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Aric CamarataAric Camarata

Resume

Twenty years of distributed systems, AI infrastructure, and full-stack engineering.

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Work Experience

Unity

Principal AI Engineer

Jan 2024 – Present · Fairfax, VA (Remote)

  • Architected nClaw — a privacy-first multi-model AI platform with classifier-driven tier-ladder routing across Claude, GPT-5.4, and local Qwen3 / MLX-LM on Apple Silicon, achieving ~60% inference cost reduction versus single-frontier-model baseline.
  • Designed Memory Augmented Retrieval (MAR): PostgreSQL tsvector full-text + pgvector ANN + RRF score fusion + BGE-M3 cross-encoder reranking — sub-100ms semantic search with year-old conversation recall via ltree topic taxonomy and summary pyramids (turn / day / week / month).
  • Built privacy-first inference layer: local models handle PII-bearing and sensitive operations; frontier models gated by a PII redaction and secret detection pipeline — full data sovereignty for regulated workloads.
  • Open-sourced nSelf CLI (Go, 5,000+ lines, 30+ commands): single-command self-hosted backend stack (PostgreSQL, Hasura, Auth, MinIO, Redis, Nginx) replacing $40–100/mo managed databases with $4/mo Hetzner deployments.

Principal Software Architect

Jan 2014 – Jan 2024 · Remote

  • Founded and led Unity Platforms for a decade, delivering principal-level software architecture to Credit Karma, Walmart Labs, Cigna, Cambium Networks, Progress Software, and CMD.
  • Architected Unity Sites — a multi-tenant Next.js (App Router) platform serving Flock, Veterans, FlockTV, and FlockNAS brands from a single codebase; hostname-based middleware with per-tenant feature flags, Hasura RLS, and JWT custom claims enforcing zero cross-tenant data leakage at the schema level.
  • Designed distributed event-driven systems on AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, GraphQL Federation, Kafka, and SNS/SQS for financial services and healthcare clients.
  • Built nSelf from an internal 200-line deployment script into a full Go CLI deployed across enterprise clients — groundwork for the AI-native platform built from 2024 onward.

United States Institute of Peace

Senior Developer

Apr 2013 – Dec 2013 · Washington, DC

  • Developed and hardened web applications in C# / .NET / ASP.NET for a federal peace-building institution.
  • Led application security hardening — defense-in-depth access controls, credential-stuffing mitigation, and secure session management aligned to federal security standards.
  • Delivered full SDLC on compressed government timelines in a zero-tolerance security environment.

Double Prime

Senior Developer

Feb 2013 – Apr 2013 · Remote

  • Built API-first, headless content architecture using decoupled Drupal — an early implementation of platform patterns that have since become industry standard for high-scale editorial systems.
  • Integrated Akamai CDN and Alfresco content management into high-traffic global editorial platforms; developed Perl-based data transformation pipelines for large-volume content migration.

Northrop Grumman

Lead Developer / Architect

Jul 2011 – Feb 2013 · McLean, VA

  • Led development on the U.S. Treasury GSOC — national-scale cybersecurity observability platform for the Department of the Treasury. Held active TS clearance (since expired).
  • Architected real-time big data pipeline: Hadoop, Hive, HBase, and Cassandra under 24/7 multi-site disaster recovery SLA — large-scale data engineering infrastructure that forms the conceptual foundation of modern ML pipelines.
  • Led a team of 6+ engineers through full SDLC; introduced DevOps practices (Git, TDD, CI/CD environments) and reduced deployment cycles at national security scale.

College Board

Senior Developer

Apr 2011 – Jul 2011 · Reston, VA

  • Delivered front-end and application development on the Big Future college search platform (tier-1 national traffic).
  • Built feature components on Spring MVC + GWT stack with JSP/JSTL templating.

Able Engineering

Senior Developer

Jan 2011 – Apr 2011 · Phoenix, AZ

  • Built employee evaluation platform on Spring MVC — form workflows, scoring logic, and admin reporting.
  • Delivered full feature set from requirements to deployment on compressed timeline.

Capgemini

Senior Developer

Oct 2010 – Jan 2011 · Phoenix, AZ

  • Built internal IT management tools on Zend Framework: ticketing system, helpdesk portal, system monitoring dashboard, and on-call rotation tool.
  • Worked alongside enterprise consulting team serving large telecom and insurance clients.

Pearson Education

Senior Developer

Jul 2010 – Oct 2010 · Chandler, AZ

  • Delivered CMS integrations (Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, Mura) for educational publishing platforms.
  • Built Genesys/Avaya call-center tooling for customer support operations.

Apple Inc.

Software Developer

Oct 2007 – Jul 2010 · Chandler, AZ

  • Built and maintained internal enterprise portal and knowledge base systems on Drupal and the LAMP stack, serving engineering and support teams across Apple divisions.
  • Developed tools used daily by thousands of internal users — built to the reliability and maintainability standards of Apple's internal engineering culture.

AT&T

Software Developer

Apr 2006 – Oct 2007 · Phoenix, AZ

  • Led consolidation of call center support tooling as part of the AT&T / SBC AFSS merger initiative — unified NOC, Engineering, and Customer Support teams onto a single AJAX-based platform.
  • Early experience with large-scale systems integration, observability tooling, and reliability engineering in a 24/7 enterprise telecom environment.

Roxbury Group

Manager

Feb 2004 – Mar 2006 · Fairfax, VA

  • Combined branch management and software development for a regional IT services firm — technical leadership alongside operational responsibility from the start of my career.
  • Deployed and administered Windows Server networks for SMB clients; built custom inventory tracking and rental management software (C, TCL, PHP) that replaced manual processes and reduced reconciliation time significantly.

U.S. ArmyVeteran

19D Cavalry Scout

Mar 2001 – Feb 2004 · Virginia

  • Served as 19D Combat Cavalry Scout, U.S. Army.
  • Service period included September 11, 2001 and the early post-9/11 operational period.
  • Foundational experience in mission-critical decision-making, operational discipline, and leading under pressure.

Education

Belltown University

Bachelor of Science, Management Information Systems

Jan 2008 – Dec 2011 · PA