheed Martin - Herndon, Virginia (June 2020 - October 2021)

Software Engineering Associate Manager

• Managed software releases in aerospace industry with 6 teams and 40 engineers using Agile practices. Led a team of 14 and acted as hiring manager for Lockheed Martin.
• Provided strategy for web-based products using data-driven KPI metrics to improve project performance and meet $25 million budget in aerospace defense sector.
• Improved processes for increased productivity and $1.3 million in annual savings. Mitigated risk in software engineering tasks such as new feature development and metric analysis.

TollMate - Ashburn, Virginia (April 2018)

Product Manager

• As Product Manager created a MVP case study that calculates and estimates the toll amount for drivers depending on - their route, alternative routes, toll price changes in dynamic pricing, and methods of payment options in the form of a hypothesis that gives motorists more economic and time control of their driving when tolls are a factor.
• Conducted product discovery, competitive analysis, and product design in the form of mockups to showcase UX and product features with respect to user-centric values and pain points, generating both a mobile and in-car display form product.
• Developed and owed business model, launch strategy, product roadmap and KPIs during product lifecycle within a 3 month release cadence - with a focus on MoM (Month Over Month) value added iterative product maturity and user growth (within a projected 300,000 converted subscribed users and 10,000+ daily active users MoM) for validation of measured success of the MVP.

Skybot Labs, Inc. - McDonough, Georgia (April 2017 - May 2020)

Co-Founder, Hobbyist, and Product Manager

• Co-founder, product manager, inventor, designer, and software engineer of a “patent pending” drone safety system MVP for hardware/ software redundancy product that solves the problem of what to do when a drone’s motor fail mid-flight through modularity – from concept ideation to launch.
• Led in racing drone and racing drone accessory product development
• Overseeing and managing a multi-person cross-functional startup team in the domains of finance, software engineering, aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering along with working with an outside legal counsel team towards achieving business objectives. Communicate directly with stakeholders, potential target users/ customers, and venture capital. Building corporate partnerships and network.
• Own and manage the overall product roadmap and lifecycle, fundraising, business development strategy, monetization and growth strategy, user research, marketing, and corporate vision

Glutt - McDonough, Georgia (March 2017 - May 2017)

Product Manager

• As Product Manager created an artificial intelligence food recommendation MVP concept based on user diet, budget, and lifestyle called Glutt using PM best practices while as a part of the General Assembly – Washington D.C. Product Management course. Product Management Certification received May 2017.
• Created, maintained, and owned product roadmap and vision within the product development lifecycle with regards to: establishing a hypothesis and problem set, defining target users, creating KPIs and OKRs aligned to long-term data-driven strategy development and metrics towards user growth (theoretical user base of 1.5 million daily active users month-over-month), capturing market share, brand awareness, a prioritizing feature set towards value added user experiences and addressing pain points, conducting competitive analysis, UI/ UX high and low fidelity mockups, and ultimately a product pitch deck – as a capstone that could be seen as a true potential product.
• Conducted over 200+ user interviews and derived four concentrated personas to find the optimal product-market fit; and validated if Glutt really could solve the problem of finding great food and restaurants when the user cares about their diet, their budget, and the impact food has on their daily life, but is in doubt.

Novetta - McLean, Virginia (December 2017 - June 2020)

Software Engineer - UI/UX, Scrum Master

• Led, provided vision, and implemented UI/UX design strategy of B2B MVP prototypes for Novetta’s clients using React.js, Node.js, Express, Oracle, Java, Spring MVC, and AWS C2S GovCloud.
• Cross-functional leadership through Agile, product management best practices, stakeholder engagement, and product vision – overseeing and representing three separate project teams with various engineering goals as Agile Scrum Master, composed of 12 people from a range of multi-domain expertise in UI/UX, Backend and Cloud Architecture, and System Administration.
• Defined process improvement execution strategy by establishing a product roadmap, new productivity workflows, and better organization and use of technical resources.

Schafer Corporation - Arlington, Virginia (December 2016 - June 2017)

Deputy Technical Lead

• Led product management efforts for Schafer’s largest client, DARPA. Launched new technical concepts through subject matter analysis, product design, and R&D. Increased operational efficiency by 20% through more focused in stakeholder management and effective communication – measured feedback coming from a satisfaction survey by over 100+ stakeholders and end-users after product release.

Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. - Herndon, Virginia (August 2012 - December 2016)

Senior Software Engineer/ Senior Consultant

• Led agile development as scrum master for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Providing cross-functional leadership, stakeholder engagement, and shaping the product vision and roadmap towards engineering-oriented KPIs that primary measured continual product performance and benchmarks against strategic upper management vision of value added every release cadence.
• As a UI/UX lead, increased engineering and design productivity by 95% through better user-centric product and feature design communication cross-functionally, user feedback integration, and stakeholder buy-in.
• Developed web applications using JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, and MEAN (MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS, and Node.js) – supporting a user base of 4,000+ users. Prototyped web applications and other MVPs using the MEAN technology stack - from conception to launch.

