Experience
16+ years professional (since 2010); building since 1998
Career
Director of Enterprise Architecture
Lead enterprise architecture for Baker Hill's software portfolio: defining platform direction, integration patterns, and engineering standards that support regulated financial institution customers.
Scope: Reports to a vice president; architecture spans all company domains. One direct report and five architects; non-functional requirements, integration patterns, and engineering standards influence roughly fifty engineers. Product scope covers three pillars (AI document intelligence, digital account opening, core loan origination) across about ten delivery teams. Company scale ~150 employees (~60 developers).
- Improved code quality through Angular schematics, engineering best practices, training, and AI-assisted standards (rules/skills) across teams.
- Drove modernization of Angular and C# stacks across product engineering.
- Led adoption of newer platform capabilities including Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Functions.
Hands-on: Roughly a quarter of the week in code: framework work and engineering support for customer betas on new products, plus coaching architects, planning, and proof-of-concept work across three product pillars.
Senior Application Developer
Deliver full-stack web and mobile software for Indiana state government, from statewide citizen-facing products to custom applications for agencies too small to staff their own development teams, through IOT's centralized Application Development program.
Scope: Senior full-stack developer at IOT headquarters in Indianapolis. End-to-end ownership across Android, iOS, web, and databases on concurrent agency engagements; the team's deepest technical resource on mobile (iOS and Android). Work spanned statewide surfaces such as the IN.gov mobile app plus many line-of-business systems for partner agencies (including Child Labor, DHS, BMV, courts, and the Department of Health, among others).
- Built and extended the IN.gov mobile experience and other statewide apps that represent Indiana government to the public.
- Shipped custom web and mobile applications for numerous agencies without dedicated developers, translating agency requirements into production software on tight public-sector timelines.
- Created shared frameworks for iOS, Android, and web so each new project started from proven patterns instead of a blank slate, raising velocity for the application development team across engagements.
Hands-on: Full-time hands-on development throughout, implementing on Android, iOS, web, and database tiers (PHP, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, C# / .NET, Java, Kotlin, Objective-C, Swift, Angular, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS) rather than architecture-only or management-only work.
At IOT, Indiana’s centralized enterprise IT organization, the Application Development team partners with agencies across state government to deliver secure, maintainable software when agencies cannot staff development on their own. Gunnar’s work sat at the intersection of statewide products and agency-specific systems (mobile, web, and data tiers) while investing in reusable mobile and web frameworks so the team could onboard each new engagement faster.
Associate Director of Interactive Development
Lead interactive development for Ball State's Digital Corps and Emerging Technologies organization, guiding how student and staff teams design, build, and ship real software and media for the university and external partners.
Scope: Associate director over the development side of an innovative OIT unit: the Digital Corps (interdisciplinary students plus professional staff) and Emerging Technologies and Media Development. Full-stack delivery across web, mobile, databases, and emerging surfaces, with substantial investment in shared frameworks for iOS, Android, and web so each new engagement started from proven code, not a blank repository.
- Co-built Ball State Achievements: gamified native iOS and Android plus a cloud admin platform for campus units, supporting Pell Grant retention (Campus Technology Innovator Award, 2015). Deep dive in the Achievements case study; the live app has since been retired from stores.
- Oversaw software development for experiences deployed on the Digital Corps M.U.T.T. multi-user touch wall; personally led a major refresh of The Chirper campus app across several store releases (shared authorship with other contributors over its history).
- Established reusable mobile and web frameworks used across Corps projects, alongside flagship deliverables such as the Ball State Campus Map and partner work for campus and external clients.
Hands-on: Hands-on technical lead, writing framework and product code on iOS, Android, web, and database tiers while mentoring student developers, not a management-only role.
During this era the Digital Corps operated as a creative agency within Ball State IT (Digital Corps about). The flagship retention product was Ball State Achievements (gamified engagement for Pell students, national press, and awards), built with student teams under Emerging Technologies and Student Affairs. Gunnar’s thread through the role was full-stack delivery plus frameworks: repeatable mobile and web foundations, oversight of M.U.T.T. interactives, and hands-on work such as The Chirper refresh, so each new partner project moved faster.
College
Developer Specialist
Join the Digital Corps professional staff as a specialist developer, building production web and mobile software alongside interdisciplinary student teams for Ball State and external partners.
Scope: Hands-on developer within the Office of Information Technology's Digital Corps, an on-campus creative technology unit (est. 2006) where students and staff deliver websites, applications, video, and emerging media. Full-stack implementation across the same engagements as design, storytelling, and project management disciplines.
- Transitioned from student-facing Digital Corps work into a professional developer specialist role on live university and partner deliverables.
- Promoted to Associate Director of Interactive Development to lead the development function across Corps projects.
Hands-on: Full-time developer across web, mobile, and data tiers on Digital Corps engagements (same hands-on pattern as later public-sector work at IOT).
The Digital Corps pairs Ball State students from many majors with professional staff to ship real products for the university and outside partners, not classroom demos.
BS, Computer Science
Skill Camp Counselor & Camp Operations
Ran alongside undergrad coursework from 2006.
Teach scout skills at summer camp, then help run day-to-day operations: schedules, staffing, and program delivery on the ground.
Scope: Progressed from skill camp counselor to overseeing daily camp operations. Eagle Scout. Leadership and coaching in a nonprofit setting; operational tracking with spreadsheets for schedules, staffing, and program metrics.
- Led skill instruction and eventually day-to-day operations for summer camp programs.
- Kept schedules and staffing organized with repeatable spreadsheet-based tracking.
Leadership experience before professional software roles.
Tinkering
Building started in 1998 with PC gaming and helping friends: mods, small communities, then websites in HTML and CSS. SQL, PHP, and JavaScript came next, before formal computer science at Ball State University from 2006.