Dave Van

senior software engineer

Maryland · remote · dave.k.van3@gmail.com · github.com/meowmix1337 · linkedin.com/in/dave-van

senior software engineer on the acuity platform team at squarespace. backend systems, developer tooling.

Experience

senior software engineer, acuity platform

squarespace · remote · maryland

may 2022—present

building go-based SOA on EKS that powers 5 production services. author of 19 ADRs/RFCs spanning architecture, observability, and incident response.

platform architecture & infrastructure

  • architected the production backstage template (EKS, CI/CD, monitoring) and foundational ESO secrets layer for the acuity SOA platform — reached GA, now powers 5 production go services.
  • spearheaded the opinionated go service template and local-dev tooling giving product teams a repeatable path from `service init` to staging deploy.
  • productionized the SOA DB provisioning lambda, drove ULID adoption as the primary-key standard, authored the foundational service architecture RFC.

developer experience & enablement

  • spearheaded service creation day across 2 sessions for 17 engineers from 8 product teams — 94.1% reported increased platform confidence, 100% rated experiment-service creation as easy, walkthrough rated 4.47/5.
  • partnered with 5 SOA service teams (email unsubscribe — first production SOA service — commerce, text customization, forms, waitlist) as embedded technical advisor.
  • mentored a new hire and an internal transfer onto the SOA platform; sole go reviewer for the initial acuity-commerce service.

observability & operational excellence

  • architected acuity's tracing standardization via a custom go instrumentation library and the acuity custom instrumentation ADR — now followed by every SOA team.
  • established the datadog champions program — a network of team-level datadog experts built through bi-weekly deep dives, labs, and Q&A.
  • migrated the statsig event-log queue to a go-backed sidecar, decoupling event delivery from monolith deploys.

security & incident response

  • deployed AWS WAF targeted bot control during a live spam incident — eliminated ~25% above-normal traffic, rule promoted to permanent block mode.
  • spearheaded incident tabletop exercises for 37 cross-functional responders — +1.48 avg competency gain (2.93 → 4.41), 9.03/10 exercise effectiveness, 100% rated overall quality ≥ 4/5.
  • architected acuity's dedicated transactional email domain (route53/ACM/ALB + sendgrid with SPF/DKIM/DMARC), isolating client traffic and protecting sender reputation.
Selected ADRs/RFCs: acuity service architecture · SOA secrets management (ESO) · ULID for SOA primary keys · AWS WAF targeted bot control · acuity custom instrumentation · incident tabletop exercises · datadog champions
Stack: go, aws (eks, lambda, sns/sqs), kubernetes, terraform, datadog, aurora mysql

engineering manager · tech lead · senior software engineer

kion · fulton, MD

jan 2020—may 2022
  • architected an AWS EC2 reserved-instance dashboard tracking usage across many accounts sharing reservations — enabled finance teams to right-size commitments (go / angular 2+ / mysql).
  • productionized a cloud compliance scanning feature surfacing policy violations across customer AWS accounts.
  • contributed to the cloud custodian open-source project (python) — unblocked azure govcloud support for enterprise customers.
Stack: go, angular, python, mysql, aws

software engineer sr.

lockheed martin · space systems · rockville, MD

mar 2014—jan 2020
  • engineered PHP application features for space systems mission tooling, supporting cross-program operations at scale.
  • authored technical writing and security review documentation (HP fortify) adopted across the program for compliance.
Stack: php, mysql, hp fortify

Education

B.S. Computer Science — University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) (December 2013)

Skills

languages
go, php, python, typescript, sql
cloud & platform
aws, eks, lambda, sns/sqs, kubernetes, helm, argocd, terraform, drone ci, backstage
observability & incident
datadog, pagerduty, rootly, SLO / MTTD / MTTR
ai tooling
claude code, cursor, custom skills & slash commands, MCPs
patterns & infra
SOA, microservices, event-driven, REST, docker
email & identity
sendgrid, SPF / DKIM / DMARC, stripe, twilio

Selected Projects

argus · in progress · 2026

a dashboard of everything i use to get better at working with AI.

argus is a single dashboard for tracking the half-dozen feeds i check throughout the day. named after the hundred-eyed watchman because that's what a good dashboard is.

the project under the project is studying my own ai workflow — what claude is good at, what i should keep my hands on, where the seams are.

Tags: dashboard, claude code, self-tooling · Stack: go, react, postgres
https://github.com/meowmix1337/argus

beads ui · in progress · 2026

jira-shaped ticketing with a built-in agent that executes the tickets.

beads ui is a frontend for a small ticketing system with one twist: an agent embedded in the workflow that can pick up a ticket, propose a plan, and execute it. the UI is the seam between human-managed work and agent-executed work.

the open question is what controls a ticketing system needs when half the assignees are agents. plan approval, diff review on completion, audit trails. still figuring it out.

Tags: react, agents, tooling · Stack: typescript, react, agent runtime
https://github.com/meowmix1337/beads-ui

dmv housing hub · shipped · 2026

publicly-available housing data for DC, maryland, and virginia — in one place.

an information hub that pulls together publicly-available housing data across the DC / maryland / virginia area into a single navigable surface. originally built because the existing references were scattered across a dozen government PDFs.

the design goal was navigability over comprehensiveness — a person looking for first-time buyer programs should not have to read a fifty-page document to know where to start.

Tags: civic, data, next.js · Stack: next.js, typescript, postgres
https://dmv-housing.davevan.dev/https://github.com/meowmix1337/dmv_housing_hub

contraction tracker · shipped · 2026

tracked my wife's contractions on the way to the hospital.

a one-screen web app for timing the duration and frequency of contractions, with a big tap target, large readable timing, and an export-as-csv button.

created the app right before my wife started active labor. shipped because someone else may find it useful.

Tags: pwa, tiny, personal · Stack: react, pwa, localstorage
https://contraction.davevan.dev/https://github.com/meowmix1337/contraction_tracker

charades generator · shipped · 2025

family charades, with score and time tracked.

a small web app that gives you a fresh charades prompt with a single tap, keeps score, and runs the round timer. built because the family plays charades from time to time and tracking score on a napkin gets old.

no accounts, no ads, no analytics. opens fast, works offline.

Tags: web, family, tiny · Stack: react, vanilla
https://charades.davevan.dev/https://github.com/meowmix1337/charades_generator