
Hi, I'm Blair Gemmer. I turn early-stage ideas into thriving products.
As a software developer and product manager, I build Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), optimize workflows, and help form dynamic teams. Let’s bring your vision to life—together.
About
Education
BA in Psychology
MS in Computer Science (Emphasis in Machine Learning & AI)
Minor in Mathematics & Media Arts
By weaving together human-centered insights from psychology, rigorous engineering principles from computer science, and creative exploration through media arts, I’m able to design solutions that prioritize real user needs without sacrificing technical excellence. This interdisciplinary perspective shapes every project I tackle—whether I’m developing an advanced AI model or refining user workflows.
About
Personal Skills
Human-Centric Communication: Skilled at translating abstract ideas into clear, actionable technical requirements
Documentation & Planning: Proficient in writing product requirement docs, design blueprints, and marketing outlines
Critical Analysis: Comfortable “tearing apart” unviable concepts to ensure resources are invested wisely
Multi-Medium Collaboration: Confident engaging in written, verbal, video, and cross-team communication
I thrive on bridging the gap between visionary ideas and the concrete steps it takes to bring them to life. Whether it’s clarifying a client’s scattered concept or aligning team members around a shared goal, my focus is always on clear communication and practical, results-driven planning.
About
Technical Skills
Programming & Frameworks: Python (Django, Flask, AWS Lambda), LaTeX
Cloud Platforms: AWS, GCP, and smaller providers like Linode
Cybersecurity: Strong grasp of core security principles and defensive strategies
Infrastructure, Containerization & DevOps:
Standing up Linux servers and Docker-based deployments
Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines
Implementing monitoring solutions (e.g., Prometheus, Datadog)
Applying SRE principles to ensure reliability and scalability
From scripting quick prototypes to architecting full-stack deployments, I’m comfortable navigating the entire lifecycle of a software solution. My background in AI/ML adds another layer of depth—allowing me to implement data-driven features while employing DevOps and SRE best practices to ensure reliability, security, and scalability.
About
Project & STartup-Related SKills
Workflow Development: Setting up efficient processes with Slack, Google Workspace, and other tools
Team Building: Recruiting and coordinating technical, sales, and marketing teams
MVP Creation: Leading rapid prototyping and iterative testing for early-stage products
Strategic Guidance: Offering insights on market positioning, user feedback loops, and go-to-market strategies
I specialize in transforming raw ideas into tangible products, especially in the startup space. By establishing clear workflows, assembling the right talent, and ensuring continuous iteration, I help founders and teams launch viable products—and keep evolving them—through every stage of growth.
Clients
Throughout my career, I've partnered with a diverse array of companies—from innovative startups to established industry leaders—transforming their visions into robust, scalable technology solutions. Working with clients across sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, fintech, GIS, and tour operations, I've harnessed a blend of technical expertise, strategic leadership, and agile project management to deliver impactful results.Each collaboration represents a unique journey.
Fabricon: Revitalized a manufacturing and construction firm's online presence with a modern, responsive website, optimizing SEO and social media strategies.
TOMIS: Spearheaded the creation of a pioneering SaaS solution for tour operators, automating workflows and delivering actionable business analytics.
Dotmos: Guided the evolution of a search and social media aggregation platform from concept to fully developed web app, leading teams in both front-end and back-end development.
Submittable: Streamlined DevOps for a SaaS document submission platform, ensuring efficient, scalable, and secure workflow automation.
Upstream Reports: Aggregated and transformed vast, varied datasets into actionable GIS insights, supporting critical health and community planning initiatives.
VYNYL: Drove complex projects for healthcare and fintech clients, including developing customer portals and educational tools, ensuring reliability and scalability through robust DevOps and SRE practices.
Freelance
May 2009 - Present
(Software Engineer & Technical Consultant)
Delivered custom web applications, Slack/Discord bots, and product strategy consulting for startups and small businesses.
Emphasized rapid prototyping, iterative refinement, and user-focused solutions across various industries.
VYNYL
March 2021 - April 2024
(Software Engineer & DevOps)
Developed Happier Living: a healthcare portal integrating AWS Lambda, SQS, SNS, S3, DynamoDB, and Step Functions for virtual appointments.
Contributed to UCSF Multitudes: a tablet app detecting early learning disabilities using Python, Playwright tests, and Python automation scripts for data validation.
Submittable
September 2019 - March 2021
(Software Engineer & DevOps Manager)
Streamlined the software development lifecycle via AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and Slack integrations.
