Joel Watson
Engineering Leader · Solutions Architect · Builder
15 years shipping software at GitHub, Heroku, HashiCorp, and Doppler
Engineering Leader · Solutions Architect · Builder
15 years shipping software at GitHub, Heroku, HashiCorp, and Doppler
About
I'm an engineering leader and solutions architect with 15 years of experience building and shipping software in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. I've had the privilege of working at companies like GitHub, Heroku, HashiCorp, and Doppler, where I've worn many hats — from support engineering to programming to customer solution architecting.
I'm passionate about developer tools, infrastructure, and helping teams deliver great software. Whether I'm writing code, designing systems, or working directly with customers to solve complex problems, I bring a builder's mindset and a deep love for the craft of software engineering.
Experience
Providing technical backup to Sales during pre-sales, assisting with POC setup, and migrating/onboarding customers. Rapid AI-assisted prototyping for custom solutions and implementing features to help close deals.
Built the support function from the ground up — Zendesk setup, Standard/Premium support plans, SLA configuration. Troubleshot customer integrations spanning code, Kubernetes, and networking issues.
Troubleshot Consul service mesh issues in Kubernetes clusters — from initial deployment to running clusters encountering disruptions. Extensive Docker/Docker Compose and Kind cluster usage to emulate customer environments.
Provided support for Humio customers including installation across varied environments and deployment methods, query writing, and troubleshooting production issues.
Troubleshot customer application and service issues spanning multiple languages and deployment methods. Heavy Splunk usage and close collaboration with engineers to find and fix bugs impacting customers.
Built out a support team spanning multiple regions, added product functionality to aid support, implemented new features in GitHub itself, and managed/coordinated GitHub Enterprise releases.
Skills
Contact
The best way to reach me is via email or LinkedIn.