Software Development Manager — Engineering Leadership & Delivery

Valarie
Adams

Hands-on Engineering Manager

Engineering manager with 9+ years shipping production systems — autonomous robotics, computer vision, edge compute, and connected vehicle/IoT platforms — and 5+ years leading engineering teams. I pair deep hands-on technical depth with people leadership: hiring, mentoring, and growing engineers while driving delivery against milestones, budgets, and high standards of software quality, scalability, and reliability.

Get In Touch View Portfolio valradams.com

Years
Engineering

Years Leading
Teams

105+

Downstream
Integrations

Product Domains
CV/XR/Backend

Valarie R. Adams

Software Development Manager • Lehi, UT

Engineering Leadership Computer Vision Autonomous Systems Edge Compute C# / .NET AWS / GCP Unity / XR PyTorch Kafka Robotics / IoT

valarie.r.adams@gmail.com

valradams.com

github.com/deviantdear

About

Engineer first.
Leader always.

"I don't manage from a distance — I know the codebase, I make the architecture calls, and I ship alongside my team."

              
Team Scope
5–10 Engineers across CV, Platform, XR, and Backend

              
Primary Domains
Computer Vision • Autonomous/Spatial Systems • Enterprise Backend • XR

              
Core Approach
Full SDLC ownership — design through deployment, mentoring, and continuous improvement

I'm a software engineering manager with a background spanning computer vision, autonomous spatial systems, XR, edge compute, and enterprise backend platforms. My career has been defined by leading teams that ship — not just plan.

At Illumix I planned and directed software development across 5–10 engineers for a platform-agnostic mobile-first CV SDK, owning technical architecture and delivery for custom visual positioning systems deployed at venues like MGM Grand Las Vegas. At Carvana I led a team of 5 engineers responsible for the production backend of a critical underwriting platform integrating with 105+ service endpoints.

Before moving into management, I built robotics (a physical IoT robot with ML image classification), shipped XR products across HoloLens, Quest, iOS, and Android, and co-founded an independent studio where I had full accountability for product, engineering, and delivery from 0 to 1.

I believe in growing engineers intentionally — pairing strong technical mentorship with clear milestones, career development conversations, and a culture of high standards and psychological safety.

Competencies

Engineering Leadership
& Technical Strengths

Six core competency areas that span people leadership, process, architecture, and deep hands-on technical work across multiple domains.

Engineering Leadership

Team management (5–10 engineers)
Hiring & performance management
Mentoring & career development
Milestone & budget ownership
Cross-functional collaboration

SDLC & Process

Full lifecycle ownership — design to maintenance
Agile/Scrum facilitation
Functional requirements authoring
Technical design reviews
Continuous improvement culture

Architecture & System Design

Software architecture & scalable application dev
APIs & service integrations
Monolith-to-service re-architecture
Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure)
CI/CD pipeline design

Autonomy & Robotics

Computer vision SDKs & spatial systems
Real-time data pipelines
Edge & on-device compute
IoT robotics & sensor-driven applications
Autonomous navigation systems

Core Languages & Platforms

C#/.NET, C++/C, Python
TypeScript/JavaScript, SQL
AWS, GCP, Azure DevOps
Docker, Kubernetes, Kafka
Unity, iOS/Android, HoloLens/Quest

AI / ML

PyTorch, TensorFlow/TFLite
LLM & RAG pipelines
ML training & test automation
GCP Vertex AI, OpenCV, YOLO
On-device model deployment

Career History

Experience

9+ years of production engineering across computer vision, autonomous systems, enterprise backend, XR, and IoT/robotics — with 5+ years in formal leadership roles.

Feb 2023 — Apr 2026 Engineering Manager

Illumix

Software Engineering Manager

C# C++ Python .NET Unity AWS GCP

Led engineering for a platform-agnostic mobile-first computer vision SDK powering autonomous spatial systems across iOS and Android. Owned full SDLC across a team of 5–10 engineers — from technical architecture through production deployment — for VPS, AR live activations, and edge CV pipelines.