Oversaw test/production infrastructure with CloudFormation, the Serverless Framework, and AWS IAM, improving release reliability for a high-volume submission platform.
TOMIS
September 2016 - July 2019
(CTO)
Spearheaded a SaaS solution for tour operators, integrating workflow automation and business analytics (Python/Django, React.js).
Led project management (Scrum, Kanban), DevOps pipelines, site-reliability engineering, and a team of designers/developers to deliver a robust platform under tight deadlines.
dotmos
July 2015 - January 2017
(Co-Founder / CTO)
Built a search and social media aggregator using Django, Node.js, and React.js, unifying various external APIs.
Guided front-end/back-end architecture and repository management, fostering a cross-functional team for continuous product improvements.
Upstream Research
November 2015 - September 2016
(Data Scientist & Software Engineer)
Transformed massive geospatial datasets (APIs, CSVs, PDFs) into ArcGIS layers for healthcare and community planning.
Managed .NET web application deployments in Azure, automated QA/test scripts, and improved system reliability.
LMG Security
February 2015 - May 2015
(Security Consultant)
Conducted vulnerability assessments (internal/external) and penetration tests for banks, hospitals, and retail clients.
Analyzed and reported on application security, wireless infrastructure, and compliance measures across multiple industries.
Hanna-James Enterprises
July 2014 - February 2015
(Senior Software Developer)
Created test automation tools in Python (terminal- and GUI-based) and a MySQL database-driven SDK.
Implemented a robust data abstraction layer for handling toolchain execution, enhancing productivity and QA.
CV
I’m a Software Engineer & Consultant blending DevOps expertise, product management, and data-driven solutions. Over the past decade, I’ve led end-to-end projects—focusing on reliability, scalability, and user-centric design.
Contact
Thanks for stopping by! If you’d like to collaborate on a project, explore new opportunities, or simply chat about the work I’ve showcased here, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m always open to discussing fresh ideas, sharing insights, and finding ways to solve big challenges together. Feel free to fill out the contact form or connect with me via email or LinkedIn—I look forward to hearing from you!

Fabricon
Industry: Manufacturing, Construction, and Consultation.
Project Scope: Create a modern, responsive website to showcase Fabricon’s capabilities and services.
My Role: Product management, project management, and web development.
Key Results:
Developed comprehensive product requirements documentation to align stakeholders on project goals.
Produced iterative design mockups, ensuring the website’s look and feel matched the brand and user needs.
Implemented and refined the final design based on user feedback, resulting in a polished, user-friendly online presence.
Optimized on-page SEO to increase search visibility and drive more organic traffic
Integrated social media marketing efforts to strengthen brand awareness and engage potential clients across platforms
By leveraging an iterative approach and strategic SEO, the new website modernized Fabricon’s online presence, improved user engagement, and opened fresh channels for lead generation.
dotmos
Industry: SaaS Platform Specializing in Search and Social Media Aggregation.
Project Scope: Develop a comprehensive web application to automate key marketing workflows such as review generation, scheduling social media and email campaigns, deploying chatbots for customer inquiries, and aggregating business analytics from tools like Web CEO, booking systems (XOLA, PEEK, Rezdy, FareHarbor), Google Analytics, and Google AdWords. This involved direct collaboration with Marketing Managers to refine features and ensure the solution met business needs.
My Role: I served as a Technical Lead, Project Manager, DevOps Manager, and Site Reliability Engineer, guiding the project from conception to deployment and beyond.
Technical Lead: Drove the design and development of technical specifications for key features and tools.
Lead Software Engineer: Handled front-end and back-end design and development using Django, Node.js, and React.js.
Project Management: Acted as the development team leader, overseeing repository management, issue curation, documentation generation, team communications, and data analysis using tools such as BitBucket/Git, Asana, DeployBot, Intercom, Usersnap, Open Analytics, and Slack.
Key Results:
Assembled and led a cross-functional team, coordinating designers, developers, and marketing specialists.
Refined the MVP’s architecture to handle multiple external APIs, ensuring smooth data aggregation.
Implemented key features for consolidated search results, delivering an engaging “one-stop” search interface.
Guided product and project management, aligning evolving user needs with technical feasibility.
Launched a fully operational web app, streamlining content discovery across various social and search platforms.
By transforming an early-stage idea into a polished platform, Dotmos now offers users a powerful, all-in-one search experience—boosting both user satisfaction and market visibility.
