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James Stearns

@jamesstearns

I build production data platforms, AI systems, and full-stack features that improve reliability and performance.

At Airbnb, I design and ship full-stack features spanning backend APIs, real-time data pipelines, and responsive React frontends. I own client-facing data delivery infrastructure, access controls, exports, and production reliability.

Previously at HealthTap, I shipped five production automated capabilities using Python, FastAPI, Flask, and TypeScript, while building verification pipelines, billing microservices, and privacy-conscious client interfaces. I use Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex to accelerate prototyping and rigorously review changes before production.

Across HealthTap and Amazon, I've built data-heavy applications, REST APIs, transactional systems, cloud automation, and database architectures. My query, indexing, and caching work improved endpoint and database throughput by 30%.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Senior Software Engineer

Current

Airbnb

Jan 2024 - Present (2 years 8 months)

Design and ship fullstack features across backend APIs, real-time data pipelines, and responsive React frontends. Own client-facing data delivery networks and platform infrastructure, ensuring production reliability and optimal query performance.

Python fastAPI Flask TypeScript React PostgreSQL AWS Docker Git CI CD Monorepo Data Modeling Query Performance System Design Code Review Mentorship

Applied AI Engineer

HealthTap

Jul 2021 - Dec 2023 (2 years 5 months)

Shipped 5 production-grade automated capabilities within an agile data platform startup environment. Utilized coding agents to accelerate feature prototyping and system design, and deployed scalable distributed features on AWS.

Python fastAPI Flask TypeScript AWS AWS ECS Amazon SQS Lambda S3 AI Coding Agent Claude Code Cursor Codex CRUD Applications Billing Microservices Data Privacy

Software Engineer

HealthTap

Jul 2019 - Jun 2021 (1 year 11 months)

Engineered full-stack, data-heavy software applications and core platform infrastructures using Python, Django, Node.js, TypeScript, and React. Streamlined relational and non-relational database structures to boost endpoint throughput by 30%.

Python Django NodeJS TypeScript React PostgreSQL MongoDB SQL Schema Design Query Performance Frontend Development Accessibility

Full Stack Engineer

Amazon

Aug 2017 - Jun 2019 (1 year 10 months)

Shipped 25+ production features across transactional e-commerce platforms and client-facing data delivery workflows. Configured automated cloud provisioning pipelines and implemented robust unit and integration testing.

Fullstack Development Ecommerce Cloud Provisioning Serverless Unit Testing Integration Testing Transaction Logging AWS

Backend Developer

Amazon

Jun 2015 - Jun 2017 (2 years)

Constructed and supported over 25 back-end REST API endpoints and data-heavy transactional services built on Java/Spring and Node.js. Optimized database query delivery by 30% through SQL tuning and index optimization.

Java Spring Framework NodeJS REST APIs SQL Query Tuning Index Tuning Caching