About Me
I am results-oriented leader who values people and simple solutions to complex problems: a technologist and problem solver for over 20 years; passionate learner, teacher, and mentor. But above all dedicated husband and father.
From large-scale, global platforms delivered on time and under budget to small, tactical, first-to-market wins.
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Over 20 years of product architecture, design, development, and deployment. From small to large geographically diverse data centers and cloud offerings.
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From on-shore, near-shore, and off-shore resources, in-house and third-party. Proven agile team loyalty, valuing hard work, and an inclusive culture to excel.
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I am results-oriented leader who values people and simple solutions to complex problems: a technologist and problem solver for over 20 years; passionate learner, teacher, and mentor. But above all dedicated husband and father.
I began my career working as a C++ developer for the Salomon Brothers collateral allocation trading desk out of Temple Terrace, FL. I then moved to New York City where I worked for several Wall Street fixed income trading firms including Smith Barney, DLJ, JP Morgan, and Merrill Lynch.
After discovering my next career phase in C# and .NET, I moved to Dallas, Texas in 2006 working at a large hedge fund. I later became the head of software development there. After a short time in Charlotte, NC at Wells Fargo Securities, I moved back to Dallas. Since then I have worked in Tax Technology for big four accounting firms including PwC and Deloitte as a senior technology leader. Most recently I have been working as a hands-on CTO at a small AI services startup here in Dallas called Eam.ai.
Electrical Engineering degree from Swarthmore College. Enrolled in the OMSCS program at Georgia Tech beginning Fall 2022. Hands-on technology leader, architect, and coach.
Leading the technology effort for an AI consulting start-up firm as a hands-on CTO, designing, coding, and setting up our Azure cloud infrastructure for an MVP that uses LLM Large Language Models and OpenAI technology for a proprietary platform.
Working with several LLMs or Large Language Models across OpenAI and Azure AI Studio, we are leveraging AI as thought partners to expand the diversity of thought. It is what Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates coined "Triangulation."
As a technology leader in our CATT (Center for Advanced Tax Technology) Tax practice, I am overseeing the architecture and design of our partnership tax, family office services, and other tax services offered by RSM. With the launch of PartnerSight, we are positioned to dominate the tax technology digital landscape.
When I first heard there was a volunteer opportunity available that would help me meet my newest colleagues at RSM but also give me the opportunity to help families in need, I jumped at the chance. My first year at RSM Dallas I had the opportunity to participate at a Volunteer Event at the Perot Museum with a great organization here in Dallas called Family Gateway. I thoroughly enjoyed an educational and fun day with the kids and families at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas.
Tax technology leader in our Parternship Solutions Group (PSG) tax practice. I built a global, first of its kind Automatic and Exchange of Information system to gather investor account information and prepare FATCA and CRS compliance reports for our clients. This was my first time implementing an SAP HANA Big Data Solution. I remember another great mentor at Deloitte Partner Andrea Smith, when I told her I never used SAP HANA, she said: that's okay, Helder, I know you can do it.
During the summer of 2019, while visiting our India office in Hyderabad, I had the unique opportunity to address the graduating class of engineers and computer scientists at a local university. I was impresessed by the almost equal distribution of male and female candidates, unlike my days studying engineering. It is something I took back to Deloitte and encouraged the hiring and career building of our female tax and technology professionals.
Director of tax technology at PwC Dallas. I led a global team of full-time US developers, off-shore resources, and vendors to deliver a global Country by Country or CBCR reporting system. It was 60 resources across the globe coordinated to deploy 3 new integrated tax products. We delivered on time and under budget to three different data centers around the globe.
While at PwC, a great mentor of mine, our tax practice leader and Partner Andrew Nardo said to me: Helder, I want you to personally know everyone in our practice. And I took that to heart. I made a point of talking and connecting with everyone in our tax practice no matter what level or tenure they were, all 150+ of them. It is something I have taken with me since.
Currently pursuing a Master's degree online with Georgia Tech, considering a concentration in either Cyber Security or Data Analytics. The program is the Online Master of Science Computer Science (OMS CS)
I never expected to go back to school this late in my career, but my experience with Udacity and Stanford's online Data Science Program has piqued my curiosity in academia, but most importantly I would like to teach at the undergraduate level someday.
Senior Thesis project included construction and assembly, including sweating copper pipes, plumbing, wiring, and “C++“ automation of the Swarthmore College solar lab atop Hicks Hall Engineering building. The program included controlling valves and reading thermistor sensors to gather data and carry out experiments.
Professor Arthur McGarity was my faculty advisor and started my passion for programming, at the time “C++“ was a relatively new language and modern graphical user interfaces were also not yet common. Professor Frederick L. Orthlieb or “FLO“ as he was affectionately known, really taught me how to swing a hammer and sweat copper pipe. He was a great teacher and wonderful mentor, someone who positively influenced my career and my life.
Under an NSF grant, I worked on the System-4000 Upgrade of the Swarthmore College Materials lab. Professor Faruq M. A. Siddiqui, Professor Frederick L. Orthlieb, and myself were later published in the ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, 1992.
This was a wonderful summer for me. Although I can remember having to go back to my dorm and showering just to cool down because re-roofing work was being done atop the Hicks Engineering building that summer, it was a rewarding and prolific experience and I am very grateful for that grant and time spent.
Studied the physics and logical design of computers including microprocessors, CPU design, RISC and CISC, caching, virtual memory, assembly and machine language, and multiprocessors. Lab work also included analysis via simulation and microprocessor design using CAD tools.
What I enjoyed most about this class was not just learning “C“ to code a microprocessor simulator but that our instructor was a visiting professor from the industry, someone who had hands-on work experience building microprocessor chips.