Upstream Reports
Industry: SaaS Platform Specializing in Data Visualization / Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Project Scope: Aggregate and analyze diverse datasets—from crime statistics and pollution levels to cancer incidence rates and poverty metrics—into comprehensive ArcGIS layers for a .NET web application hosted on Azure. This information was also leveraged by large hospitals to investigate disease causes and preventive strategies.
My Roles:
Data Scientist: Acquired and analyzed large geographic-based data sets, creating and updating services in ArcGIS.
Software Engineer: Wrote and tested automation scripts in Python and ArcPy; developed ASP.NET applications using the MVC framework in C#; designed and implemented unique solutions to novel problems; and wrote and supported custom functions in PostgreSQL.
Quality Assurance: Conducted user-testing, authored reports, scripted in Python to test REST API endpoints, and performed load-testing on pages and endpoints.
System Administration: Deployed software releases, ensured server uptime complied with SLA, applied security updates and patches, and managed Azure resources using Visual Studio.
Customer Support: Interfaced directly with customers to debug issues using Freshdesk.
Key Results:
Sourced and standardized data from federal, state, and global resources in varied formats (APIs, CSVs, Excel files, PDFs, and text files).
Developed robust ETL pipelines, ensuring consistent, accurate, and well-structured datasets for map-based analysis.
Integrated data into ArcGIS layers, enabling dynamic visualizations that spotlighted key regional factors (e.g., crime, pollution, and socio-economic indicators).
Managed .NET application deployments in Azure, overseeing infrastructure, runtime environments, and continuous integration.
Enhanced data reliability for hospital partners, supporting more informed decision-making around disease prevention and public health strategies.
By consolidating scattered data sources into actionable GIS insights, Upstream Reports empowered healthcare institutions and local stakeholders to better understand critical community factors and implement targeted interventions.
TOMIS
Industry: SaaS platform for marketing, website development, SEO/SMO optimization, and business analytics tailored for small to medium tour operators (e.g., zip lines, party buses, escape rooms, pedal pubs, rafting companies).
Project Scope: I joined TOMIS at an early stage to transform the CEO’s vision into reality. The goal was to develop a comprehensive web application that automates workflows such as review generation, scheduling social media and email campaigns, deploying chatbots for customer inquiries, and aggregating business analytics from sources like Web CEO, booking systems (XOLA, PEEK, Rezdy, FareHarbor), Google Analytics, and Google AdWords. This required collaborating directly with Marketing Managers to ensure the platform met the specific needs of tour operator businesses.
My Roles: I served in multiple capacities at TOMIS, including Technical Lead, Project Manager, DevOps Manager, and Site Reliability Engineer—pioneering the product's development from a mere idea to a fully functional SaaS solution.
Technical Lead:
Owned product design from executive vision to technical implementation, laying the foundation for the entire product.
Drove the design and development of technical specifications for key features.
Created realistic expectations and strategies for short- and long-term goals.
Conducted R&D on emerging technologies, building prototypes and proofs-of-concept.
Led the back-end team in designing, developing, and quality assuring REST APIs using Python/Django.
Assisted in front-end design decisions and QA processes for a React.js application.
Product Management:
Acted as Scrum Master, managing Jira setup, organization, and Agile ceremonies (daily standups, weekly sprints, and retrospectives).
Designed and curated Jira issue boards, triaging tasks and prioritizing epics using Jira NextGen Kanban.
Managed repository operations in Bitbucket and facilitated team communication using Slack.
Organized and developed Confluence documentation, utilizing Jira templates for release notes.
Ensured seamless integration of team efforts through tools like Asana, DeployBot, Intercom, Usersnap, Open Analytics, and Slack.
DevOps Management:
Managed the entire software development lifecycle and API lifecycle.
Developed rules to ensure commit quality, such as requiring ticket numbers with all commits, and instituted rigorous code review processes with branch management rules for pull requests.
Employed feature and release branches to handle healthy feature releases and hotfixes.
Utilized Bitbucket build pipelines for automated testing and managed release tagging using Jira and Git.
Gathered customer feedback and tracked visual bugs through Usersnap for continuous improvement.
Site Reliability Engineering:
Monitored application performance with DataDog and Honeycomb; set up logging, infrastructure monitoring, and incident detection using Stackdriver.
Configured exception reporting with Sentry integrated with Jira; employed uptime monitoring with UptimeRobot and Stackdriver.
Managed domain routing, scalability automation, and other infrastructure components.
Handled incident management, status updates, and post-mortems via Statuspage.io.
Key Results:
Pioneered Product Creation: Took the CEO’s vision from concept to fully functional SaaS web application, creating a new product that didn’t exist before.
