Fractional Software Engineering & Systems Architecture
Using AI Workflows
Helping B2B SaaS and Fintech scale-ups modernize legacy infrastructure, implement Spec-Driven Development, and accelerate delivery — without the overhead of a full-time executive hire.
Why Engineering Teams Partner With RMW LLC
Enterprise-grade architecture built on regulated financial and government environments — Capital One, FINRA, U.S. Dept. of Labor.
AI Operations & Spec-Driven Development
I help your engineering team adopt AI-assisted dev workflows (Claude Code, OpenSpec) safely—establishing context architecture and token cost economics without sacrificing code quality or security.
Cloud Modernization & Cost Optimization
I untangle legacy technical debt, migrate monoliths to cloud-native and serverless architectures, and optimize AWS infrastructure spend so you pay for scale—not idle capacity.
Event-Driven & Scalable Backends
I design decoupled, event-driven streaming pipelines (Kafka, EventBridge, Lambda) that allow your platform to scale reliably as user volume grows—built from experience at Capital One and FINRA.
AI-Assisted Engineering
Compress delivery timelines 2–5× using Claude Code, Spec Driven Development (SDD), and AI workflow integration. I help teams adopt AI tooling in a structured, production-grade way — not as a novelty, but as a core methodology.
AWS Cloud Architecture
Design and implement scalable, cost-optimized AWS architectures: event-driven Lambda pipelines, ECS Fargate services, multi-AZ RDS, S3 data lakes, and full IaC via Terraform. Three AWS Associate certifications — Solutions Architect, Developer, SysOps.
Full-Stack Development
End-to-end application development from API design to polished UI. Python backends (Django, Flask, FastAPI), TypeScript/Node.js services (NestJS, Express), and modern frontends (Angular, React, SolidJS). Spring Boot for JVM-stack teams.
DevOps & Infrastructure
CI/CD pipeline design, Docker containerization, Kubernetes orchestration, and production observability. Proven patterns from Capital One and FINRA: zero-downtime deployments, secret management, structured logging, and alerting.
Data Engineering
Production data pipelines in regulated financial environments. Python ETL pipelines, S3 data lakes, PostgreSQL schema design, event-driven data flows, and real-time stream processing with Kafka. Experience at FINRA where data correctness is a compliance requirement.
Technical Leadership
Architecture decision-making, AI adoption patterns, team mentorship, and cross-functional enablement. Experienced presenting engineering trade-offs to product and tech managers. I help teams build culture and practices that outlast any single project.
Engagement Models
Outcome-based retainers and fixed-scope packages — no hourly tracking, no micromanagement. Every engagement is scoped around your business goals.
Architectural & AI-Speed Audit
Teams needing immediate clarity on technical debt, cloud overspend, or AI integration readiness.
- Deep-dive codebase & infrastructure review
- Spec-Driven Development roadmap
- Cloud cost & security findings report
- 90-minute executive debrief call
Asynchronous Advisory Retainer
Growing teams that need senior architectural oversight without calendar bloat.
- Async architecture reviews (PRDs, specs, RFC sign-offs)
- PRD-to-AI context mapping & SDD guardrails
- Weekly written technical feedback
- Dedicated Slack channel access
Software Engineer & Systems Architect
High-growth scale-ups executing MVPs or scaling existing solutions
- Direct architectural direction & system design
- CI/CD pipeline & SDD guardrail setup
- Full end to end development, deployment, & monitoring
An Async-First, High-Impact Delivery Model
RMW LLC integrates seamlessly into your existing workflows — GitHub, Jira, and Slack — to drive high-value architectural decisions and establish AI development standards. By operating async-first, we deliver principal-level speed and clarity without clogging your team's calendar with daily standups or endless meetings. Engagements are scoped around deliverables, not hours.
Not sure which tier fits?
Start with a 20-minute discovery call — no commitment required.
About
I'm Ryan Waite — a Systems Architect and Software Engineer with over a decade of experience building production systems in regulated, high-stakes environments. My career spans Capital One (fintech), FINRA (financial regulation), and federal agencies where reliability and correctness are non-negotiable.
My current focus is AI-augmented engineering — using Claude Code and Spec Driven Development (SDD) to compress delivery timelines while improving specification precision, test coverage, and architectural coherence. This is a production methodology I use daily at Capital One, not a side experiment.
I hold three AWS Associate certifications (Solutions Architect, Developer, SysOps Admin) and a Master of Science in Cloud Computing Systems. I bring the same rigor to client engagements that Fortune 500 financial institutions demand.
Whether you need a cloud migration roadmap, a new system architected from scratch, or a team enabled to ship faster with AI tooling — I can help you get there.
Education
Technology Stack
Experience
10+ years building production systems at regulated financial institutions, government agencies, and enterprise tech companies.
Capital One
- Architected event-driven system replacing scheduled EventBridge jobs, accelerating client product activations
- Designed unified Kafka schema enabling multiple consumer services to filter and react to specific events
- Improved Docker-first development standards — defined scripts and patterns adopted across the team
- Led modernization of customer-facing portal, owning database and API design end-to-end
- Built SolidJS + Spring Boot internal application to migrate off Salesforce for product intent tracking
- Primary escalation lead — main point of contact for all dependent engineering teams
- Contributed AI adoption patterns to enterprise repository; presented at IC meetings with tech managers
FINRA
- Assisted cloud migration of DDWA UI apps to cloud-native S3 + CloudFront, away from on-premises infrastructure
- Lead developer for DDWA UI — primary maintainer of internal and external regulatory applications
- Co-led rewrite of legacy AngularJS apps to Angular, cutting hosting costs significantly
- Led frontend modernization for NGA — full AngularJS-to-Angular rewrite with Scala backend updates
- Led CSRF security improvements across all UI applications to meet compliance standards
Cloudistics
- Migrated AngularJS to Angular for client-facing portal supporting private cloud architecture
- Incorporated multi-language internationalization support across the application
- Extended portal functionality to provide on-premise-style UX for private cloud workflows
U.S. Dept. of Labor
- Migrated OSHA public, intranet, and whistleblower sites from static HTML to Drupal CMS
- Defined Drupal content types to structure agency publications across regulatory categories
Portfolio
Production-grade projects built end-to-end — from database schema to CI/CD pipeline — using Claude Code and Spec-Driven Development. Both are live and publicly accessible.
A production-grade online museum where artists publish work and audiences discover and support creators directly. Built with a dual-profile model (Viewer + Author), a layered subscription system, Stripe Billing + Connect Express, and CloudFront signed URLs for private media delivery.
A full-featured serverless credit card lending platform with an Angular SPA frontend and a TypeScript Lambda backend. Implements card issuance, credit-check pipelines, statement generation, billing lifecycle management, and JWT-authenticated APIs — all on AWS with zero always-on infrastructure.
Credentials
Three AWS Associate certifications earned in 2025, verified on Credly. Click any card to view the official badge.
AWS Solutions Architect
Designing distributed systems on AWS — compute, storage, database, networking, and high-availability patterns.
AWS Certified Developer
Development and deployment of cloud-native applications using AWS developer tools, SDKs, and CI/CD services.
AWS SysOps Admin
Operations, monitoring, automation, and management of AWS environments at enterprise scale.
AI Operations Expertise
Beyond certifications: practical AI operations skills developed through daily use in a Fortune 500 engineering environment. These are production capabilities — not theoretical.
Ready to Modernize Your Technical Stack?
Schedule a 20-minute discovery call to discuss your architecture challenge or book an initial Tech Audit. I respond within 24 hours.