# Ben Hancock > Software Engineer Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/benhancock Software Engineer @ Middesk Creator @ Inflect, an open-source, stateless stream processing framework that simplifies event transformations for Kafka ## Work Experience ### Software Engineer @ Middesk Jan 2025 – Present | San Francisco, California, United States ### Co-creator, Software Engineer @ Inflect Jan 2024 – Jan 2025 Inflect is an open-source stream processing framework for Kafka that simplifies stateless event transformations between microservices in an event-driven architecture • Engineered a custom Javascript stream processor capable of transforming 40,000+ events per second per app instance • Deployed Kubernetes infrastructure that dynamically scales from 1 to 50+ instances to optimize real-time event processing efficiency under fluctuating workloads, achieving peaks of 500,000+ events per second confirmed by load testing • Implemented strategic caching and parallel batch processing of Kafka events to resolve event pipeline bottlenecks caused by event fetching overhead, increasing throughput by 4x. • Designed React dashboard for defining, testing, updating, and managing multi-step transformation pipelines • Implemented functionality for mock event generation to reduce time-to-production by 50% and improve visibility into real-time event processing • Architected Node.js backend and PostgreSQL database system to enable seamless pausing, resumption, and real-time updates of transformation pipelines in production environments • Integrated Prometheus instrumentation for system monitoring and performance optimization • Automated a 15+ step deployment process, streamlining setup of containerization, database initialization, monitoring, and auto-scaling components, resulting in an estimated 90% time savings per deployment • Authored Inflect's technical case study (inflect-framework.github.io) ### Open Source Contributor @ Netlify Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 Netlify CLI is an open-source tool for managing and automating Netlify workflows with 100,000+ weekly downloads • Delivered major updates to 6 Netlify CLI commands across 10+ fixed issues, improving command functionality and stability. • Eliminated redundant operations in template-based site creation by restructuring API call flow with input validation, improved error handling, and enhanced modularization • Resolved shell compatibility issues with the completion feature by troubleshooting external dependencies, implementing zsh autocompletion setup, and enhancing user output clarity • Implemented comprehensive integration tests, expanding test coverage and enhancing reliability by leveraging the project's native testing infrastructure • Supported migration to TypeScript by addressing persistent type errors, enhancing code quality and maintainability and minimizing potential runtime issues • Developed an auto-linking feature for template-based site creation, addressing a longstanding user request and streamlining user experience. ### Full-Stack Software Engineer — TypeScript, React, Node.js, Python, PostgreSQL, MongoDB @ Unknown Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 Developed open-source projects, including: • Webhook Inspector - a real-time tool for receiving and debugging webhooks built with Javascript, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, Express, and React • Wordman - a word list manager for crossword constructors built with Python, capable of handling 10,000,000+ words across dozens of lists ### Architectural Draftsman @ Morgan Smith Industries, LLC Jan 2015 – Jan 2017 | Columbia, Kentucky, United States Converted architectural blueprints into manufacturing drawings for woodwork fabrication using CAD software ## Education ### Bachelor's degree in Political Science University of Kentucky ### Multi-year Software Engineering Curriculum Launch School ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/benhancock-dev --- Source: https://flows.cv/benhancock JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/benhancock/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-10