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Christopher Hennighan

Software Engineering Leader · Staff IC & Manager

I modernize legacy UIs to React, ship integrations (Stripe, HubSpot, Mailchimp, WhatsApp), and roll out practical AI tooling that boosts developer velocity. Hands-on, pragmatic, ROI-focused.

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Work Experience

Help Scout

Software Engineering Manager

Aug 2024 — Present
  • Settings → React migration: -35% settings tickets, +20% feature velocity.
  • AI Resources Hub to accelerate adoption of AI-enhanced dev tooling.
  • Led integrations (HubSpot, Mailchimp, Stripe, WhatsApp): +12% 3P app usage.
  • Revamped JavaScript Guild (RFCs, proposals) driving cross-team standards.
  • Engineer development plans & skill gap analyses adopted by other managers.
  • “Bolt + HSDS” starter → sidebar apps ~75% faster delivery.

2U

Software Engineering Manager

Nov 2022 — Jan 2024
  • Managed 5 engineers; 2 promoted to Senior, 1 to Lead.
  • LTI proctoring compatibility layer → reduced exam cheating by 8%.
  • Xpert (OpenAI assistant) → +10.5% learner conversion.

Trove

Software Engineering Manager

Jun 2021 — Oct 2022
  • Lululemon trade-in launches → 7-figure revenue, 100% uptime.
  • Arc’teryx international + warehousing → 6-figure savings + 7-figure ops savings.
  • Hired & onboarded 3 engineers; 100% retention.

PlayVS

Senior Software Engineer

Jan 2021 — May 2021
  • Modularized components; standardized React/TS/GraphQL; mentored junior engineers.

Slalom Build

Senior Software Engineer

May 2019 — Dec 2020
  • Bond Liquidity Dashboard (React/Angular 8) with AWS CodePipelines/Elastic Beanstalk.
  • Serverless Node.js (Lambdas) for Natural Gas Pipelines.
  • Driver Routing/Automation: Kinesis, Lambda, SQS/SNS, DynamoDB.

FRS Software

Senior Software Engineer

Dec 2018 — Apr 2019
  • Redesigned ASP.NET client; MVVM + Razor; Gulp/Karma/Mocha/Chai; LESS & ES6.

LendingTree

Software Engineer & Tech Lead

Aug 2017 — Nov 2018
  • Analytics system: JS client → ASP.NET Core API → Kafka → Adobe/Elastic; Adobe Launch integration.

Secure Blockchains, LLC

Co-Founder, Lead Frontend Engineer

Oct 2017 — Feb 2018
  • Frontend for first publicly available Ripple Escrow platform; client ↔ blockchain backend.

Principal Solutions (Lowe’s)

Software Engineer

Nov 2016 — Jun 2017
  • Client-side analytics solution; Visa Checkout API integration for Lowes.com.

SkilRoute

Co-Founder, Lead Frontend Developer

Mar 2015 — Dec 2017
  • Skill-based learning platform; multi-angular video player; admin & content delivery.

Sports Endeavors

Full Stack Web Developer

Mar 2014 — Jun 2015
  • Maintained 20+ sites; shipping tracking; Websphere migrations (Java EE/JSP/MyBatis/Struts).

About Me

Staff-level engineering manager & IC (React/Node/AWS). I specialize in React migrations, integrations (Stripe/HubSpot/Mailchimp/WhatsApp), and pragmatic AI tooling enablement. I help teams ship faster by unblocking critical issues, improving developer experience, and delivering clear, low-risk migration plans. I’m hands-on when needed, but I also put process where it helps—RFCs, guilds, and lightweight growth plans that raise the bar without slowing teams down.

Christopher Hennighan