Siemens - Industry, Inc. - Johnson City, Tennessee (November 2010 - June 2012)

Software Engineer 1

• Engineered firmware software tools using C#, C++, and C++/CLI for internal Engineering and Supply Chain teams.
• Supported and collaborated with 40+ engineering, research, and testing individual stakeholders spanning Siemens research and development facilities in China, Germany, and the United States.
• Designed new product feature concepts for S7 PLC firmware.

Morris Technology - Statesboro, Georgia (July 2009 - May 2010)

Junior Solutions Developer

• Worked in a dual role of UI/UX designer and software engineer for Morris Technology’s various online multimedia news properties by creating innovative web technologies using Python, Django, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
• Managed web analytics for corporate business strategy, and was a tester of video streaming content for Morris Technology’s platform and various web products.

Microsoft (October 2021 - January 2023)

• Modeled leadership through coaching and mentoring to develop and grow talent.
• Drove Azure cloud process improvements and fostering cross-org thought leadership for Office.com/M365 with other leaders and software engineers.
• Managed cloud service product launches for new Microsoft software iterations in Azure cloud environments, including UI/UX, Fullstack, and cloud services.

Skybot Labs, Inc. (April 2017 - May 2020)

• Founder, product manager, inventor, designer, and software engineer of a “patent pending” drone safety system for hardware/ software redundancy product that solves the problem of what to do when a drone’s motor fail mid-flight through modularity – from concept ideation to launch.
• Defining business model, vision, and strategies for product, research and development, monetization and growth hacking. Looking to impact the drone racing market.
• Overseeing and managing a 4-person cross-functional startup team, that started as a hobby, in the domains of finance, software engineering, aerospace engineering, and electrical engineering along with working with an outside legal counsel team towards driving business objectives to make a drone and UX that unique and could solve the problem of mid-air drone events and having a safety standard for unmanned aerial systems (UAS).
• Communicating and marketing directly with stakeholders, potential target users/ customers, and venture capital. Building corporate partnerships and network.
• Own and manage the overall product roadmap and lifecycle, fundraising, business development strategy, monetization and growth strategy, user research, marketing, and corporate vision for Skybot Labs and the Gecko Mark 1 drone MVP, which is currently in development.

Glutt.io (March 2017 - MAy 2017)

Performing within the role of Product Manager, leading product development and strategy for a new artificial intelligence food recommendation and discovery application MVP (Minimum Viable Product) concept called Glutt (currently in progress) within the Product Management course at General Assembly.

Glutt will use machine learning and deep pattern analysis from a user’s dietary, lifestyle, financial, sharing, and search context to address the problem of choosing what to eat when a user is in doubt. It will suggest unique new food items, restaurant recommendations, and reviews generated in real-time for places to eat when the user is unsure or in new location. Applying product lifecycle and management best practices from conception to the creation of a prototype for a realistic mobile and web launch strategy with respect to customer-centric product development.

Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (May 2014 – December 2016)

product vision and strategy by creating product concepts in the form of mockups, user interfaces and experiences, product roadmaps, team development process improvements, product marketing, and customer communication on product objectives and feature sets. Also managed primary development team, and working with cross-functional teams and influential points-of-contact to achieve business and engineering product objectives for end-users and primary customers as a Agile Scrum Master.

On my current Big Data R&D protoype project within the company I increased software engineering operations, process improvement productivity, and communication engagement to customer and to senior level management by 95% in a Lead UI/UX and Agile Scrum Master role - driving design and product development.

University of Tennessee – Knoxville, MBA (August 2011 – December 2012)

MBA Leadership and Management Development

and development of leadership, management, and corporate level business philosophy by high-level CEOs, business leaders, and entrepreneurs in various sectors of industry and society.

RussellATerrell.com

Using the technologies of Google's AngularJS and Material Design, Node.js, and Express this static site represents my personal website and portfolio that is ever growing, and showcases my personal brand and skill sets.

Skybot Labs

My personal touch to both my outside hobby and brand of FPV (First Person View) racing drones. Designed, built to last, and personalized for the user. This drone brand encompasses another side of me - combining the software engineering, computer and electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, material engineering, and unique industrial/ contemporary concepts into an end-to-end flight experience for novice to expert drone pilots.

Project Gecko

Product Manager, Designer, Co-Inventor, and Senior Software Engineer of uniqueracing drones and racing drone accessories. Leading and working in a matrix team composed of various multi-disciplined engineers, but also managing the overall product strategy and vision for the product development (currently in progress).

Glutt.io

Performing within the role of Product Manager, leading product development and strategy for a new artificial intelligence food recommendation and discovery application MVP (Minimum Viable Product) concept called Glutt (currently in progress) within the Product Management course at General Assembly.

Glutt will use machine learning and deep pattern analysis from a user’s dietary, lifestyle, budget, sharing, and search context to address the problem of choosing what to eat when a user is in doubt. It will suggest unique new food items, restaurant recommendations, and reviews generated in real-time for places to eat when the user is unsure or in new location.

Applying product lifecycle and management best practices from conception to the creation of a prototype for a realistic mobile and web launch strategy with respect to customer-centric product development.

Project CosmicStorm