Nathan Heskew

Building Internet Things

Professional Summary

Technical leader and distributed systems architect with deep expertise building high-performance platforms and developer tools at scale. Strong focus on Node.js, real-time systems, and developer experience.

Experienced across the full spectrum from 0-to-1 product development at startups to evolving enterprise platforms through multiple growth phases.

Professional Experience

Harper

Node.js Software Engineer (2025 - Present)

Contributing to Harper's open-source Node.js performance platform that unifies database, cache, application, and messaging layers into a single in-memory process.

Built the OAuth plugin (@harperdb/oauth)—a complete OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect authentication system with multi-provider support (GitHub, Google, Azure AD, Auth0, Okta), automatic token refresh, lifecycle hooks for user provisioning, and CSRF protection
Contributing to Harper core development as the platform transitions to open-source-first architecture for the v5 release
Building and maintaining documentation infrastructure

Microsoft

Senior Software Engineer (2022 - 2025)

Architected and led development of learn.microsoft.com's Node.js-based rendering layer serving 77M monthly active users and 200M pageviews, migrating from static HTML generation to SSR for greater flexibility and tighter feature integration
Designed distributed build and release pipeline architecture that reduced deployment times while improving reliability
Implemented multi-environment deployment strategy supporting development, staging, and production environments across global regions
Built developer tooling and documentation that improved team velocity and reduced onboarding time
Led architectural improvements to video processing pipeline, reducing transcoding time while maintaining quality
Enhanced video delivery system supporting HLS/DASH formats with improved global content delivery performance

Senior Software Engineering Manager (2020 - 2022)

Continued development of rendering layer for Microsoft's developer documentation platform
Mentored intern who won internal hackathon with server-side rendering proof-of-concept, which later influenced production architecture
Established technical standards and review processes that improved system reliability
Guided team's adoption of automated testing and continuous deployment practices

Senior Software Engineer (2019 - 2020)

Initiated and led the development of a new rendering layer for docs.microsoft.com (now learn.microsoft.com)

SkewTech, LLC

Founder (2015 - 2023)

Independent consultancy specializing in distributed systems architecture and cloud-native transformations.

Epoch

Senior Software Engineer (2016 - 2018)

Architected high-throughput payment processing services using Node.js microservices
Implemented PCI-DSS compliant workflows with end-to-end encryption
Built scalable infrastructure using AWS, Docker, and Kubernetes

NearForm

Software Architect (2015 - 2016)

Led strategy to modernize monolithic Java system into Node.js microservices
Designed incremental migration path enabling gradual adoption
Established patterns for legacy system evolution and integration

Joy the App

Senior Software Engineer (2015)

Built real-time synchronization between clients using WebSockets for seamless collaborative experiences across web and mobile
Developed scalable backend services with Firebase and Azure
Contributed to Android app development and infrastructure

Tagboard

Senior Software Engineer (2013 - 2015)

Built real-time social data aggregation system using Node.js and MongoDB
Implemented Redis caching strategies, optimizing performance and reducing API costs
Implemented WebSocket connections for real-time social data updates, reducing latency for live event displays
Early adoption of Hapi.js for reliable web services

Microsoft

Senior Software Development Engineer (2006 - 2012)

2011-2012: Led development of Azure developer portal and billing systems frontend
2009-2011: Co-founded Orchard CMS project, architecting admin interface and UI composition engine
2008-2009: Led development of Oxite, the open-source CMS that powered Channel9 and MIX
2006-2008: Created JavaScript framework for MSN properties with performance optimizations for high-traffic web properties

University of Washington Bothell

Web Application Developer (2000 - 2005)

Architected and developed web applications using Perl, MySQL, and Yellow Dog Linux
Managed web and database server administration
Built and maintained critical university web infrastructure

Technical Skills

Core Expertise: Distributed Systems Architecture, Web Performance, API Design, Real-time Data Processing, Cloud Infrastructure (AWS, Azure), Container Orchestration

Server Technologies: Node.js/TypeScript, C#/.NET, Java, Go, Redis, MongoDB, MySQL, Linux/Windows Server

Cloud & Security: AWS Services, Azure Platform, OAuth 2.0/OIDC, Payment Systems Security, PCI-DSS, Zero Trust Architecture

Frontend & UI: React/Next.js, WebSockets, Server-Side Rendering, Progressive Web Apps, Web Performance Optimization, Accessibility

Leadership: Technical Strategy, Architecture Modernization, Team Mentorship, Platform Design