0-to-1 product builds
An idea, a spec, or a spreadsheet that outgrew itself — taken to a real product in production. Web or native iOS, designed and built end to end.
- Product and UX definition
- Architecture and build
- Launch and iteration
Open to select engineering & product work
Jay McBride
I build software from idea to production.
Senior full-stack engineer, software architect, and product builder in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Twenty years of shipping enterprise systems in regulated environments, leading engineering teams, and taking my own products from a blank page to the App Store.
- 20+
- Years building software
- 4
- Products shipped independently
- 5
- Years leading engineering teams
- 2
- Native iOS apps in production
Software shipped for — 2005 to now
- Canadian Bank Note 2012–18, 2025–
- trakrSuite 2020–25
- Insightworks 2018–20
- IPCMobile 2017–18
- District of Algoma 2007–10
- Fairmont Hotels 2010–12
- PGA of Canada 2010–12
- Swissotel 2010–12
About
Someone has to hold the whole thing in their head.
I solve problems by building useful software. Over the past two decades I’ve designed enterprise systems, launched software products, led engineering teams, and built applications from a blank page to production.
I’m most effective where backend architecture, frontend execution, UI judgment, and product ownership all matter at once — the places that need one person who can carry a problem from the database schema to the thing the customer actually touches.
That’s been the through-line: lottery and gaming systems under OLG and AGCO compliance, a social services intake platform for the District of Algoma, a pricing portal that ran for seven years without drama, and now a native iOS product I designed, built, launched, and support myself.
How I work
Four things I’ve stopped arguing about
Twenty years in, these are the positions I keep coming back to — and the ones that shape what I build for other people.
Boring technology, chosen deliberately.
Rails, .NET, Postgres, native Swift. Not because they’re fashionable, but because I know exactly how they fail and how to fix them at 2am. Novelty is a cost you pay every year you own the code.
The interface is the product.
Users never see your architecture. They see the screen. I’ve never accepted the split where engineering ships something technically correct and unusable, then waits for someone else to make it good.
If it can’t survive five years, it isn’t finished.
I’ve built systems for regulated gaming and public social services, where uptime and accuracy aren’t negotiable. That standard doesn’t switch off for smaller projects — it just gets cheaper to hit.
Fewer hands, fewer hand-offs.
Most delay isn’t typing speed — it’s the gaps between people. One senior person who understands the whole system will usually beat three who each own a slice of it.
I’ve never been the person who writes the spec and walks away. I want to be there when it’s live and someone’s actually using it.
Interactive
One request, all the way down.
This is what “full-stack” actually means when one person owns it: a single request crossing every layer I work in, and coming back up with the answer.
- Interface SwiftUI · Hotwire · React The screen, the states, the thing the customer actually touches.
- API Rails · Laravel · .NET Routing, auth, contracts, and the shape of every response.
- Domain Business rules The rules that have to hold even when everything else is on fire.
- Data PostgreSQL · SQL Server Schema, transactions, indexes — the part nobody sees until it's wrong.
- Infrastructure AWS · Azure · CI/CD Where it runs, how it ships, and what happens at 2am.
stock-count · trace
—
Work with me
How I help teams and founders
I take on a small number of engagements at a time through Bunker41, my independent consultancy. Every project gets a senior engineer who does the architecture, the build, and the follow-through — not a hand-off chain.
Architecture & modernization
Aging platforms that need to scale, ship faster, or simply stop breaking. I’ve modernized enterprise systems inside regulated environments where downtime isn’t an option.
- Architecture & API review
- Incremental platform migration
- Cloud delivery and CI/CD
Fractional engineering leadership
Teams that are shipping but need a senior technical voice: architecture calls, delivery process, code quality, and mentoring that raises the whole floor.
- Technical direction
- Delivery process & review
- Mentoring and hiring support
Independent products
Things I built and shipped myself
Designed, engineered, launched, and supported solo — from the first sketch to the customers using them today.
Featured
Magpie Inventory & Stock
SwiftUI · Core Data · CloudKit
A native iOS inventory platform for small businesses. I conceived, designed, engineered, and launched it — and I still own the product strategy, UX, branding, App Store presence, support, and roadmap.
- Built around simplicity, privacy, and performance
- Native SwiftUI with Core Data and CloudKit sync
- Shipped and evolving with AI-assisted workflows
Bookend
Ruby on Rails 8 · Hotwire · PostgreSQL
Production management and professional networking for theatre, film, and live entertainment — casting, rehearsals, communication, and production workflows in one place.
CleanCheck
Ruby on Rails 8 · Hotwire · PostgreSQL
An in-development operations platform for recurring cleaning schedules, inspections, preventive maintenance, and routine operational tasks.
spec.social
Astro · TypeScript
A browser-based utility for previewing social media cropping, composition, and safe areas. Privacy-first: everything runs client-side.
Bunker41
Independent consultancy
Custom software, web apps, websites, branding, integrations, and digital strategy for businesses across a range of industries.
Experience
Twenty years, start to now
Now
Product Builder
Magpie Inventory & Stock Sault Ste. Marie, ON
– Present
Solo build, live on the App Store
- Conceived, designed, engineered, launched, and continue to evolve a native iOS inventory platform for small businesses using SwiftUI, Core Data, and CloudKit.
- Own product strategy, UX, branding, App Store optimization, customer support, marketing, and the ongoing roadmap.
- Built the product around simplicity, privacy, performance, and long-term maintainability while using AI-assisted workflows to accelerate development and iteration.
Now
Senior Full Stack Developer
Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited Canada
– Present
Regulated gaming & lottery
- Deliver enterprise software within a highly regulated gaming and lottery environment where reliability, security, compliance, and long-term maintainability are critical.
