Adam Smith_

Engineering Leader · 20+ years in web · Asheville, NC

adam@web:~$ cat origin.story

The year was 1998 and I asked my mom to drive me to the local Books-a-Million to get a new book. I looked through the fantasy section as per usual but wanted something new, something challenging. I wandered over to the technical section and focused on an Introduction to HTML. My mom looked at the book and asked me if I really wanted to learn HTML.

Little did I know that moment was the start of a 20+ year journey in web development.

adam@web:~$ █

2006 – 2011

Where the journey went public
Web Production Artist — EnterComm · 2006
  • Front-end development and content management — turning markup into living pages.
Website & E-Marketing Manager — RPI Media · 2007 – 2011
  • Managed websites, e-marketing, database, and back-end admin tooling for event management.
Best viewed in Netscape Navigator 4.0 🌐

2011 – 2015

Glossy gradients & JavaScript-heavy UIs
Website Developer — Wide Open Technologies
2011 – 2015
  • Built e-commerce solutions with JavaScript-heavy UIs, SQL data management, and MVC framework development; contributed to QA, SEO, and e-marketing.
  • Led and mentored other developers — my first real taste of raising the bar for a team.
2015 – 2020

Building & leading

Flat design, bold color, and my own shingle
Principal & Founder — ACODESMITH
2015 – 2018
  • Ran an independent web practice delivering everything from WordPress and Magento builds to ReactJS applications — owning the full lifecycle from architecture to delivery.
  • Managed developers and contractors on client engagements, coordinating work and ensuring quality delivery.
Manager, Software Development Engineering — Flexera
2018 – 2020
  • Managed and grew a software development team, owning delivery, technical direction, and engineer development.
  • Balanced people leadership with hands-on technical involvement across the team's projects.
2020 – 2024

Architecture at scale

Whitespace, restraint, and systems other teams build on.

Web Architect · LINQ
Dec 2020 – Jun 2024
  • Owned front-end web architecture across a SaaS platform serving school districts and state agencies nationwide.
  • Led and mentored a team of developers, setting technical direction and reviewing work to raise quality and consistency.
  • Set direction for shared components, standards, and patterns that product teams built on — improving developer velocity, reliability, and performance across many surfaces.
Senior Software Engineer · LINQ
Aug 2020 – Dec 2020
  • Delivered core web application features ahead of transitioning into the Web Architect role.
2024 – Present

What's next

Senior Software Engineer — hh2
Jul 2024 – Present
  • Design and build features across a production web application serving construction back-office and payroll workflows.
  • Partner across product and engineering to deliver reliable, maintainable front-end systems on a modern JavaScript stack — including AI product development.

Declarative markup, components, patterns coming full circle. Nearly three decades in, and the landscape is still ever-changing — which is exactly the point.

View the classic résumé →