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Ben Hancock Software Engineer
Technical Experience
Jun 2024 – present

Inflect is an open-source stream processing framework for Kafka that simplifies stateless event transformations

between microservices in an event-driven architecture

  • •Engineered a custom Javascript stream processor capable of transforming 40,000+ events per second per app instance
  • •Deployed Kubernetes infrastructure that dynamically scales from 1 to 50+ instances to optimize real-time event processing efficiency under fluctuating workloads, achieving peaks of 500,000+ events per second confirmed by load testing
  • •Implemented strategic caching and parallel batch processing of Kafka events to resolve event pipeline bottlenecks caused by event fetching overhead, increasing throughput by 4x
  • •Designed React dashboard for defining, testing, updating, and managing multi-step transformation pipelines
  • •Implemented functionality for mock event generation to reduce time-to-production by 50% and improve visibility into real-time event processing
  • •Architected Node.js backend and PostgreSQL database system to enable seamless pausing, resumption, and real-time updates of transformation pipelines in production environments
  • •Integrated Prometheus instrumentation for system monitoring/observability and performance optimization
  • •Automated a 15+ step deployment process, streamlining setup of containerization, database initialization, monitoring, and auto-scaling components, resulting in an estimated 90% time savings per deployment
  • •Authored Inflect's technical case study (inflect-framework.github.io )

    • Netlify CLI is an open-source tool for managing and automating Netlify workflows with 100,000+ weekly downloads

  • •Delivered major updates to 6 Netlify CLI commands across 10+ fixed issues, improving command functionality and stability.
  • •Eliminated redundant operations in template-based site creation by restructuring API call flow with input validation, improved error handling, and enhanced modularization
  • •Resolved shell compatibility issues with the completion feature by troubleshooting external dependencies, implementing zsh autocompletion setup, and enhancing user output clarity
  • •Implemented comprehensive integration tests, expanding test coverage and enhancing reliability by leveraging the project's native testing infrastructure
  • •Supported migration to TypeScript by addressing persistent type errors, enhancing code quality and maintainability
  • •Collaborated with Netlify engineers to validate proposals and ensure quality, and shared comprehensive issue reports with external users, ensuring clear communication and alignment among stakeholders
  • •Developed an auto-linking feature for template-based site creation, addressing a longstanding user request and streamlining user experience.
    • Software Engineer, Open Source
    2022 – 2024

    Developed open-source projects, including:

  • •Webhook Inspector - a real-time tool for receiving and debugging webhooks built with Javascript, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Express, and React
  • •Wordman - a word list manager for crossword constructors built with Python and Flask API, capable of handling 10,000,000+ words across dozens of lists
    • Skills And Technologies
    Backend

    Node.js, Python, Ruby, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, REST APIs, Linux, Flask API, Express, Axios

    Cloud

    Kubernetes, Kafka, Netlify, Confluent, Digital Ocean, Heroku, AWS (EC2, EKS, RDS, ALB, MSK)

    Frontend

    React, Javascript, HTML/CSS, Handlebars, TypeScript, jQuery

    Other

    Git/GitHub, Docker, Webhooks, Prometheus, Grafana, Vitest, Jest, Nginx, Bash, HTTP, OOP

    Education
    University of Kentucky, B.A., Political Science
    Lexington, KY