- Collaborate across technical and stakeholder groups to ship software against a high bar for quality, compliance, and maintainability.
Director of Engineering
trakrSuite Sault Ste. Marie, ON
–
Mobile, web, backend & cloud
- Director of Engineering Mar 2023 – May 2025
- Senior Solutions Architect Apr 2022 – Mar 2023
- Solution Architect Aug 2020 – Apr 2022
- Progressed from Solution Architect to Senior Solutions Architect to Director of Engineering as technical scope, product ownership, and team leadership responsibilities expanded.
- Led delivery of trakr Counting and trakr Safety across mobile, web, backend, and cloud infrastructure for business-critical field and office workflows.
- Led iOS development for trakr Counting using UIKit and Core Data, then helped drive the move to React Native and Expo to reduce maintenance overhead and improve release speed.
- Designed the shared Laravel and MySQL API plus Angular-based admin and product experiences that supported a unified platform and cleaner end-to-end delivery.
- Led architecture, cloud delivery, mentoring, and engineering execution from solution design through production release.
Application Architect / Senior Developer
Insightworks Sault Ste. Marie, ON
–
- Helped modernize a mature enterprise platform into a scalable .NET Core and Angular architecture while introducing RabbitMQ messaging and Azure CI/CD pipelines to improve reliability and deployment velocity.
Freelance Web Developer
IPCMobile (Infinite Peripherals) Sault Ste. Marie, ON
–
In production 7+ years
- Designed and built a custom Rails and PostgreSQL pricing portal for customers and reseller partners, owning UI/UX, backend development, deployment, and business integrations end to end.
- Integrated FedEx, Moneris, SendGrid, and Elasticsearch into a platform designed for real operational use.
- Delivered a business-critical product that remained in active use for more than seven years with minimal issues.
Programmer Analyst / Senior Programmer Analyst
Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited
–
OLG & AGCO compliance
- Delivered lottery and gaming software for highly regulated environments where uptime, accuracy, and compliance were non-negotiable.
- Built POS bingo, 50/50 raffle, and Ontario bingo systems using .NET, React/WebGL, Redis, and SQL Server.
- Partnered with product, compliance, OLG, and AGCO stakeholders and contributed CI/CD tooling and real-time game logic for production deployments.
Web Application Developer
Lucidia Sault Ste. Marie, ON
–
- Prototyped the original Viewpoint visual training software using the Google Maps API, jQuery, and ASP.NET.
- Delivered responsive web experiences for Fairmont Hotels, Swissotel, and PGA of Canada properties and brands.
Web Developer
Unique Data Systems Sault Ste. Marie, ON
–
Public sector, real caseloads
- Developed the original Ontario Works, Social Housing, and Children’s Services online application for the District of Algoma.
- Helped adapt the platform for Toronto-area use and maintained ongoing feature development for the District of Algoma.
Start
Web Developer
Nortek Computers
–
Toolkit
Selected technologies
- Languages
- C#TypeScriptJavaScriptRubyPHPSwiftSQL
- Backend
- Ruby on RailsLaravel.NETREST APIs
- Frontend
- AngularReactAstroHotwireTurboStimulus
- Mobile
- SwiftUIUIKitCore DataCloudKit
- Data
- PostgreSQLSQL ServerMySQL
- Cloud & delivery
- AWSAzureDockerCI/CD
Beyond the code
Community & education
– Present
Social Media Marketing Manager
The Musical Comedy Guild
Grew the Instagram audience by more than 650% through deliberate content strategy, brand voice, and community engagement.
Graduated
Computer Programmer
Sault College of Applied Arts and Technology
The formal start. Everything since has been shipped, broken, fixed, and shipped again.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Who is Jay McBride?
Jay McBride is a senior full-stack engineer, software architect, and product builder based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. He has over 20 years of experience designing enterprise systems, launching software products, leading engineering teams, and building applications from a blank page to production.
What does Jay McBride do?
Jay McBride builds software end to end: backend architecture, frontend engineering, UI/UX, and product ownership. He is currently the Product Builder behind Magpie Inventory & Stock, a native iOS inventory platform for small businesses, and a Senior Full Stack Developer at Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited.
Is Jay McBride available for freelance or consulting work?
Yes. Jay McBride takes on a small number of engagements at a time through Bunker41, his independent software consultancy. Typical work includes 0-to-1 product builds, software architecture and modernization, and fractional engineering leadership. He can be reached at hello@iamjaymcbride.com.
Where is Jay McBride based?
Jay McBride is based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, and works with clients and teams remotely across Canada and the United States.
What technologies does Jay McBride specialize in?
Jay McBride works primarily with C#, TypeScript, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, and Swift. His backend experience includes Ruby on Rails, Laravel, .NET, and REST APIs; his frontend experience includes Angular, React, Astro, and the Hotwire/Turbo/Stimulus stack; his mobile experience includes SwiftUI, UIKit, Core Data, and CloudKit.
What products has Jay McBride built?
Jay McBride built Magpie Inventory & Stock, a native iOS inventory platform for small businesses. He also built Bookend, a production management and networking platform for theatre, film, and live entertainment; CleanCheck, a cleaning operations platform; and spec.social, a browser-based social media crop and safe-area preview tool. He runs Bunker41, an independent software consultancy.
How can I contact Jay McBride?
Jay McBride can be reached by email at hello@iamjaymcbride.com, by phone at 705-542-0195, or on LinkedIn.
Currently taking new work
Got something
you want built?
A senior engineering role, an architecture problem, or a product that’s still just an idea on a napkin — tell me about it. I read every email myself.
I read and answer every message myself — usually the same day.
Book a 20-minute call
No pitch, no obligation — or reach me directly: