Open to opportunities

Richard Franks

@richardfranks

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Principal Software Engineer specializing in production AI platforms and mission-critical software architecture.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I want to lead architecture and build production AI systems that improve healthcare workﬂows—combining reliable engineering, strong testing/CI practices, and cross-functional collaboration to deliver maintainable platforms.

I’m a Principal Software Engineer with 15+ years architecting and delivering large-scale software platforms across healthcare, fintech, and scientific domains. I lead production AI systems, distributed web applications, enterprise frameworks, and cloud-native services—focused on reliability, quality, and scalable outcomes in mission-critical environments.

My depth spans Python, Java, TypeScript, React, Next.js, and Spring Boot, alongside REST APIs, SQL/NoSQL data platforms, and modern AI technologies like RAG, multi-LLM orchestration, evaluation pipelines, and transcription workflows. I’ve built HIPAA-compliant auditing, vendor-agnostic LLM orchestration, and real-time clinician collaboration tools, while mentoring engineers and shaping platform direction through architecture board leadership and code reviews.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Distinguished Engineer

Carebrain

Sep 2025 - Mar 2026 (6 months)

Architected a production AI platform for clinical documentation, intelligent routing, and healthcare workflow automation. Led HIPAA-compliant auditing and built transcription and real-time clinician collaboration capabilities using multiple LLM providers and speech-to-text services.

TypeScript Next.js NestJS Multi Provider LLM Failover Deepgram AssemblyAI Amazon Transcribe Medical ElevenLabs HIPAA compliance

Principal Software Engineer

PatientKeeper / HCA/Commure

Aug 2012 - Sep 2025 (13 years 1 month)

Architected production AI capabilities over enterprise electronic health record data for summarization, question answering, and workflow automation. Modernized the enterprise portal with a modular, REST-based service architecture and supported platform governance and engineering quality through design reviews, CI/CD improvements, and mentorship.

Vector Search RESTful Services Modular Architectures software quality Design Reviews CI CD Mentorship

Chief Engineer / Entrepreneur

DressageMarket.com, LLC

Aug 2009 - Mar 2021 (11 years 7 months)

Co-founded and served as the sole software engineer for a web-based equestrian marketplace, owning product strategy, architecture, and implementation. Designed and built the platform using Python and Django and managed the full software lifecycle from deployment to ongoing production support.

Python Django Software Architecture Product Strategy Database Design Backend Services Frontend Development Deployment Production Support

Software Engineering Consultant

REZ-1

Oct 2010 - Jun 2012 (1 year 8 months)

Contributed across the full technology stack during modernization of an enterprise freight marketplace. Developed UI and backend services with persistence layers and automated tests, and helped design annotation-driven development frameworks to accelerate delivery.