About
James R T Bossert
A passionate, empathetic leader who thrives in collaborative environments where diversity, creativity, and curiosity are valued.
Roles
IT Development Leader
UNC NC AHEC · Sep 2024 – Present
- Coordinate team activities and contribute to application development + operational support for a hybrid micro-services platform.
- Work with stakeholders to automate and streamline statewide workflows while keeping technical debt low.
- Support statewide IT as an applications and data management unit for AHEC service lines.
Co-Founder & Lead Developer
Fairlady Media · 2008 – Present
- Co-created the Grandma and Grandpa kid’s brand (13 apps; 4M+ downloads; multiple App Store features).
- Developed apps for clients including Sesame Street, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hearst, Sanrio, and American Greetings.
- Focused on Apple native tooling (Xcode, Objective-C, Swift, Cocos2d, SpriteKit) for production delivery.
WillowTree · Group VP & Managing Director
Jun 2023 – Feb 2024
- Led 20+ client accounts and teams with $75M+ in yearly revenue.
- Built an engineering discipline across 4 portfolios, 4 US offices, and 2 Brazil offices.
- Managed resourcing for a distributed team (50+ directors, 400+ engineers) and supported hybrid office culture for 150+ employees.
WillowTree · Partner & VP, Engineering
Jul 2022 – Jun 2023
- Managed 5–6 client accounts and teams with $20M+ in yearly revenue.
- Coached leaders through sensitive conversations and negotiated scope/timelines aligned to business drivers.
- Built engineering systems: career ladders, interviewing/hiring, performance evaluations, internship program, and engineering newsletter/blog.
Engineering leadership & delivery
Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 onward (WillowTree)
- Led principal/engineering director tracks across multiple platforms and team sizes.
- Led high-profile builds (Vitality One rewards; team delivery aligned to Fortune-level stakeholders).
- Helped ship Vocable (award-winning AAC app used by people with MS, stroke, ALS, and spinal cord injuries).
iOS platform engineering
Aug 2017 – Jan 2020 (WillowTree)
- Directed and delegated engineering efforts; owned complex technical discussions and iOS platform contributions.
- Contributed to National Geographic’s US streaming and magazine app launch.
- Shipped iOS features such as Wyndham Hotels online check-in.
Enterprise IT & instructional systems
NC State University · 1994 – 2015
- Managed enterprise LMS implementations (Moodle, Blackboard Vista) and operational delivery for mission-critical systems.
- Built performance analytics/reporting for academic programs.
- Led pilot + production teams and supervised a technical staff team (7+) plus student mentorship.
Professional Highlights
Software leader with 25+ years of delivery and people management: building engineering discipline, partnering with Fortune 50 stakeholders, and turning complex problems into products.
Accomplishments
- Lead iOS contributor on National Geographic’s US streaming + magazine app.
- Shipped and maintained 50+ production iOS apps at Fairlady Media (4M+ downloads).
- Delivered iOS apps for brands including Wyndham, Vitality One, and Vocable.
- Comfortable across Swift/SwiftUI (native iOS), React/TypeScript (web/SPAs), and backend/API work.
- Took apps through multiple iOS releases and App Store submission: architecture, bug fixes, stabilization, and release.
Core skills
Leadership
Mentoring
CI/CD
TDD
Agile + Scrum
Performance
Scalability
Stakeholders
Change management
Hiring + interviewing
Compliance + security
Interests
Astrophotography
Astro weather
Chili peppers
Maker DIY
Coffee
Reading sci-fi