I'm Joel Mitchell...
I'm a Director of Engineering.
I'm a Software Architect.
I'm a Team Builder.
I'm an Author.
Welcome
I lead engineering teams through product growth, technical change, platform reliability, and operational maturity.
View My ExperienceAbout Me
About Me
I'm Joel Mitchell, an engineering leader and software architect.
I’m a Director of Engineering with 16+ years of experience building software, teams, and delivery systems across product, architecture, and full-stack engineering. Most recently, I helped lead Kira Talent’s engineering organization through growth, acquisition, and operational maturity, while building high-retention teams and stronger foundations for execution.
My professional focus is on the intersection of people, product, and technology: setting engineering strategy, improving delivery, strengthening platform reliability, optimizing cost, and applying the technical judgment needed to guide complex web systems.
Outside of work, I’m a father to a 9-year-old and a two-year-old Lab-cross dog. I love being outdoors, especially hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping, and I travel whenever I can. I’ve been to more than 15 countries, including spending four years living in the Middle East during high school.
I’ve always been curious and drawn to trying unusual things. That curiosity has led me to build side projects, develop a video game, write a novel, try gold mining, learn Latin, and pick up violin as an adult. I’m naturally introverted, but I try to keep pushing outside my comfort zone so I can keep growing.
- Name:Joel Mitchell
- Email:contact@joelmitchell.ca
- Location:Calgary, AB, Canada
- Focus:Engineering leadership, product strategy, architecture, and delivery
16+
Years Experience
30+
Portfolio Projects
8+
Professional Roles
2
Degrees & Diplomas
My Book
Writing
Persistence: A Novel
Widowed professor John Weber has spent years teaching theoretical physics and searching for meaning in the machinery of the cosmos. When his university grants him access to LENS, a state-of-the-art quantum computer, he sets out to simulate the birth and evolution of an entire universe. For John, it is the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to watch creation unfold and perhaps unlock the mystery and meaning he’s been searching for.
As the project launches, the simulation exceeds his expectations, providing a front-row seat to the birth of stars, galaxies, and black holes. But when the system data begins to show strange patterns, he discovers a message hidden within the simulation. As John works to understand who, or what, is on the other end of the signal, the boundary between experiment and reality begins to collapse.
As he falls deeper into the puzzle, and with the simulation’s time running out, John must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice for something no one else knows exists.
Persistence is a grounded near-future science fiction novel about creation, discovery, isolation, and consciousness.
View on AmazonServices
What I Do
Technical Leadership
Identifying clear technical direction, communicating tradeoffs, and balancing engineering priorities with business goals.
Building Teams
Building and scaling collaborative, low-turnover engineering teams with a strong culture of quality and ownership.
Product & Engineering Strategy
Partnering with product and executive leaders to define, prioritize, and execute high-impact technical roadmaps.
Operations & Delivery
Improving delivery speed, product quality, observability, testing efficiency, deployment processes, and platform reliability.
Cost Optimization
Modernizing legacy systems and infrastructure to reduce operational cost while improving performance and maintainability.
Architecture & Systems Design
Guiding scalable, maintainable web systems across backend services, frontend frameworks, APIs, data, cloud, and DevOps.
Summary
Resume
Engineering leader with 16+ years of experience across architecture, product development, and full-stack systems. I have led engineering organizations through growth, acquisition, and operational maturity while improving delivery velocity, product quality, platform reliability, infrastructure cost, and customer-facing outcomes.
Experience
July 2025 - Present
Director of Engineering (Institutional Products)
ETS (Kira Talent)
Led Kira's engineering team through acquisition with zero attrition, maintained delivery commitments during transition, and expanded scope across ETS Institutional Products engineering operations and integrations.
Sep 2023 - July 2025
Director of Engineering
Kira Talent
Owned strategic engineering direction, coached leads, rebuilt core product offerings, improved security and observability, cut infrastructure and ops costs by over 50%, and helped reduce critical production issues by 80%.
Nov 2021 - Sep 2023
Engineering Manager / Lead
Kira Talent
Helped scale the department from 5 to 10+ engineers, established dedicated Ops, QA, and Feature teams, improved delivery processes, and co-created the product roadmap with product leadership.
2019 - 2021
Senior Full-Stack Developer
Reach Inc
Built AWS-backed deployment processes, Python and PostgreSQL API layers, and Vue.js product tools including checkout, pricing, invoicing, and merchant administration experiences.
2014 - 2018
Senior Developer
AggregateIQ
Built campaign management tools, canvassing apps, analytics systems, live vote monitoring tools, and a full digital voting platform with web, phone, reporting, and white-label capabilities.
2009 - 2014
Junior & Intermediate Developer
Earlier Roles
Designed and built web applications, custom CMS platforms, sports data systems, mobile apps, client websites, and early architecture and DevOps initiatives across a broad web technology stack.
Education
2010 - 2012
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
University of Lethbridge
Completed all requirements in June 2012, with coursework in data structures, algorithms, operating systems, databases, programming languages, and artificial intelligence.
2007 - 2009
Computer Information Technology Diploma
Lethbridge College
Studied advanced internet systems, e-commerce administration, object-oriented programming, systems analysis, networking, and database management.
Other Experience
2020 - 2024
Side Project / Co-Founder
AtlasVote
Developed AtlasVote with an old colleague, a voting platform for online elections and referendums, focused on the condomium management market in Canada.
2010 - 2012
Co-Founder
Triton Technologies
Co-founded Triton Technologies, a web development and consulting company. Built websites, web applications, and custom CMS platforms for clients.
2010 - 2012
Co-Founder
Whorl.ca
Built an educational note-sharing website for students at post-secondary institutions like the University of Lethbridge.
Technical Skills
Python 95%
MySQL & PostgreSQL 95%
JSON, REST APIs & Web Integrations 95%
JavaScript & jQuery 90%
PHP 90%
HTML5, CSS, SASS & Bootstrap 85%
Vue.js & AngularJS 85%
Application Architecture 100%
AWS Services 95%
Database Design & Query Optimization 95%
UI/UX, HCI & Product Usability 95%
CI/CD & Deployment Automation 90%
Object-Oriented Design & Design Patterns 90%
Linux, Docker & Server Operations 85%
Portfolio
My Work
A selection of earlier hands-on projects, product systems, websites, and experiments that shaped the technical foundation behind my leadership work.
Contact
Get in Touch