Rob Montero

Rob Montero

Mexico City, Mexico

+1 408 598 1762  · +52 (55) 4580 2791
r@rob.cr · https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmontero

Professional Experience

Andela

Director of Engineering / Head of the Software Engineering Talent Match Practice

July 2024 – Present, New York, NY USA (Remote)

Andela is a mission-driven, well-funded global talent marketplace that connects brilliance with opportunity, helping world-class companies tap into engineering expertise from emerging economies. Backed by top-tier investors and trusted by Fortune 500 enterprises, Andela has created measurable impact by enabling thousands of engineers to contribute to transformative projects across industries. This mission aligns directly with my personal passion and professional journey over the last 15 years, where I have focused on raising the bar for engineering excellence across Latin America and other underrepresented regions. My career has been dedicated to building high-performing teams, elevating technical standards, and creating opportunities for talent in emerging economies to thrive on the global stage.

Mentored and coached engineers into AI-assisted, forward-deployed engineering consultants, equipping them with generative AI tools and practices to deliver faster, higher-quality outcomes for clients.

Lead Andela’s global Software Engineering Talent Match practice, matching thousands of engineers to Fortune 500 clients across fintech, healthtech, edtech, and enterprise SaaS.

Designed and scaled a vetting framework that improved client satisfaction scores by 30% and reduced time-to-hire by 25%, directly impacting multimillion-dollar contracts.

Partner with executive leadership and client CTOs to shape engineering org structures, role definitions, and technical assessments, ensuring alignment with client outcomes.

Introduced AI-assisted vetting workflows and collaborated with the cross-functional team, building our AI-enabled matching engine, accelerating throughput while maintaining quality across LATAM, India, and Africa.

Hands-on in technical validation: regularly evaluate, vet, and coach candidates in React, Node.js, Java, Python, AWS, Kubernetes, and API-driven systems, ensuring technical depth matches client needs.

Directly influenced Andela’s LATAM growth strategy, launching tech-specific and AI-focused squads to capture new market share and expand into underrepresented regions.

Zivtech

Director of Engineering

March 2023 – July 2024, Philadelphia, PA USA (Remote)

Zivtech is a full-service digital agency specializing in enterprise web design, open-source CMS/DXP, and custom application development across healthcare, higher education, and financial services.

Scaled engineering delivery by introducing structured Agile and DevOps practices that improved sprint predictability by 35% and reduced production incidents by 40%.

Partnered with client CTOs to replatform legacy CMS systems onto Drupal 10/11 and headless architectures (React/Next.js + GraphQL), which increased content team efficiency and improved SEO visibility by 25%.

Designed and delivered a cloud-native API platform for a higher education client, implementing best practices like exponential backoff retry logic and breaker switch patterns, enabling scalable data integration and improved student and faculty research experiences.

Partnered with design agencies to optimize time to market speeds in their consumer goods publishing platform. Maintaining uptime and securing the supply chain of dependencies.

Defined OKRs for engineering excellence around code quality, release frequency, and client satisfaction, achieving 95%+ client satisfaction scores across all major engagements.

Phase2 Technology

Director of Engineering

January 2016 – March 2023, DC Metro Area, USA (Remote)

Phase2 Technology is a digital agency rooted in technology, passionate about customer experience, and grounded in data and insights, dedicated to advancing the human experience through holistic digital solutions for health organizations and category-defining clients, driven by a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and impactful digital products that reach over 14 million people daily.

Architected and delivered multi-tenant SaaS platforms leveraging Drupal, Node.js microservices, AWS, Kubernetes, and ElasticSearch, supporting traffic spikes of 5M+ monthly visits without downtime.

Directed digital transformation programs for enterprise clients, including Hazel Health, Northwell Health, and U.S. healthcare systems, enabling them to boost patient engagement and improve patient NPS scores.

Defined engineering OKRs that drove a 20% increase in velocity, a 30% reduction in defects, and a significant decrease in time-to-market for high-impact initiatives.

