Résumé

Tjakoen Stolk

Software engineering lead and part-time software engineering teacher.

I direct, Claude types.

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Software engineering lead and part-time computer science teacher. I build production software and AI-first interfaces, lead engineers as a manager and tech lead, and teach the next batch of developers on the side.

Experience

  1. Technical Team Lead

    Career Team Sep 2025 to Present

    United States, remote

    Both people-manager and technical lead for the team, working AI-first.

    • Worked as both people-manager and technical lead, a scope usually split across two roles, connecting day-to-day engineering with longer-term architecture.
    • Manage and mentor a team of engineers and product specialists, working AI-first to ship faster.
    • Build full-stack solutions (Next, Nest, MongoDB) on AWS microservices.
    • Made key architectural calls on the architecture team and ran code reviews across engineering to hold a consistent bar for quality and maintainability.
    • Built solutions for US government and education clients aimed at lowering barriers to employment.
    • Turned social-impact goals into concrete technical specs, working with product, design, and leadership.

  2. College Instructor

    Holy Angel University Jun 2025 to Present

    Angeles, Philippines, on-site

    Teach software engineering to 150 to 300 students a term.

    • Teach and mentor 150 to 300 students a term on software engineering, modern frameworks, design systems, and architecture.
    • Teach three subjects this term: Application and System Integration (APSI), front-end work in JavaScript and React; Introduction to Web Development (INTROWEB), first code in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript; and Application Development and Emerging Technologies (ADET), Dart through Flutter.
    • Built full-stack web and mobile curricula: Dart, Flutter, Web, React, Vue on the frontend; Node, Express, PHP, MySQL on the backend.
    • Previously taught Software Engineering Implementation and Management, connecting theory to real agile practice.

  3. Chief Technology Officer

    PH Live Music Oct 2024 to Jun 2025

    Remote, hybrid

    Built a new platform from zero with the CEO and grew the founding team.

    • Set the technology roadmap and built a new platform from zero, working directly with the CEO.
    • Ran the product from idea to launch, hands-on to unblock engineering and ship.
    • Recruited, scaled, and mentored the founding engineering and leadership team.

    • Director of Information Technology

      Broadheader IT Solutions Oct 2024 to Jan 2025

      Angeles, Philippines

      Co-founded and built the agency's engineering arm.

      • Co-founded and built the agency's engineering arm; the team was later acquired by PH Live Music.
      • Designed technical strategy and system design for greenfield client applications.
      • Set the initial engineering culture and standards: git-flow workflows and agile tracking.

      • Operations Manager

        Vers Architecture Aug 2023 to Oct 2024

        Angeles, Philippines

        Built operations from scratch and scaled to onboard a large BPO client.

        • Built operations from scratch and scaled infrastructure to onboard and support a large BPO client.
        • Designed business-process systems that cut operational bottlenecks.
        • Directed procurement, resource allocation, and cross-functional leadership against client SLAs.
        • Led go-to-market and marketing during growth phases, connecting operations to business development.

        • Sales and Marketing Lead

          Taskforce Outsourcing Jan 2023 to Aug 2023

          Angeles, Philippines

          Built the first sales and marketing setup and a repeatable pipeline.

          • Built the company's first sales and marketing setup from scratch, with a client-acquisition system that gave the business a steady, predictable pipeline.
          • Started the company's social presence and paid-ads strategy, running the first campaigns to find and convert enterprise leads.
          • Standardized the sales lifecycle: the sales process, client proposals, and service contracts.
          • Ran the corporate WordPress site to bring in inbound traffic and leads.
          • Recruited, trained, and managed a small sales and marketing team, aligned to the company's growth targets.

          • Sales and Marketing Manager, Co-owner

            Small Anawangin Beach Apr 2018 to Jan 2023

            Zambales, Philippines

            Co-ran a family resort's operations and its whole digital footprint.

            • Co-managed resort operations and commercial strategy with family stakeholders, growing bookings and the guest experience across the seasons.
            • Built the resort's digital footprint from scratch: the official website and a strong organic social presence.
            • Ran the resort's paid-ads strategy, with campaigns that turned social engagement into steady bookings.
            • Set up and integrated a central booking system across Airbnb, OTA platforms, and direct channels.

            • Associate Software Engineer

              Torocloud Apr 2017 to Apr 2018

              Clark, Philippines

              First job, recruited before graduation onto an enterprise software team.

              • Recruited in my third university year, before graduation, onto a fast-paced enterprise software team.
              • Learned production practice: version control, clean architecture, and agile methods.
              • Worked on core software components and took part in rigorous code review.
              • Balanced a full course load with the job before shifting to a family business.
              Education

              1. BS Computer Science

                Holy Angel University 2014 to 2018

                • President of LOOP, the official Computer Science student organization.
                • Top 3rd-year student for academic and technical performance.
                • Best Thesis award for research, architecture, and implementation.
                Skills

                Frontend and Mobile

                Next · React · Flutter · Dart

                Backend

                Nest · Node · Express · PHP · REST

                Databases

                MongoDB · MySQL · PostgreSQL · Supabase · Firebase

                Tools and Methods

                Git · Agile/Scrum · Jira · Apache DevLake · Notion

                Build and AI

                No-build hypermedia · WebLLM / WebGPU · Design systems

                Languages

                English (native) · Filipino (fluent) · Dutch (conversational)

                Certifications
                • Developing on AWS (EnterOne), Oct 2025
                Selected work
                The BREAD stackmy own no-build software stack: BATCH, GRAIN, MILL, PROOF, and PANTRY, built to depend on each other in one direction.
                tjakoen.github.iothis site: a portfolio that runs on the stack it shows you, with an AI desk that operates it.
                GitHub-native teaching platformthe classroom platform I built to automate the grading grind so I could stop drowning and start teaching again.
                Noteslong-form writing on how I actually work with AI, why I went frameworkless, and how I teach.

                The dated history also sits on LinkedIn. The code is on GitHub. The honest long version, failures included, is in the notes.

                Part of tjakoen.github.io, built with itself.

                🤖 Built with Claude. I don't prompt and pray, I prompt and prove. Every commit here is co-authored with an AI, on purpose. How I actually work with AI, receipts and all →