Culley Smith

Background

About Culley Smith

Software Engineer with over a decade of experience building and optimizing backend systems, leading teams, and scaling infrastructure. I started my career in IT for libraries, transitioned into software development, and worked my way up from an engineer to a VP of Product Development. I’ve hired and grown product, design, and engineering teams, tackled large-scale system challenges, and led technical strategy for multiple companies. These days, I focus on backend and platform engineering, working with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, AWS, and cloud infrastructure. I’ve handled everything from building scalable APIs to debugging gnarly database performance issues. At Stripe (via TaxJar), I help keep a $55M business running smoothly, streamlining operations, reducing costs, and keeping systems stable. Before that, I worked on legal tech, market research platforms, and IoT systems, always with an eye on performance, maintainability, and the real-world impact of the software I build. I work best in pragmatic, high-impact environments where technical excellence is valued but not over-engineered. I enjoy solving tough backend problems, improving developer workflows, and making systems faster, cleaner, and more efficient. Open to conversations about engineering leadership, backend optimization, and scaling platforms.