Enhanced Team Productivity: Streamlined Agile processes and improved communication/documentation, leading to more efficient sprint cycles and timely feature delivery.
Improved Code Quality & Reliability: Instituted rigorous code review practices and branch management strategies, reducing bugs and ensuring stable releases.
Robust, Scalable Platform: Successfully led the development and deployment of key features, resulting in a scalable solution that automates critical marketing workflows and provides actionable analytics.
Operational Excellence: Implemented effective monitoring, logging, and incident management practices, improving system uptime, quick issue resolution, and overall performance.
Stakeholder Satisfaction: Close collaboration with Marketing Managers and iterative product development ensured that the platform effectively met the needs of tour operator businesses, enhancing user satisfaction and adoption.
By integrating technical leadership, Agile project management, robust DevOps practices, and SRE methodologies, I transformed a visionary idea into a highly automated, reliable, and scalable SaaS solution tailored for tour operators—enhancing operational efficiency, marketing effectiveness, and business intelligence across the board.
Submittable
Industry: SaaS Platform Specializing in Document Submission & Workflow Automation.
Project Scope: Manage DevOps for a robust platform that handles grants, scholarships, relief funds, and more—facilitating custom form creation, white labeling, fraud prevention, automated reviews, and fund disbursement.
My Role: DevOps Management.
Key Results:
Oversaw the full SDLC and production deployments via AWS CodePipeline, ensuring smooth, continuous integration and delivery.
Streamlined release communication with automated GitHub release notes integrated into Slack for real-time team updates.
Created, maintained, and troubleshot AWS infrastructure (test + production) using CloudFormation and Serverless Framework.
Developed build automations through AWS CodePipeline, AWS EventBridge, and Lambda functions to optimize workflows.
Managed AWS IAM accounts and permissions, tightening security across production systems.
Reviewed and merged GitHub Dependabot pull requests to keep dependencies secure and up to date.
Handled SecOps tasks (AWS Certificate Manager, EC2, ELB, RDS) and scaled systems automatically using EC2/ELB configurations.
Managed domain routing (AWS Route 53) and CloudWatch alarms, actively monitoring and debugging production performance issues.
By orchestrating DevOps best practices across multiple products, Submittable’s platform remained stable, scalable, and secure—enabling seamless submissions and reviews for grant-makers, award committees, and other high-stakes clients.
VYNYL
Industry: Software consulting firm specializing in tailored SaaS solutions for Healthcare and FinTech industries. VYNYL assembles specialized development teams to architect, design, and build web-based and mobile applications based on unique client requirements.
My Role: Python Software Engineer & DevOps.
Project: Happier Living
Scope: Developed a web-based, mobile-responsive customer portal for appointment scheduling and virtual consultations. The portal integrated with Athena for appointment creation and facilitated Zoom meetings with healthcare providers (physicians, therapists, nutritionists).
Technologies & Responsibilities:
AWS-Centric Development:
Built and managed serverless functions using AWS Lambda and Step Functions.
Designed, maintained, and ensured data integrity for DynamoDB databases.
Utilized AWS SQS for decoupling services, SNS for notifications, and S3 for scalable storage of static assets or data.
Employed AWS X-Ray and CloudWatch for production debugging, performance monitoring, and logging.
DevOps & CI/CD:
Implemented serverless deployments and continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines using GitHub Actions.
Developed unit and integration tests to ensure system reliability.
Leveraged PynamoDB and dependency injection patterns to enhance code maintainability and testability.
Key Results:
Successfully transformed the CEO’s vision into a robust, scalable appointment portal.
Achieved seamless scheduling workflows and reliable integration with healthcare systems, improving customer experience and operational efficiency.
Project: UCSF Multitudes
Scope: Contributed to a tablet application aimed at early detection of learning disabilities such as dyslexia in preschool through first-grade children.
Technologies & Responsibilities:
Testing & Automation:
Developed extensive unit and integration tests using Playwright.
Created Python automation scripts to compare CSV data to database entries, ensuring data accuracy and consistency for the application.
Key Results:
Improved application reliability and data integrity through rigorous testing and automation.
Supported UCSF in refining their tool for early childhood learning disability assessments, contributing to better educational outcomes.
Overall Impact At VYNYL
By leveraging deep expertise in Python, AWS, and DevOps practices, I played a critical role in bringing two significant healthcare-focused projects to life. My contributions ensured scalable, reliable, and secure solutions that met the unique needs of diverse clients—from automating complex healthcare appointment workflows to enhancing early childhood educational tools.