Michael L. Shaheen

About

I'm a Sr. Director of Web Development and Certified Scrum Master with 25+ years of experience in full-stack development, digital strategy, and Agile transformation. I lead distributed engineering teams through tech stack modernization (React, Next.js, headless CMS) and excel at bridging technical innovation with business goals.

A 'Player-Coach' Leader

I am a "player-coach"—a leader who has managed development teams for most of my career, but I never want to stop coding. I truly care about my colleagues and teams, focusing on building a collaborative environment. Even when I served as a Developer Advocate, my core mission was helping developers succeed.

Mentorship & Community

Imparting wisdom is one of my passions. This commitment extends beyond the office, from teaching early in my career to founding the Pittsburgh Hill District chapter of Girls Who Code. I also serve on the Multimedia Technologies Advisory Board at Pittsburgh Technical College.

Beyond the Code

When I'm not in my IDE, I'm usually in the kitchen. In my spare time, I am a passionate baker. If you're in the Pittsburgh area and looking for baked goods, check out my site: michaelsbakedagain.com.

Professional experience

March 2022 – June 2025

Sr. Director of Web and Marketing Technologies

Brunner

Lead "The Digital Experience" team, overseeing sub-team managers, marketing automation specialists, web developers, QA Engineers, and interns.
Initiated and lead significant process restructuring for Quality Assurance (QA), code reviews, marketing automation requests, and internal system integrations.
Researched, designed, and implemented custom Generative AI Agents (using MS Copilot Studio, OpenAI ChatGPT, and Zapier) to streamline internal operations.
Spearheaded the evaluation, configuration, and implementation of Headless CMS solutions for three key clients, establishing robust stacks utilizing React and Next.js.

May 2021 – March 2022

Technical Director

BarkleyREI

Directed technical operations for a distributed team of 9+ developers (in-office, remote, offshore) and 1 QA engineer.
Specialized in developing and implementing CMS-driven websites, with a particular focus on the higher education sector.
Drove new business initiatives by performing in-depth technical audits, providing strategic CMS recommendations, and researching optimal technical solutions.

April 2019 – May 2021

Developer Advocate

SugarCRM

Served as a key liaison between SugarCRM's partners, external developers, and internal Engineering and Product teams.
Enhanced developer engagement through frequent blog posts, contributions to the SugarCRM developer community, and hosting regular webinars and talks.
Organized and managed a significant IPaaS white-labeling partnership, overseeing internal and external enablement and implementation.

September 2015 – March 2019

Director, Web Development

Skyword, Inc

Lead and mentored a front-end web development team of five CSS and AngularJS developers for a proprietary content marketing system.
Bridged the gap between front-end and back-end development by providing training and hands-on experience, fostering full-stack capabilities.
Hands-on development included writing front-end AngularJS, jQuery, Less, and HTML code, as well as back-end Java and MySQL (or HQL) code.

2011 – 2015

Lead/Managing Developer

MARC USA

Led a team of 5-7 interactive developers and contractors for a full-service advertising agency.
Maintained code libraries and archives (SVN), conducted rigorous code reviews, and managed Quality Assurance (QA) testing for all projects.
Executed a wide range of interactive development tasks, including ASP.NET applications, WordPress site configuration, and responsive web development.

Earlier Career

MatchPoint Marketing: Lead/Managing Developer
(2009 - 2012)
I managed the Innovation Department's web development team. I defined the overall data structure and code solutions for each project. My main focus was creating flash-based instant-win games with a .NET back-end.
EDMC - OHE: Lead/Managing Developer, Web Strategies
(2005 - 2009)
Managed team that developed the .NET web apps for the 4 online schools that EDMC-OHE represented. I was very hands-on and developed much of what the org is still using today.
Apangea Learning: Senior Developer
(2004 - 2005)
I managed interactive, web-based learning solutions by building a proprietary learning management system with Flash, MS SQL and ASP.NET. I was also responsible for developing new courses.
The Abreon Group: eLearning Consultant, Interactive Developer, Trainer
(1998 - 2004)
As a developer, I was responsible for front- and back-end website development, as well as web-integrated and standalone database design and implementation. I also developed the company's system for delivering web-based training that is still being used today. As a trainer, I taught various applications in a classroom setting. My clients included Nationwide, Westinghouse, Siemens, U.S. Steel, Alcoa, Allegheny Energy, Sherwin-Williams, and PPG.
Post Meridian Magazine, Art and Layout Director
(1997 - 1998)
I designed all article layouts and graphics, managed the production department, served as principal office manager, and designed, implemented and maintained the web page.

Technical skills

Leadership & Management

Agile/Scrum/Kanban, Team Mentoring, Resource Planning, Process Optimization, Client Engagement

Frontend Development

React, Next.js, AngularJS, Storybook, Tailwind, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML5, Accessibility

Backend & CMS

PHP, Laravel, C# .NET, ASP.NET, MySQL, T-SQL, REST APIs, Headless CMS (Contentful, Builder.io, Uniform), WordPress, Drupal

DevOps & Tooling

Git, GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, Grunt, Gradle, Gulp, NPM, Homebrew, JIRA, Wrike, Basecamp, Lighthouse

AI & Automation

Microsoft Copilot Studio, OpenAI ChatGPT API, Zapier Workflows, Chrome Extensions

Analytics & SEO

Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Screaming Frog, Deque Axe, Lighthouse