// product engineer · full stack · builder

Robert Stumborg.
I build things that work.

Full stack product engineer. I've spent 15 years building the kind of software other businesses run on; SaaS platforms, mobile apps, ML pipelines, operational tools. I work best when I own the full surface: architecture through deployment.

Languages

  • Python
  • PHP
  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • SQL

Backend

  • FastAPI
  • Django
  • Symfony
  • Laravel
  • Express.js
  • PostgreSQL

Frontend

  • React
  • React Native
  • Next.js
  • Angular
  • Vue.js

Infrastructure

  • Docker
  • CI/CD
  • Linux
  • Bash
  • Git
  • GitHub Actions
  • REST APIs

Product & Design

  • Figma
  • Illustrator
  • Wireframing
  • Conversion Optimization
  • Growth Marketing
CostDetect
Grocery prices vary significantly across retailers, but comparing them accurately means solving a hard data normalization problem — every store uses different product naming, categorization, and units. CostDetect tackles this with an ML classification layer that normalizes products on the fly, making cross-store comparison reliable without manual curation. Built the full stack: React Native frontend, Laravel API, and a Python/PyTorch pipeline for product categorization.
React Native Laravel Python PyTorch NumPy
Email Campaign Platform
A multi-tenant email campaign management platform used operationally by affiliate networks, before "SaaS" was the common term for it. Handled contact segmentation, A/B split testing with results tracking, and high-volume delivery via PowerMTA. My first experience building software other businesses depended on operationally, and the origin of my understanding of how technology and marketing intersect at scale.
PHP MySQL PowerMTA
rateprowler
When running large-scale scraping pipelines against retailer APIs without documented rate limits, buying too few proxies wastes money, too many wastes more. rateprowler probes an API systematically to empirically estimate its rate ceiling, so you can size infrastructure to match reality rather than guesswork. Built from a real operational need during high-volume data collection work.
Go SQLite
maildir Open Source
Tasked with processing a large archive of email content stored in maildir format, I built a PHP library to handle the standard correctly: performant, storage-efficient, and clean enough to open source afterward. Now available for anyone building maildir processing into PHP-based applications.
PHP Open Source
tld
CLI tool for quickly searching available domains across nearly every TLD and gTLD. Built for people who live in the terminal and want to brainstorm domain names without touching a browser.
Python
CommentGPT
Input a YouTube URL, select a tone, get a contextually relevant comment generated from the video content. A practical experiment with OpenAI's API, built to explore LLM capabilities concretely rather than theoretically.
Express.js OpenAI
Unicode Browser
Web tool for exploring the Unicode character space: codepoints, names, descriptions, categories, searchable and filterable. Inspired by discovering Private Use Areas in NerdFonts and wanting to understand the full shape of the Unicode standard.
TypeScript SCSS
POST Image
Browser extension (Chrome + Firefox) for uploading images via right-click context menu. The resulting URL opens in a new tab and/or copies to clipboard based on user preferences. One of those small tools that removes daily friction.
HTML CSS JavaScript
TUIO MOST RECENT
Full Stack Developer
Core engineer on a small team building a financial SaaS platform for private academic institutions. Primarily focused on the invoicing, transaction, and payment fee subsystems — architecture, refactoring, and ongoing development of the platform's core revenue-generating logic.
Skills
PHP SQL Angular
Highlights
  • Restructured the platform's payment architecture to support multiple processors, then built one integration end-to-end and led the team through a second, including merchant boarding, webhooks, and fund distribution
  • Refactored the transaction fee calculation engine and built an automated test suite that validates against a QA spreadsheet, achieving comprehensive coverage across billing configurations
  • Developed and implemented a credits system for the platform (data model, API, transaction logic, and refund handling) integrated into the existing invoicing and payment pipeline
  • Automated multiple internal billing processes, including transaction fee and recovery fee invoicing, replacing manual workflows with scheduled platform features that generate and deliver invoices automatically
  • Conducted technical interviews for developer and QA candidates, mentored team members through code reviews, and delivered team presentations on automatic testing and AI workflows
Sept 2023 → Jan 2026
CostDetect
Software Architect · Full Stack Developer
Originally engaged through stumb digital as a contract project, then transitioned to a full-time role. Built the complete platform: React Native frontend, Laravel API backend, and a Python/PyTorch ML pipeline for grocery product categorization. Responsible for architecture, implementation, and iteration across the full stack.
Skills
React Native Laravel Python PyTorch d3.js SQL
Highlights
  • Built the platform from scratch — React Native mobile app, Laravel API, and a Python/PyTorch ML classification pipeline that normalized product data across retailers with different naming, categorization, and units
  • Designed data visualization layer using d3.js to surface pricing trends and cross-retailer comparisons, turning raw scraped data into actionable insights for users
  • Established data quality validation pipelines to ensure accuracy and completeness of ingested retailer pricing data across heterogeneous sources
2020 → Aug 2023
stumb digital
Freelance Full Stack Developer · Founder
Independent consultancy delivering custom web and mobile software for clients across various industries. Consistent theme: small teams with real operational problems that needed real software solutions, not templates.
Skills
Laravel PHP React Native MySQL jQuery JavaScript
Highlights
  • Engaged CostDetect as a client, building the initial platform architecture that grew into a full-time product role
  • Managed full project lifecycles from client consultation and requirements gathering through deployment and ongoing maintenance across multiple concurrent engagements
Jun 2016 → Mar 2020
Responsive Distribution, Inc.
Full Stack Developer · Product Designer
Worked across product, development, and design for a distribution company running high-traffic DTC ecommerce operations. Built and maintained the web platforms driving daily sales, while managing product direction, affiliate partnerships, and campaign performance.
Skills
PHP CodeIgniter UltraCart Illustrator
Highlights
  • Helped scale a DTC consumer brand to $25k/day in revenue, managing product, affiliate partnerships, campaign performance, and margins across the full operation
  • Built and maintained high-traffic ecommerce storefronts with shopping cart, payment processing, and product search functionality on UltraCart
  • Designed marketing assets and product creatives in Illustrator, working across the full funnel from ad creative to landing page to checkout
Feb 2013 → May 2016
Stumborg Web Solutions, Inc.
Freelance Developer · Digital Marketer
Freelance development for clients alongside running independent affiliate marketing operations. Applied the platform-building and high-volume email experience from Intermark Media to my own campaigns while delivering custom software for external clients.
Skills
PHP CodeIgniter Laravel MySQL jQuery Marketing
Highlights
  • Built a dynamic quiz and landing page generator for ringtone campaigns, producing artist-specific funnels at scale for a client
  • Ran independent affiliate marketing campaigns at scale, applying platform-building and high-volume email experience to generate revenue across multiple verticals
2007 → Feb 2013
Intermark Media
Web Developer
First full-time role, at an affiliate marketing company. Built internal platforms that the business ran on daily, including tools for cross-network data exchange and email campaign operations.
Skills
PHP CodeIgniter jQuery MySQL PowerMTA
Highlights
  • Built a multi-tenant data exchange platform used by marketing companies to share and route lead data between networks -- effectively a B2B SaaS product before the term was mainstream
  • Developed an internal platform for creating, managing, and sending email campaigns at scale using PowerMTA for high-volume delivery, used as core operational tooling across the business
  • Collaborated with marketing and business development teams to translate campaign requirements into technical solutions, optimizing email deliverability and building reporting dashboards for performance tracking
Nov 2008 → Sep 2010
Download CV →

Let's talk.

I'm currently open to new roles and select consulting projects. If you're building something interesting, especially in fintech, edtech, or anything at the intersection of the two, I'd like to hear about it.