Steve Birstok

Manager, Software Engineering

Profile

A software engineer/web developer with experience in startup and enterprise.


I like to follow the AGILE development process.


I also utilize:

Skills

Web Development

Assertively apply modern best practices and coding standards.

Interface Design

Credibly streamline mission-critical values into functional / usable design.

Project Direction

Proven ability to lead and manage a wide variety of design and development projects in team and independent situations.

Technical

(including but not limited to...)

  • HTML / CSS
  • Javascript
  • jQuery / React
  • Python
  • PHP
  • GIT / SVN
  • Windows / OS X / *nix
  • Security
  • Forensics (Data Recovery, Log Audit)

Experience

NBCUniversal / Telemundo

Manager, Software Engineering

January 2023 - Present

• Managing large scale migration of articles, galleries, videos, and images into WordPress.
• Managing upgrading from WordPress 5.8.x to 6.1.x while maintaining support for various themes/plugins.

NBCUniversal / Telemundo

Senior Software Engineer

April 2018 - December 2022

• Assisted in migration over to WordPress and WPVIP. ( LINK: Read an article about this migration )
• Working with latest PHP ( 7.3.x, 7.4.x, 7.5.x, 8.0.x )
PHP Code Sniffer.
• Built pipelines using Travis-CI.
• Using various AWS Services: API Gateway, SNS, SQS, Lambda, S3, DynamoDB
• Wrote a plugin for WordPress that sends events to an SNS Topic which powers various other micro services.
• Deployed Production infrastructure using Pulumi..
• Deployed Production infrastructure using Terraform.
• Handled creating various feeds in: XML, RSS, MRSS, JSON.
• Assisted in integrations into various 3rd party services such as:
Apple News
Google Home
Alexa
Apple TV
Roku

NBCUniversal / Telemundo

Software Engineer

November 2015 - April 2018

• Helped maintain backend system known as "Bridge" that migrates content to partners at Broadcast Interactive Media.
• Aided in the launch of 15 rebranded station sites.
• Maintained templates written using Apache Velocity.
• Extended core functionality for various station sites.
• Handled the upgrade of a deprecated Google AdMob SDK for Android L support
www.nbcbayarea.com
www.nbcchicago.com
www.nbcwashington.com
www.nbcdfw.com
www.nbcconnecticut.com
www.nbclosangeles.com
www.nbcnewyork.com
www.nbcphiladelphia.com
www.nbcsandiego.com
www.nbcmiami.com
www.necn.com
www.nbcboston.com
www.cleartheshelters.com
www.thefeast.com
www.cozitv.com
www.telemundoarizona.com
www.telemundoareadelabahia.com
www.telemundoboston.com
www.telemundochicago.com
www.telemundodallas.com
www.telemundodenver.com
www.telemundohouston.com
www.telemundolasvegas.com
www.telemundo52.com
www.telemundo40.com
www.telemundo51.com
www.telemundo47.com
www.telemundo62.com
www.telemundosanantonio.com
www.telemundopr.com
www.telemundo20.com
www.telemundonuevainglaterra.com
www.telemundowashingtondc.com
www.telemundo31.com
www.telemundo49.com
www.telemundo48elpaso.com
www.desocuparlosalbergues.com

BPI Sports

Senior Developer

July 2013 - October 2015

• Handled migration of Laravel 3 application to Laravel 4
• Utilized Composer packages to code a dynamic system that powers multiple domains with a custom coded theme system. This allows the company to rapidly release new pages with powerful functionality and design.
• Coded site authentication with oAuth support for Facebook and Twitter.
• Coded a deal system that allows for dynamic coupon creations on-the-fly.
• Retargeting code for engaging users based on activity on the website.
• Handled MailChimp mailing list.
• MandrilApp integration.
• Helped re-brand multiple sites / sister companies.
• Military user authentication (via ID.me) and discount system.
http://bpisports.net
http://imagesportsdirect.com
http://pronutra.net

Web Services, LLC.

Senior Developer

Mid 2011 - June 2013

• Renovated an old voting platform from an outdated version of CodeIgniter / Bonfire to a modern PHP5 framework, Laravel. The project utilizes many industry standards such as: schema.org tags for better SEO, Twitter Bootstrap for styling, jQuery for javascript animations and popovers. (http://vote.local10.com, http://4thebest.clickondetroit.com)
• Created back-end scrapers and front-end GUIs for various state data sites including: Broward County / Miami-Dade / Pasco County / Florida mugshots (http://mugshots.local10.com), Florida Restaurant Inspections and Emergency Closings (http://restaurantinspections.local10.com), Florida Sex Offenders (http://sexoffenders.local10.com), and many others. Of these, some included a hand-built RESTFUL API that powers mobile apps.
• Created a backend RESTFUL API for voting platform that allows secure transfer of JSON data between server and mobile app. This enabled features such as voting and registration from anywhere.
• iOS / Android apps for Voting Platform

E.M.B. Information System Corp.

Junior Developer

Late 2010 - Early 2011

• IIS installation, with MySQL support.
• Utilized IronRuby (a Ruby framework with .NET support) to create a cross-platform tool which read templates written in YAML and provided dialog-based applications for Windows, Linux, Mac, and Web.

Artisian Designs

Lead Developer

Mid 2010

• Helped refresh client websites, bringing modern designs back where sites may have lost their "luster."
• Renovated a footwear company’s stock system providing a better link between their warehouse and online shopping cart.

Exploit Discovery

LastPass by LogMeIn

Denial of Service Exploit

CVE-2018-10193 (mitre.org) | CVE-2018-10193 (VulnDB) | CVE-2018-10193 (nvd.nist.gov)

Other Recognitions

Hacker News

YCombinator

One of my old blog posts (no longer available) was front-page of news.ycombinator.com: https://news.ycombinator.com/front?day=2011-09-03 (scroll down to #29.)

Education

Broward College - Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Computer Information Systems


DeVry University - Miramar, Florida

Computer Information Systems w/ a focus on Information Security

Steve Birstok — [email protected]