Developed secure back-end API components for a privacy-centric journaling app, focusing on end-to-end encryption and ensuring data integrity for thousands of users.
Implemented a user access management system in Shared Journals factoring in complexities around content ownership and permissions changes.
Led infrastructure optimizations on a legacy cloud system that resulted in a $120,000 annual cost reduction by improved usage patterns/strategies across S3, EC2.
Implemented a new Docker/ECS-based cloud infrastructure providing scalable and highly available services that handle hundreds of concurrent users as well as thousands of requests per second.
Built a customized PostegreSQL migration workflow to achieve seamless zero-downtime schema and data changes by running two versions in parallel.
Implemented CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions/Workflows with testing steps. This improved and more reliable process resulted in the team deploying several times per day instead of twice a week.
Refactored complex endpoints to process data asynchronously via a PGBoss job queue system, cutting response times and doubling request capacity.
Worked autonomously and collaborated with distributed teams on architecture design, technical decisions, and defining API requirements. Summarized decisions with clear written communication to ensure alignment across development and product teams.
Work experience
Software Engineer / Automattic (Day One)
Software Engineer and Owner / infoMetrix
Client: Television Academy (Emmys)
Developed a web-based Laravel system to manage Emmy nominations, processing thousands of entries per day, including full-length film assets.
Implemented a dynamic, drag-and-drop form editing interface that simplified workflows by enabling administrators to customize entry forms across 100s of categories
Built a resilient and scalable AWS infrastructure (Elastic Beanstalk, CloudWatch, RDS) to ensure 99.999% uptime during peak nomination periods.
Client: Complete Genomics
Developed a custom data service that generated unique, dynamic user avatars (SVG) based on individual DNA sequences. Worked closely with data specialists to implement a specialized algorithm that ensured each avatar was uniquely derived from genomic data.
Software Developer / Change Heroes
Designed and developed a high-performance web and mobile donation platform using Java, Grails and AWS, facilitating thousands of transactions for global social impact campaigns.
Developed a scalable AWS-based video recording, transcoding, and streaming solution that processed hundreds of videos per day, ensuring low-latency delivery and high availability across the platform.
Mentored and guided junior developers in agile development processes, helping them plan, develop, test, and release new features while fostering best practices in code quality, testing, and deployment.
Skillset
Core skills
- API Development
- Application Design & Architecture
- Performance Optimization
- Continuous Integration/DevOps
- DevOps
Languages
- Node.js
- Java
- PHP
- C#
Databases
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- RDS
Cloud Services
- EC2
- ECS/Docker
- RDS
- S3
- SQS
CI/CD
- GitHub Actions/Workflows
- Jenkins
- Circle CI
Monitoring & Quality
- CloudWatch
- DataDog
- Semgrep
About me
Hi. I'm Daryl Chymko, a tech enthusiast and outdoor adventurer whose journey with computers began early—so early, in fact, that in Grade 4, I was caught reading a programming book in class instead of paying attention to the lessons. My teacher nearly took it away, but the curiosity of figuring out programming kept me hooked, and I spent my weekends and evenings teaching myself the BASIC language.
That curiosity eventually grew into a career as a software engineer, where I’ve had the chance to develop back-end systems and infrastructure across startups and larger-scale enterprise projects. I thrive in environments where autonomy is the norm, and can quickly adapt to changing needs and evolving requirements.
Outside of work, I’m driven by a love for the outdoors. I founded Get Outside, an initiative that encourages people to explore human-powered outdoor adventures and connect with nature. For me, exploring remote landscapes and adapting to changing weather and the unknown is a way to connect deeply with nature, embracing life’s adventures with the same passion and curiosity I have for technology.
Get in touch
You can check out my LinkedIn profile or drop me an email.
You can also download a PDF version of the resume here.