James Bridenthal
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James Bridenthal

Senior Software Engineer V

Software Engineer and Legacy Modernization Expert with 15 years of experience bridging complex legacy infrastructures with modern cloud system ecosystems within stand alone and enterprise applications. Proven track record of ensuring 100% uptime for mission-critical applications while architecting scalable, CI/CD-driven modernization strategies.

Skills

Architecture & Delivery

  • System Architecture & DevOps (CI/CD, Azure DevOps, Legacy Migration, Reverse Engineering)
  • Development Methodologies: Agile/Scrum, CI/CD, Test-Driven Development, SOLID principles

Engineering

  • Backend Development: 15+ years with .NET Framework, .NET Core, C#, VB.NET, ASP.NET Web API, RESTful API design.
  • Frontend Development: Angular, React, Blazor, Astro, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript/TypeScript
  • Database Technologies: Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL
Experience

MRI Software

Cleveland, OH (Remote) / July 2011-Present

Senior Software Engineer V

2021-Present
  • Spearheaded the rescue of an undocumented legacy application by reverse-engineering the core architecture and designing an Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline, ensuring zero downtime.
  • Serve as technical lead for a modern product ecosystem, utilizing front-end frameworks and Azure cloud services to architect scalable, high-performance features.
  • Integrated AI-augmented tooling into the development workflow to accelerate modernization, refactor deprecated libraries into native framework implementations, and reduce technical debt.

Senior Software Engineer IV

2016-2021
  • Full stack development in an agile environment using Angular, JavaScript, C#, and other .NET technologies, with unit tests using NUnit, Moq, and xUnit.
  • Mentored engineering interns from project inception through their final executive presentations.
  • Architected a cloud-based automated health check system using Playwright, C#, and Azure to guarantee core product reliability.
  • Created and maintained CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps.

Software Engineer I-III

2011-2016
  • Maintained a legacy application developed in PowerBuilder and SQL, including DevOps for CI/CD.
  • Mentored junior developers on best practices, processes, and coding standards.
  • Developed an integration test suite using SpecFlow and NUnit for functionality and workflow testing.
Selected Work

Multi-Service Web Application Modernization

Helped modernize an undocumented web application for a product team without dedicated web development resources.

Challenge

The application consisted of seven microservices and five databases, with undocumented processes and unknown dependencies making local development and safe changes difficult.

Contribution

Started documenting the system and discovering its processes so the application could be developed locally. Partnered with a new developer during the transition and server migration.

Outcome

Successfully migrated the servers and added CI/CD with no impact to clients.

  • Microservices
  • Databases
  • Server migration
  • CI/CD

Reusable Integration Testing Frameworks

Led small teams in building automated frontend and backend integration-testing suites that could scale as the products matured.

Challenge

The teams needed reliable automated coverage across user-facing workflows, APIs, and database results without creating a separate custom test implementation for every scenario.

Contribution

Led a team of interns in creating a Playwright frontend testing suite. Designed backend integration tests using SpecFlow and later Reqnroll to call APIs and validate database data, applying Cucumber-style scenarios and reusable coding patterns.

Outcome

Established reusable test structures that reduced the amount of new test-specific code required as coverage expanded and the projects matured.

  • Playwright
  • SpecFlow
  • Reqnroll
  • API testing
  • Database validation
  • Cucumber-style BDD

AI-Assisted Legacy Modernization

Used AI-augmented development tools to accelerate the modernization of legacy applications while reducing technical debt.

Challenge

Legacy applications depended on deprecated libraries that made ongoing maintenance and modernization more difficult.

Contribution

Integrated AI-augmented tools into the development workflow and refactored deprecated libraries into native implementations supported by the application frameworks.

Outcome

Accelerated modernization work and reduced technical debt while preserving the behavior of the existing applications.

  • AI-assisted development
  • .NET
  • Legacy modernization
  • Modern frontend frameworks

Legacy Application Delivery Platform

Built out CI/CD capabilities for a legacy application and its supporting databases, tooling, and quality controls.

Challenge

The product required a repeatable way to build the client application, provision database changes from SQL scripts, scan code for vulnerabilities, and recover development or QA databases when test data became unusable.

Contribution

Designed pipelines for application and SQL database builds, added vulnerability scanning, and created product-specific PowerShell and build tools. Added self-service pipelines that allowed developers and QA engineers to rebuild databases when needed.

Outcome

Created a more repeatable delivery process with integrated security checks and faster recovery for development and QA environments.

  • CI/CD
  • SQL scripts
  • Vulnerability scanning
  • PowerShell
  • Custom build tooling
  • Database recovery
Education & Certifications
CIW v5 Associate Web Development - 2011
AAS Computer Science - Ivy Tech Community College Marion, IN 2008 - 2011
Microsoft AI Fundamentals - 2022 Credly.com Verification
Microsoft Azure Fundamentals - 2023 Credly.com Verification