Planned and directed software development across 5–10 engineers; led hiring, performance management, and career development for engineering staff
Drove technical architecture decisions for the Spatial Positioning System (VPS) SDK and downstream client integrations
Resolved technical-feasibility, design, and production issues across the full CV pipeline
Built git-integrated CI/CD and automated test infrastructure on AWS and GCP, cutting manual testing effort by 50%
Shipped custom Visual Positioning System for MGM Grand Las Vegas indoor wayfinding
Shipped CV-powered live experiences including Carowinds Snoopy AR (2025) and Hogwarts Experience Riyadh (2024) with full metric instrumentation

50% manual testing reduction MGM Vegas VPS Mobile-first CV SDK

Apr 2022 — Nov 2022 Team Lead

Carvana

Software Engineering Team Lead

C# .NET SQL Azure DevOps Cosmos DB Kafka AWS Lambda

Context — Underwriting Platform at Carvana

As Team Lead of the Underwriting Platform, I was responsible for all code that made it into production for the backend tooling that validated a customer's eligibility for purchasing a vehicle. This meant integrating with over 105 endpoints — from predictive modeling, finance, and transactions. We packaged data neatly for a customer representative to review in a React-based web tool and validate before submitting "green" service bus messages to the teams responsible for vehicle delivery.

Led a team of 5 engineers building backend services and automation for a critical underwriting and verification platform. Maintained production quality across 105+ downstream service endpoints and led re-architecture of a C# monolith into modular, reusable, scalable workflow components.

$22 CPU reduction — Pay At Order $15 CPU reduction — MARTA 10–25% buyer access expansion — Cosigner

Key Projects

Co-vana / Cosigner Feature

10–25% buyer access increase by state. Led design and implementation for adding cosigner capability to a single-purchaser system — a 4-month cross-team effort requiring re-architecture of core eligibility flows.

Pay At Order

$22 CPU reduction. Technical Lead for the Verifications group. Enabled fund withdrawal at time of vehicle purchase, requiring close coordination across finance, transactions, and delivery teams.

MARTA — Massachusetts RTA Form Automation

$15 CPU reduction. Automated an information-dense state registration form down to a few clicks, eliminating manual data entry for customer representatives.

Paystub Surveys — Monolith Re-architecture

Led re-architecture of C# monolith enabling modular, automated verification wizards — the foundation for all subsequent platform improvements.

Sep 2021 — Apr 2022 Team Lead

BadVR

XR Software Engineering Team Lead

C# Unity HLSL Git

Led a cross-disciplinary team of 10 engineers and designers across 3 simultaneous XR products. Built shared multiplayer libraries and real-time data pipelines, shipping SeeSignal (real-time signal visualization), NOAA data visualization, and a jet engine repair simulation.

Managed engineering and design across 3 parallel product tracks with shared core libraries
Built multiplayer networking infrastructure and real-time 3D data pipelines with custom HLSL rendering
Shipped 3 major products: SeeSignal, NOAA immersive data viz, and multiplayer VR jet-repair training simulation

3 simultaneous products shipped Shared multiplayer library

Sep 2020 — Sep 2021 Software Engineer

Apriva

Software Engineer

.NET Core C# ASP.NET SQL Java JavaScript

Built payment-processing APIs and backend services in .NET Core and Java. Designed SQL schemas and contributed to ASP.NET web applications supporting payment gateway infrastructure.

Jan 2017 — Feb 2023 Founder

Man On The Moon Studios

Founder / Software Engineer & Designer

C# C++/C Python Unity IoT PyTorch AWS

Co-founded independent technical studio with full accountability for product, engineering, design, and delivery from 0 to 1. Built across robotics, ML, VR, and interactive media.

Shipped "Twitchy/Clampy" — a physical IoT robot with ML image-classification on AWS, capable of tracking and reacting to objects in real time
Built ML image-classification model trained on PyTorch and deployed on AWS infrastructure
Shipped medical VR surgical simulation used for training
Delivered "Hope Business In a Box" educational game simulating business operations with a full LMS integration

0-to-1 studio build IoT robotics + ML

2020 — 2021 Software Engineer

Visual Live

Software Engineer

C# Unity Azure Spatial Anchors Cosmos DB

Context — Acquisition by Unity

As an engineer at Visual Live I integrated Azure Spatial Anchors and Cosmos DB into the existing application to create object persistence across devices — allowing a person on an Android device to move an object and have it move on HoloLens and iOS simultaneously. All existing tools (Scaling, Rotation, Loading, Locking, Two Point Placement) needed to work identically. This was an incredibly popular feature that contributed to Visual Live's valuation when they were acquired by Unity and merged into Reflect.

2019 — 2020 Research Engineer

ASU Acoustic Ecology Lab

Software Engineer / Researcher

C# Unity Oculus Quest

Built custom spatial audio experiences in Oculus Quest VR for academic research into acoustic ecology and immersive environmental soundscapes at Arizona State University.

