ENGINEER. BUILDER. ALWAYS CURIOUS.

Serious systems.
Curious mind.

I’m Jake—a software engineering lead and architect.
I connect complex technology to the people who depend on it.

From payment infrastructure to lunar training software,
I design distributed systems, connect software with hardware,
and stay involved from architecture through operations.

Explore my work GitHub

>_ Thoughtful engineering. A little hacker energy.

Jake Brown smiling inside a spacecraft simulator — JAKE BROWNSOFTWARE ↔ SYSTEMS

Right at home where software meets hardware.

A FEW PLACES I’VE
PUT CURIOSITY TO WORK BLUE ORIGIN Optimizely JPMorganChase REDMARSINDEPENDENT VENTURES

01 / SELECTED WORK

Built with curiosity.
Designed with intent.

Security tools, human-centered experiments,
and a few ideas that reach beyond Earth.
Here’s what I’m building.

REDMARS / SIMULATION/01

MCC-RedMars

A mission control training environment connecting spacecraft simulation, telemetry, procedures, and evidence-based evaluation.

ReactTypeScriptFastAPIWebSockets

Script Junky’s green terminal-inspired artwork: Think deeper, build safer systems, do good.

CURIOSITY IS THE STARTING POINT.

OPEN SOURCE / LEARNING/02

Script Junky

A local field school for terminal fluency, ethical security work, and the habit of following evidence.

PythonSQLiteShell

OPEN SOURCE / OBSERVABILITY/03

TripWire

A host-observation instrument that makes system changes, supporting evidence, and visibility gaps easier to investigate.

SwiftmacOSSQLite

REDMARS / SYSTEMS PROTOTYPING/04

SystemsSim

A visual workspace for connecting subsystem blocks, defining behavior, and exploring live power and data flow.

FlutterDartJavaScript

PERSONAL / AUTHENTICATION RESEARCH/05

Acronympass

A mnemonic authentication prototype exploring the connection between random codes, personal stories, and recall.

PHPJavaScriptSQLite

02 / EXPERIENCE

Real systems.
Real responsibility.

Hands-on engineering and technical leadership
across aerospace, developer tools,
and critical financial infrastructure.

2022 — PRESENT

Blue Origin

AEROSPACE & SIMULATIONSoftware Engineering LeadTraining Software Systems · Human Landing System (HLS)

Primary software architect and technical decision-maker for HLS training software, defining architecture, technology selection, communication protocols, and service interfaces across engineering teams.

Build training tools, reusable libraries, and backend services in C/C++, Java, Python, and TypeScript. Shared components and integration patterns have been adopted by 2–3 additional engineering teams.
Integrate flight software through custom drivers, microservices, GraphQL/REST APIs, and client-server applications.
Architect distributed environments connecting independent vehicle simulators, shared services, and hardware-in-the-loop interfaces for coordinated training operations.
Automate configuration and deployment workflows to eliminate recurring manual integration steps and reduce maintenance effort.
Refine architecture and interfaces to improve integration stability, resolve cross-team delivery blockers, and support systems through verification, deployment, and operations.

Previously led New Shepard simulator technical direction and planning, including budgets exceeding $2.3M. As Functional Manager, managed engineers, hiring, mentorship, and software/hardware delivery. Earlier engineering work covered real-time C++/Python simulation, spacecraft sensors and actuators, Bash/Python deployment automation, and telemetry networking.

THE PROGRESSION

Mar 2025 — PresentSoftware Engineering Lead · HLS Training Software

Dec 2024 — Mar 2025Responsible Engineer · New Shepard Training Simulator

Jan 2024 — Dec 2024Functional Manager · Software Engineering

Jan 2022 — Jan 2024Simulation Software Engineer III

2021 — 2022

Optimizely

DEVELOPER EXPERIENCEStaff Software EngineerPreviously Senior Software Engineer

Owned Python and Java SDK development, supported other language SDKs, and contributed to open-source repositories.

Developed greenfield tooling and documentation to support SDK users.
Participated in technical reviews and improvements to engineering practices and development processes.
Supported customer-facing production systems, mentorship, and technical interviewing.

Public contributions include forced-decision APIs, proxy support, dependency maintenance, and fixes to experiment and variation lookup behavior.

