Engineering leadership founded on trust, informed by HCI principles, and dedicated to driving meaningful impact.
About Me
Hi, I'm Nader, a senior engineering leader with over 18 years of experience helping organizations scale smarter, deliver innovation faster, and transform technology teams into high-performing drivers of business growth.
My path began at UC Berkeley, where I studied Cognitive Science with a focus on Human-Computer Interaction. That foundation sparked a career-long passion for building technology that serves people. I didn't get into engineering just to build software, but to empower people and businesses through systems, platforms, and culture designed with intention — a mindset shaped by Human-Computer Interaction, where the true measure of success is how technology enables people to thrive.
Over the years, I've led transformations that generated hundreds of millions in business impact — from launching a digital debt resolution platform at Achieve, to modernizing payment infrastructure and launching print sales on SmugMug and Flickr, to building privacy-first advertising systems at NinthDecimal used by major retail brands.
Currently, I'm Director of Engineering at NinjaTrader, where I lead the Client Platforms organization. My focus is on creating a best-in-class suite of financial products and delivering world-class, consumer-facing product experiences across web, mobile, and desktop.
I believe that great technology starts with people. When you invest in your team, your systems, and your culture, you unlock lasting impact for both the business and the people it serves.
How I Lead
I believe in building teams where people grow, ship, and thrive. If you want to understand my approach to management, expectations, and how I support engineers—my Manager README is the best place to start.
Read My Manager READMEMy Professional Journey
Director of Engineering
NinjaTrader
Started in April 2025. Currently leading engineering efforts at NinjaTrader, focused on platform alignment and team integration across web, mobile, and desktop. Establishing early alignment practices across product lines post-acquisition and driving operational unification across platforms.
Senior Director of Engineering
Achieve
Led the development of a new digital enrollment platform, replacing a manual process with a scalable, customer-friendly experience. Scaled the engineering team from a small startup-sized group to a cross-functional organization with management layers. Established a high-trust culture focused on autonomy, feedback, and psychological safety. Partnered with product and design to launch a mobile-first experience with biometric login, and played a key role in company-wide rebrand and platform modernization efforts.
Focus & Culture
- Digital Transformation
- Enrollment Platform
- Mobile App Launch
- Consumer Rebrand
- AI Innovation Lab
- Core Flow Redesign
- Promoted Staff+ Engineers & Managers
- Introduced Daily Virtual Watercooler Rituals
- Balanced Team Seniority via Strategic Hiring
- Revamped Processes for Modern Remote Execution
Impact
- $100M+ Revenue Unlocked
- Top 200 Finance App (App Store)
- 150–200bps Retention Lift
- Consumer Rebrand Completed 40% Under Budget
Tech Stack
Team
- 20 Direct Reports · 1 Manager
- 3 Full-Stack Consumer Teams + Mobile
- Owned all Web & Mobile Digital Consumer Experiences
- Fully Remote across US Timezones
Director of Engineering
SmugMug / Flickr
Directed engineering through a multi-phase modernization initiative. Led a full replacement of the payment processing infrastructure, implemented automated testing to improve quality and release speed, and partnered across disciplines to deliver new platform capabilities. Introduced scalable planning practices and worked closely with product, design, and support to balance innovation with technical and business constraints.
Focus & Culture
- Payments Modernization
- QA Automation
- Print Sales Launch
- React Native Prototypes
- Program Management
- GDPR / CCPA Compliance
- Fully Automated QA
- Cross-Team Roadmap Planning
- Embedded Program Mgmt
- Improved Scrum Routines
Impact
- $400K+ Annual Savings (Payments via Stripe Migration)
- New Revenue Stream via Print
- Improved Planning Culture Org-Wide
Tech Stack
Team
- 30–40 Reports incl. QA + PM Managers
- Full-Stack eCom Team
- Remote + Pre-Pandemic Onsite (US + Canada)
Director of Engineering
NinthDecimal (acquired by InMarket in 2020)
Led engineering for NinthDecimal, a pioneer in location-based intelligence and advertising analytics. Spearheaded the transition from legacy stacks to modern React/Rails architecture, introduced Agile and CI/CD practices in collaboration with Pivotal Labs, and launched privacy-first ad solutions in partnership with TRUSTe to set early standards in mobile data transparency.
Focus & Culture
- Platform Migration
- Audience Measurement
- Privacy & Compliance
- Ad CMS + Pixel Infra
- Mobile Location Ads
- CI/CD & Agile Transformation
- React Native Prototypes
- Company-wide Agile Shift
- CI/CD Across All Teams
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Long-Term Tech Vision Execution
Impact
- Transformed from WiFi Ads → Mobile AdTech → Audience Measurement
- Migrated from PHP to Rails, On-Prem to Cloud
- Established PMO with Exec Team
- Projects with Pivotal Labs Delivered Under Budget
Tech Stack
Team
- 10 Direct Reports · Co-Led 40+ Member Org
- Offshore Teams (Ukraine, St. Petersburg)
- Hybrid Onsite & Distributed Model
Lead UI Engineer
Genius.com (acquired by CallidusCloud → SAP)
Lead UI Engineer at Genius.com, working across both SalesGenius and MarketingGenius product lines—early SaaS platforms for real-time sales intelligence and marketing automation. Designed and built the industry's first zero-setup website chat and email tracking tools. Played a key role in the company's Agile transition, mentored junior engineers, and improved front-end velocity.
Focus & Culture
- MarketingGenius SaaS Platform
- Real-time Chat System
- Landing Page Builder
- Agile Transformation
- Agile Evangelism
- Rapid UI Innovation
- Hands-On Mentorship
Impact
- First Zero-Setup Real-Time Chat Tool
- Mobile-Accessible Web Prototype
- WYSIWYG Landing Page Tool for Marketers
Tech Stack
Team
- Tech Lead Role
- Scaled from 8 → 25 Engineers
- Close Collab with Product, Marketing, CTO/CEO
Technical Marketing Engineer
WebEx
Designed and built internal marketing attribution and campaign analytics tools. Supported engineering efforts with customer-facing infrastructure and helped establish early data strategies to track ROI across campaigns.
Focus & Culture
- Attribution Analytics
- Marketing Tech Solutions
- Campaign Tracking Infrastructure
- Cross-Functional Delivery
- IC-Led Strategic Impact
- Marketing-Engineering Alignment
Impact
- Company-Wide Attribution Custom Cookie Library
- Newsletter & Archive Platform
- Performance Improvements to MarketFirst SQL Queries
Tech Stack
Team
- Internship role
- Embedded in Marketing
- Partnered w/ Engineering + Product
Proudly rooted in Berkeley. Trained in HCI and Computer Science. Focused on the future.
What Others Say
I'm grateful to have worked with some incredible engineers, PMs, and leaders. Here's what a few of them had to say about our time together — in their own words.
Personal Interests
A few of the books that shaped how I think about science, systems, and the mental models I bring to engineering and leadership.
The book that changed my life in high school. It pulled me into physics and math, setting me on the path to Cog Sci and CS. A foundational spark.
One of the best modern physics books — elegant, clear, and expansive in the way it connects string theory to our understanding of the universe.
A deeply thoughtful book about time, endings, and human meaning. It merges cosmology with introspection in a way few books manage.
Speculative but powerful. The core idea — that reality is math — is wild, but it challenged me to think differently about what’s 'real.'
These are not affiliate or commission links. Just sharing books that mattered to me.
© 2025 Nader Farahani. Made with Next.js, Tailwind CSS, PixiJS & Cursor AI.