2018 — 2020 Software Engineer

Expotech Inc

Software Engineer

Unity OpenCV Vue.js Node.js

Built Unity/OpenCV-powered interactive training applications including a CV shooting game for live events. Also contributed Vue.js/Node.js web tooling for internal operations.

2017 — 2018 Software Engineer

Xplore / Augvu

Software Engineer

C# Unity AR/GPS

Contributed to early AR geolocation MVP — one of the first projects in AR spatial anchoring tied to real-world GPS coordinates, used for location-based augmented reality experiences.

Work Samples

Portfolio

Production work across three domains — computer vision & spatial systems, game development & XR, and enterprise backend & platform engineering.

Computer Vision & Spatial

MGM Vegas Wayfinding

VPS • Illumix • 2024

Custom Visual Positioning System for indoor navigation at MGM Grand Vegas using CV-driven localization.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Low Light VPS

Illumix

Visual positioning system performance in challenging low-light conditions.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Computer Vision Segmentation

Illumix

Real-time CV segmentation models running on mobile edge devices.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Natural History Museum SPS

Illumix

VPS scanning and localization in a museum environment.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Carowinds Snoopy AR

Illumix • 2025

Live AR activation at Carowinds theme park using CV-powered character experiences.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Hogwarts Experience Riyadh

Illumix • 2024

Harry Potter themed CV live activation experience in Saudi Arabia.

Computer Vision & Spatial

Early SPS Demo — Universal Prototype

Illumix

Early spatial positioning system prototype for Universal Studios.

Computer Vision & Spatial

CV Shooting Game — Gun Club 82

Expotech

CV-powered live shooting video game using computer vision for hit detection.

Game Dev & XR

SeeSignal

BadVR

Real-time signal visualization in an immersive XR environment.

Game Dev & XR

3D Data Visualization

BadVR

Interactive 3D data viz with custom HLSL rendering pipelines.

Game Dev & XR

Multiplayer VR Jet Maintenance Training

BadVR

Multiplayer VR training simulation for jet engine repair procedures.

Game Dev & XR

Mixed Reality Capture — AROC 3D Data Viz

BadVR

Mixed reality capture of real-time 3D data visualization system.

Game Dev & XR

Hope Business In a Box

Man On The Moon Studios

Educational video game simulating business operations.

Game Dev & XR

ETP Hope LMS System Demo

Man On The Moon Studios

Learning management system with game-based curriculum.

Game Dev & XR

HLSL Shaders

Man On The Moon Studios

Custom HLSL shaders built from scratch for MonoGame/XNA and Unity.

Enterprise Backend & Platform

Carvana Cosigner Feature

Carvana • 2022

Cross-team feature enabling cosigner support, increasing buyer access 10–25% by state.

Enterprise Backend & Platform

Visual Live Product Demo

Visual Live (acquired by Unity)

AR CAD/Navisworks visualization with Azure Spatial Anchors + Cosmos DB cross-device persistence — featuring contributed to Unity acquisition.

Enterprise Backend & Platform

Visual Live On Construction Site

Visual Live (acquired by Unity)

Live recording of Visual Live AR product deployed on an active construction site.

Full YouTube Reel Playlist Carvana.com VisualLive.com

Technical Profile

Skills

Leadership

Team Mgmt (5–10) Hiring & Performance Mentoring Career Development Milestone Ownership Budget Ownership Cross-functional Collab Agile / Scrum

Languages

C# / .NET C++ / C Python TypeScript JavaScript SQL Java Kotlin HLSL

AI / ML

PyTorch TensorFlow TFLite GCP Vertex AI LLM & RAG Pipelines OpenCV YOLO

Cloud & DevOps

AWS S3 AWS Lambda CloudFront Device Farm GCP Azure DevOps Docker Kubernetes Kafka Datadog Splunk

Data & Storage

SQL Server PostgreSQL Cosmos DB SQLite MongoDB Service Bus

Platforms & Engines

Unity Snap Lens Studio iOS / Android HoloLens Oculus Quest .NET Core ASP.NET Vue.js Node.js

Academic Background

Education

Bachelor of Science

Computer Science & Engineering

+ Game Engine Development Certification

Arizona State University

2017 — 2020

Bachelor of Science

Economics

University of Arizona

2009 — 2012

Let's Connect

Contact

I'm open to conversations about engineering leadership roles, team-building challenges, and interesting technical problems at the intersection of hardware, vision, and software.

Best way to reach me is email. Response time is typically within 24–48 hours.