About

I’m a technology {enthusiast, practitioner, leader, mentor, podcaster, pontificator} with a broad background in cross-functional and interdisciplinary teams across the healthcare, environmental, non-profit, and advertising industries. I’m passionate about hiring, team culture, and growth, and I have a soft spot for process improvement, automation, and security.

You can reach me directly at chris@tonkinson.com, and my GPG key fingerprint is 9120 D63D BB2E 8370 7023 C002 7145 1F95 18B3 E7A2. I also have a few accounts scattered about the web which get varied amounts of attention: LinkedIn, Stack Overflow, Mastodon, GitLab, Twitter, and GitHub.

disclaimer: Obvious as it may seem to those outside the legal profession, any views expressed on my own personal website(s) or through any third party services are strictly my own, and reflect neither opinions nor policies of my employer(s), partner(s), and/or affiliate(s) unless otherwise expressed.

Cecilian Partners

I serve as Head of Engineering and Architecture for Philadelphia-based [Cecilian Partners], a growth-stage digital transformation SaaS firm in the real estate industry — specfically new home construction. I lead technology strategy and execution across our land banking, ERP, CRM, and resident engagement platforms.

Direct link to my current resume (pdf warning)

Previous Roles:

• VP, Engineering & Architecture @ Convey Health Solutions
• Director of Software Engineering @ Gorman Health Group
• Chief Technology Officer @ CultureSpots
• Principal @ Forge Software
• Independent Consultant
• Senior Full-Stack Engineer @ Sensaphone
• Full-Stack Web Developer @ Sposto Interactive
• Lead Systems Programmer @ ClassicWines.com

Refactored

I co-host the Refactored podcast along with Frank Koehl. Refactored is a casual, ongoing conversation between two technology leaders trying to suck a little less every day. I bring my patented brand of cranky optimism to the weekly discussion about technology, leadership, and the underserved middle ground between the two. We stay pragmatic while spanning the strategic and tacital, but we never take ourselves too seriously.

Career Schema Project

I founded the CSP in 2021 after years of frustration at the state of job sites and applicant tracking systems, and motivated by seeing too many people online complain about “uploading my résumé, then having to enter all the same information over again manually.” I realized that a simple concept — a well-defined schema for résumé/CV data — could have profound downstream consequences for both job seekers and hiring managers alike.

The mission of the Career Schema Project is to develop open standards and technology to reduce the time, cost, and stress of interacting in the job market. That means better access and equity for jobseekers. It means lower costs for business. It means a coming wave of data systems that unlock new possibilities for creating, sharing, and otherwise managing career data.