Michael Bazos
Software Engineer, Architect & Engineering Manager
Results-driven Software Architect and Engineering Manager with extensive experience leading diverse engineering teams to deliver scalable, high-performance systems. Expert in Java, cloud technologies, and modern development practices, with a proven track record of driving business growth and technical innovation.
Summary of Qualifications
- • Delivered 20%+ quarterly growth for Priceline's rental car services through technical leadership, managing high-volume APIs serving millions of requests
- • Led enterprise cloud migration, training 15+ teams across Java, JS, PHP, and Go to transition applications from on-premises to GCP
- • Deep Java/JVM expertise with proven ability to architect shared components and libraries used organization-wide
- • Lead the JVM developer group at Priceline while actively mentoring engineers and creating architectural documentation
- • Champion AI-assisted development practices and introduced ML for search optimization to enhance system performance
Experience
Mobility Search & Book Development Manager
Priceline.com, Norwalk, CT
- • Manage a diverse team of engineers including backend, frontend, native app, and test engineers
- • Actively participate in Priceline's co-op program, training and managing co-op students alongside other direct reports
Relevant Technologies: Atlassian Suite, DX, New Relic, Splunk, ClickHouse
Senior Director Rental Car Services
Priceline.com, Norwalk, CT
- • Manage engineering team responsible for core rental car APIs supporting Priceline.com and affiliate network; partner with business leadership to define technical strategy
- • Champion AI-powered development tools and led internal AI hackathon resulting in customer-focused projects for reviews and policy analysis
- • Introduced machine learning to optimize search result rankings and improve conversion rates
- • Implemented caching strategies for supplier data, enhancing system performance and search speed
Relevant Technologies: Docker, Kubernetes, Java, Node.js, Kafka, Redis, Cassandra, GCP, Gemini CLI, Cody, Cursor
Distinguished Engineer Rental Car Services
Priceline.com, Norwalk, CT
- • Led company-wide cloud migration, adapting shared Java libraries and patterns for lift-and-shift of complex applications
- • Trained 15+ teams on cloud migration across Java, JS, PHP, and Go
- • Core contributor to the Rental Car product team
Relevant Technologies: Helm Charts, Docker, Kubernetes, Java, Node.js, Kafka, Redis, Cassandra, GCP
Principal Engineer Rental Car Services
Priceline.com, Norwalk, CT
- • Technical leadership role on the Rental Car team as individual contributor
- • Led API consolidation, supplier/affiliate onboarding, and internationalization of the rental car path
- • Collaborated with business, product, and tech teams to prioritize work and drive growth
Relevant Technologies: REST, Java, Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Oracle DB, MySql, Cassandra, Lucene
Senior Software Engineer Rental Car Services
Priceline.com, Norwalk, CT
- • Built and modernized high-volume foundational APIs for rental car services
- • Delivered 20%+ quarterly business growth through impactful projects
- • Implemented in-memory caching resulting in 25%+ reduction in API response times
- • Won Priceline's first hackathon with innovative dual-map rental car search UI
Relevant Technologies: REST, Java, Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Oracle DB, MySql, Cassandra, Lucene
Senior Application Developer SE&I
Cigna, Bloomfield, CT
- • Built Cigna's first native Android app with Python/Django backend; designed enterprise Java components used organization-wide
Relevant Technologies: Android, Python, Django, Java, J2EE, Spring Framework, IBM Websphere
Senior Application Developer EAS
Cigna, Bloomfield, CT
- • Major contributor to Cigna's web services initiative powering call center and website
- • Reduced MIPS utilization by 70% through performance optimizations; received company award
Relevant Technologies: Java, J2EE, Spring Framework, IBM Websphere, SOA, SOAP, DB2, Oracle DB
Application Developer Single Sign On (SSO)
Cigna, Bloomfield, CT
- • Developed and maintained Cigna's enterprise SSO services for authentication and authorization
Relevant Technologies: Java, J2EE, LDAP, Spring Framework, Hibernate, IBM Websphere
Education
B.S. Computer Science
Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT
- • Minor in Mathematics
- • GPA 3.406
- • Upsilon Pi Epsilon Computer Science Honor Society Spring 2006
- • SHU Football NCAA Division I–AA/FCS 2002-2005
- • 2004 Northeast Confrence Fall Academic Honor Roll (SHU Football)
Personal Interests & Activities
Volunteer Firefighter (2022-Present)
Active volunteer firefighter certified in Fire Fighter I, HazMat Operations, and HazMat Awareness. Lead the technology committee managing Microsoft 365 deployment, servers, and network infrastructure. Built and maintain the department website at evfc1.com.
Suadeo (2020-Present)
Social network app for TV & movies built with React Native, Node.js, and Neo4j.
Multi-Platform Mobile Kids Game (2014-2017)
Built a cross-platform memory game using Java, OpenGL, and custom graphics/animation systems.
Web Mail Scraper Outlook (2015-2017)
Android app enabling native email access via OWA screen-scraping. 100k+ downloads.
Binary Clock Wallpaper (2012)
A simple, efficient live wallpaper for android. This was my first published app to the market.
Disposable Camera App (2012)
Wedding photo app with instant uploads and geofencing to validate venue proximity.
About This Resume
Built with AI-assisted development using Claude Code and Astro. Source code available on GitHub.