Established global engineering delivery centers in LATAM and APAC, growing teams to 100+ engineers, and reducing client ramp-up time by 40%.

Led enterprise API integration programs with Salesforce, NetSuite, and third-party services, unlocking new revenue streams and improving operational efficiency.

Advocated for diversity and inclusion in technical hiring, increasing representation of women and underrepresented groups by 20% in engineering roles.

Achieve Internet    

Senior Web Engineer

2009 – 2016, San Diego, CA, USA (On site, H1B work visa)

Achieve Internet is a premier provider in Enterprise Drupal Architecture, integration, and module customization including social media features with localization and mobile content delivery with proven expertise in scalability of high-traffic websites allowing them to supply enterprise-level solutions for the most demanding environments.

Delivered enterprise-grade digital experiences for Fortune 500 organizations including Disney, Experian, and Dexcom, helping them engage target audiences across diverse industries and digital channels.

Engineered cloud-native solutions with robust ETL pipelines and data migration frameworks, enabling clients to securely modernize legacy systems, streamline operations, and scale efficiently.

Other Experience

2001 – 2019, San José, Costa Rica

Developed a robust career in software development and engineering, specializing in enterprise-level solutions, DXP, CMS, ERP and CRM integrations.

• Managed multi-national teams, facilitated communication, and ensured high-quality project delivery.
• Led teams to build high-demand web applications, integrated third-party APIs, and optimized development processes, enhancing both team performance and client satisfaction.
• Created digital experiences using low code / no code solutions like WebFlow, Wix, and AirTable.

Education

ULACIT: Latin American University of Science and Technology
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering
1999 - 2004, Costa Rica

Certifications

• Acquia Certified Engineer: 7x (Front End Specialist and Back End Specialist)
• Contentful Certified: 2022, enhancing expertise in headless CMS solutions.

Technical Skills

Expert:

• Languages & Frameworks: PHP (Laravel, Symfony, FrankenPHP), JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, React.js, GraphQL, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle.
• Architecture & Platforms: Software & Systems Architecture, Microservices, API Development (REST, NestJS, Swagger, gRPC), API Gateways (Kong, Apigee)'
• DevOps & Cloud: Docker, Kubernetes (K8s), Ansible, CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Jenkins), Agile/Scrum, Serverless Architectures
• CMS & DXP: Drupal (7–11), Contentful, Enterprise CMS/DXP integrations
• Search & Analytics: ElasticSearch, Apache Solr, ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana), Google Analytics, Matomo
• Front-End & UX: Tailwind JIT, Design Systems, Webpack, AJAX, Responsive Design, Figma, Wireframing, Rapid Prototyping
• Security & Auth: IAM, SSO, SAML, OAuth2, User Authentication

Proficient:

• Languages & Frameworks: Python, Django, Django REST Framework (DRF), FastAPI, MERN stack (MongoDB, Express, React, Node), NoSQL (MongoDB, DynamoDB, Firestore)
• Cloud & Infra: AWS (Lambda, ECS, RDS, S3, SageMaker), Azure (Functions, AKS, CosmosDB), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Terraform, Lagoon
• Observability & Monitoring: Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus, New Relic, Sentry, Kibana dashboards, Application Performance Monitoring (APM)
• Testing & QA: Mocha, Jest, PyTest, Cypress, Selenium, Postman, Pact, Visual Regression Testing (BackstopJS, Percy), Automated QA frameworks
• Performance & Scalability: Caching strategies, CDN optimization, high-availability architecture

Practitioner / Emerging Tech:

• AI & ML: Generative AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Amazon Q), AI-powered IDEs & DevTools (Cursor, Windsurf, Kiro, GitHub Copilot), PyTorch, TensorFlow, MLOps (model deployment, monitoring)
• Blockchain & Emerging: Web3, Smart Contracts, Crypto integrations
• Innovation Practices: Proof of Concept builds, Rapid Prototyping, AI-accelerated engineering workflows

Language

• English – Fluent speaker, reader, and writer.
• Spanish – Native

References

Available upon request.