A collection of major skillsets and talents that I can offer to your teams and to your organization.
If the front door is not appealing your customers will not come in the store. User Experience and modern web user interfaces are the industry norm. Sell your clients with a web portal that is both responsive and professionally appealing, but does not exceed your budget.
From idea to an agile design that beats your competitors to market. My designs are based on a domain-driven approach that engages the business throughout the entire product lifecycle. I start with a domain model that is understood by stakeholders and technologists.
Test Driven Development and SOLID design principles are to be nourished and encouraged from a good development team. This is how we build in quality and security into our code from day one. Enterprise patterns allow good coder to communicate good habits.
I have conducted training classes for small, medium, and large groups. These have been in-person, in the classroom, and most recently virtually. And in topics ranging from Domain Driven Design Methods, Test Driven Development Principles, and Industry or Business Understanding.
How would your organization perform in the event of a malicious Malware Attack? I have mentored, trained, and implemented best practice principles of Secure Sofware Development Life Cycle or SSDLC. I have worked with CISOs and Cyber Teams to develop a comprehensive Cyber Security Incident Response Playbook.
Building systems that will expand with growing data needs, but will also ensure data privacy and security are just the tip of the iceberg for Enterprise Data Governance. But what about Enterprise Data Dictionaries to find your metadata and be able to deliver on performance and uptime with data marts and data lakes on the cloud?
Outside of the always helpful Gang of Four book, Enterprise Design Patterns by Martin Fowler and the SOLID principles introduced by Robert Martin have been a guiding principle.
How I work with your organization to deliver enterprise class digital products.
I blogged my experience in working through the Udacity Data Scientist Nanodegree online program.
As part of the udacity.com Data Scientist nanodegree, this is the final project of the program, otherwise known as our Capstone Project. It involves building a stock price predictor using machine learning that takes daily trading data over a certain date range as input, and outputs projected closing price estimates for given stock and query dates. Showcasing type ahead search and ML.
Helder Melendez
Recommendation Engines are the algorithms used to make suggestions or recommend things to you based on past purchases or usage, or based on what other users are downloading. Apps like Netflix have algorithms in place to suggest movies you might also enjoy based on what you have been streaming or what is most popular.
Helder Melendez
Following a disaster, there are millions of tweets, news alerts, or social media and online messages that are generated. During this critical time, organizations are overwhelmed with data and they need to filter out what is pertinent information from what is just noise. Using NLP and ML this project delivers a web portal to process given messages.
Helder Melendez
Recommendations I have received over the years from my colleagues.
I had the pleasure to work with Helder during our time together at Wells Fargo. Helder was a very dedicated and focused leader on the team. He worked to establish strong relationships with the numerous traders and was very knowledgable about the products and markets they traded. He was also very solution focused and worked hard to deliver technology that significantly improved their ability to manage risk and support clients.
Very strong leader, communicator, problem solver, and team player. Our organization at the time was 200 + people and I could imagine he was working on 20 + active projects but he always went the extra mile for my projects. His diverse background was very helpful as we transitioned order management systems.
I managed Helder at an early time in his career. It became instantly apparent that he was an excellent technician and he possessed the skills needed to progress in our industry. Reconnecting with Helder now leads me to the conclusion that my early estimation was correct.
Smart, energetic, dedicated employee; strong technical skills and great leadership talent; solid industry knowledge and effective business communicator; highly recommended.
Helder is a wonderful leader. He inspires the team and always has a positive attitude. I thoroughly enjoy working with Helder and know if I ever have any questions or concerns, he is right there to assist. He is extremely knowledgeable in data analytics and SQL and I would advise anyone who has the opportunity to work with him, to trust Helder as you are in good hands with him.
I worked with Helder in Verizon. Helder is very strong technically. Whenever I was stuck with a technical issue or a business issue Helder was always there to help and give advice. I regard Helder as one of the strongest technical leads I have known. I highly recommend Helder for any position and he is capable of steering any complex project and bring traction to the project. He has proven that repeatedly in Verizon.
I had the pleasure of working with Helder while at RSM. I admire his leadership and coaching style. Helder leads by example and is someone who invests in the success of others. We worked closely to plan out activities focusing on sharing knowledge across our team about various cutting-edge technology trends. Helder understands complex issues in technology and offers great insights from his experience.
I had the pleasure of working with Helder on a few projects at RSM related to our data science digital upskilling and community. He is such a genuine and collaborative individual and was always willing to step up as a senior member of our data science community to coach and mentor our junior technologists. During the RSM Data Mining Competition we always had fun giving each other a hard time about which team was going to take the top spot in the competition and then would jump on calls to give brief demo's or instruction on our methodologies. He is a great addition to any technical team looking for a leader who will take the time to coach and mentor others.
I had the privilege to work with Helder as part of the Tax Tech group at PwC. He not only was a talented technology professionals but also a kind and caring team member. As lead for the data team, Helder successfully managed several complex projects while taking the time to coach and mentor his team in a positive and future focus manner. He would always offer help to those in need and supported his leaders, peers, and team in a collaborative way. Helder will be an asset to any organization through his dedication and technical expertise.
Helder was an exceptional mentor, he leads by example and is both inspiring and motivating. He is a hard-working and skillful leader that enjoys teaching others. I had the pleasure working with Helder on several projects, benefiting from his leadership. He always went out of his way to help me learn the fundamentals to successfully complete the projects. He brought new ideas during our collaboration and created an enjoyable environment, helping me grow. I look forward to the opportunity to work with him again, his level of experience and willingness to share will bring value to any organization.
Let's work together. You can also reach me on social media using the links on the left navagation bar or schedule some time with me oncalendly.com/hmelende
