Neal Gist

Designing and building a turn-based 4X grand-strategy game in a fantasy setting using Unreal Engine 5 with C++ and Blueprints.

Elected board member managing accounting and dealings with government entities, utilities, and vendors.

Designed, built, and launched a subscription SaaS for permaculture design, including a relational database, Guild Creator, and real-time design feedback. Solo-architected the full stack from data model to deployment.

Founded a game and comic shop, growing it into a profitable brick-and-mortar store with zero outside capital. Managed staff, inventory, vendors, point of sale, marketing, and accounting.

Sole engineer architecting three products in five months: a map-based Roof Designer & Cost Estimator, an installer CRM, and an AI sales chatbot. Owned backend, CI/CD, data architecture, E2E systems, UI/UX, and product roadmap.

Led architecture and engineering of two greenfield projects, architected over 50% of reusable frontend infrastructure, and engineered a full-stack chat platform. Mentored senior frontend engineers.

Led a mobile team of four senior engineers building a greenfield React Native crypto portfolio app. 75% hands-on engineering, 25% architecture, mentorship, interviewing, and PR review.

Architected 100% of a greenfield student enrollment system within a domain-driven-design codebase. Full-stack contributor on the learning portal.

Re-architected the frontend of a HIPAA-compliant platform and led the legacy refactoring effort. Engineered 100% of a new design system and produced high-fidelity UI designs.

Developed 100% of a full-stack chat application and a Botpress chatbot. Mentored engineers and created high-fidelity UI designs.

Built web applications and a comprehensive design system from zero for internal use across client work.

Sole technical owner of a seed-stage real-estate search startup, handling full stack, data, UI/UX, and SEO. Hired and managed devops contractors and pitched to investors.

Single-handedly built greenfield frontends and CMSs selling thousands of vehicles daily across Autotrader, Dealer.com, and hundreds of dealerships. Owned all UI/UX and branding.

Founding UI/UX designer and frontend hire at a drilling-safety software startup. Designed interfaces that remained recognizable for years.

Provided UI/UX and web development services for clients.

Earned a Permaculture Design Certificate taught by Geoff Lawton in 2017.

Activities and societies: Dean's List

Studied Visual Communications with a focus on Website Design from 2004 to 2007, and made the Dean's List.