THE PROGRESSION

Dec 2021 — Jan 2022Staff Software Engineer

May 2021 — Dec 2021Senior Software Engineer

2018 — 2021

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

PAYMENTS & FINANCIAL INFRASTRUCTURESenior Software EngineerAuthorization platforms · Legacy modernization

Built low-latency financial backend software in C/C++ and Java on Unix and HP NonStop, with APIs and Kafka-based integrations.

Implemented secure application controls and contributed to authentication, cryptography, certificate workflows, and API security.
Worked on vulnerability remediation, security scanning, fraud-detection pipelines, and incident investigation for the Authorization platform and Gateway microservices.
Managed repository security upkeep for the Authorization platform and supported CI/CD, source control, and open-source security.
Contributed to COBOL-to-Java modernization, Java APIs, and Mastercard Gateway integrations.

Worked on the Apple Pay pilot program and served as a judge at several company hackathons.

THE PROGRESSION

Jan 2020 — Apr 2021Senior Software Engineer

Jan 2019 — Jan 2020Associate Software Engineer

Mar 2018 — Jan 2019Software Engineer

BEFORE THAT

Skyline Communications · Telecom Systems Developer Apr 2017–Mar 2018
Royal Canadian Air Force · Pilot in Training 2012–2017
MBright · Contract C++ Developer 2010–2012

At Skyline, built telecom driver tooling that reduced production time from two weeks to less than one day.

ENGINEERING TOOLKIT

Architecture, integration, and the code between.

Languages & backend: C/C++, Python, Java, TypeScript, JavaScript, Bash. Spring Boot, Node.js, REST APIs, GraphQL, developer SDKs.
Architecture & simulation: Distributed and real-time systems, multi-vehicle simulation, hardware-in-the-loop integration, microservices, telemetry.
Networking & hardware: TCP/IP, UDP, sockets, multicast, WebSockets, TLS. RS-232/422/485, UART, SPI, I²C, CAN.
Messaging & data: HLA (IEEE 1516), Apache Kafka, publish/subscribe, Cassandra, PostgreSQL, data lakes.
Platforms & delivery: RHEL/Ubuntu, Unix, HP NonStop, Docker, virtualization, CI/CD, Git, observability.
Earlier security engineering: OAuth 2.0/OIDC, JWT, PKI/X.509, SAST, dependency scanning, secure APIs, cryptography.

Planning & engineering tools Jama, Jira & Jira Plans, Confluence, AOP, Windchill, JFrog Artifactory.

IN THE OPEN / DEVELOPER EXPERIENCE

Good tools make
other people better.

At Optimizely, I owned Python and Java SDK development and worked across the SDK ecosystem, including JavaScript. The work lives where developer experience meets correctness: clear APIs, reliable behavior, and fewer surprises.

Explore my contributions

java-sdkJAVA / #451

Forced-decision APIs

Added APIs to set, get, and remove forced decisions in OptimizelyUserContext.

python-sdkPYTHON / #347

Correct experiment lookup

Fixed decision behavior when multiple feature flags contain duplicate experiment keys.

java-sdkJAVA / #441

Proxy support for SDK users

Enabled a custom HTTP client to support customer proxy configurations.

03 / THE HUMAN PART

I’ve always wanted
to know how it works.

And then, how to make it work better.

I’m a software engineering lead specializing in distributed systems, real-time simulation, and hardware-in-the-loop integration. At Blue Origin, I serve as the primary software architect for Human Landing System training software, from architecture and interfaces through deployment and operational support.

My path runs through military aviation, payments, developer platforms, and aerospace. I’m happiest where code meets hardware, a technical decision meets a human need, or a big idea becomes something you can actually use.

That’s the thread behind my own projects, too. Script Junky turns terminal practice into investigative judgment. TripWire is about understanding the evidence. RedMars is a place to explore how we prepare people and systems for what comes next in space.

I care about thoughtful architecture, honest engineering, and sharing what I learn. Serious about the work. Still having fun with the terminal.

Space & aviationEthical securitySystems thinkingTeaching & mentorshipRetrowave, always

GOOD WORK STARTS WITH A CONVERSATION.

What could we
build together?

Have a complex problem, an interesting role,
or an idea worth exploring? I’d love to hear it.

Let’s talk

Jake.GetElementById@gmail.com

Serious systems.
Curious mind.