Michael Pazienza
Digital Marketing & Engineering Leader
Summary
Strategic Engineering Leader with 20+ years of experience bridging the gap between high-performance web development, intuitive user experience, and aggressive digital marketing goals. Expert in scaling B2B/E-commerce websites, optimizing for CRO/SEO, and leading cross-functional teams to deliver human-centric, enterprise-grade solutions.
Technical Toolkit
Engineering
NextJS, React, Laravel, TypeScript, Node.js, PHP, Tailwind, CSS, AI Implementation, API Integration
CMS Platforms
WordPress / WooCommerce, Statamic, Drupal, Webflow, Shopify, Framer, Contentful
Marketing & CRM
Hubspot, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Pipedrive, Marketo
Growth & UX
CRO, SEO Strategy, A/B Testing, Amplitude, VWO, Hotjar, Ahrefs, SEMrush
Data & Analytics
Google Tag Manager (GTM), Google Analytics (GA4), SQL, Firebase, Looker Studio
Professional Experience
Website / Application Consultant
- Engineered a custom NextJS e-commerce platform for an industrial client, successfully integrating proprietary ERP APIs to automate order management.
- Architected a modular front-end for an Agentic AI platform, enabling the rapid branding and integration of new AI agent modules for individual enterprise customers.
- Accelerated lead generation for SMB clients through end-to-end Webflow and WordPress implementations integrated with HubSpot and advanced analytics.
- Optimized WordPress health and SEO by troubleshooting performance bottlenecks, implementing geolocation logic, and auditing GTM/Analytics tracking.
Senior WordPress Engineer
- Boosted site performance by 300% by re-architecting WordPress infrastructure across sites to a Laravel-based system utilizing Gutenberg blocks and improved cacheability.
- Scaled a 15K+ SKU school marketplace as the primary technical owner, architecting complex integrations for Salesforce lead capture, channel inventory, and personalized referral systems.
- Drove new conversion opportunities by engineering a custom wishlist system for teachers and students, providing the business with critical metrics on title popularity and regional adoption.
- Reduced implementation timelines by co-defining a shared React component library used across both WordPress and NextJS platforms, ensuring UI consistency across the entire ecosystem.
- Optimized digital/physical commerce sync by rebuilding the Square gift card integration to be recursive and high-efficiency, ensuring 1:1 data parity for in-person book fairs.
- Identified growth levers through B2B/B2C CRO experiments in Amplitude, leading to measurable increases in CTR and lead volume.
Website Manager
- Owned technical strategy for the corporate marketing site (Statamic CMS), establishing core performance metrics and leading all technical implementations to drive demand gen.
- Automated full-funnel lead generation by architecting HubSpot workflows and custom API integrations, streamlining the hand-off between site interactions and sales qualified leads (SQLs).
- Enhanced competitive SEO positioning by spearheading the development of automated monitoring and analytics dashboards to identify and capture high-value keyword opportunities.
- Capitalized on multimedia for SEO growth by implementing a technical strategy to transcribe, index, and interlink podcast content, turning audio assets into high-ranking organic search drivers.
Co-founder & VP of Engineering
- Delivered $3M+ in high-impact digital products, including enterprise web applications, data visualizations, and complex integrations for global brands including Audi of America, Universal Music Group, and Keller Williams.
- Scaled organizational capacity by establishing a multi-disciplinary team of internal and external designers, developers, QA analysts, and project managers.
- Standardized the "Company Playbook," creating a comprehensive set of delivery SOPs that streamlined talent onboarding and ensured consistent, high-quality output for clients.
- Served as a Technical Advisor to C-suite clients, leveraging data and analytics to provide strategic roadmaps for technical implementation and business growth.
- Cultivated long-term agency partnerships, driving revenue through increased client retention and expanding engagements beyond initial project scopes.
Director of Engineering, Projects
- Led and mentored a cross-functional team of 13, fostering a culture of technical excellence and knowledge sharing during a period of rapid high-growth.
- Expanded global delivery capabilities by establishing and managing offshore development and QA partnerships, significantly increasing team bandwidth and cost-efficiency.
- Systematized project scoping and resourcing, incorporating performance metrics into the estimation process to improve accuracy and decrease turnaround times.
- Acted as the senior technical escalation point, providing strategic oversight and "last line of defense" support to ensure 100% delivery success for customer engagements.
Creative Technologist, Marketing
Web Operations Manager
Web Designer / Developer
Education
Art Institute of California – Los Angeles
A.S., Animation Art & Design