Frequently asked questions.

Ricardo is a Staff Software Engineer who builds dependable full-stack products, with particular depth in backend systems, distributed architecture, data-intensive applications, and complex frontend platforms.

His core stack includes TypeScript, React, Node.js, Python, Go, PostgreSQL, AWS, REST, GraphQL, event-driven systems, and observability tooling. He also works with AI-assisted workflows, vector search, and evaluation systems when they solve a real product need.

Ricardo has experience in fintech, payments, federal platforms, healthcare technology, commerce, hospitality, and early-stage AI-assisted products. He is comfortable working in regulated and high-reliability environments.

Yes. His work spans system design and backend services through to React and TypeScript interfaces. He is especially effective on products where the reliability of the service and the quality of the user experience need to be designed together.

A senior backend, full-stack, or staff-level role with real technical problems, room to shape the architecture, and a team that wants to build software it can stand behind. The title matters less than the work, the people, and whether the product has stakes.

Yes. Ricardo is based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is available for remote US opportunities.

LinkedIn deactivated my account without explaining why. I tried to verify my identity and get it restored, but ten months later I am still trapped in the same feedback loop: verify myself, get nowhere, repeat. There does not seem to be a human being anywhere near the process. At some point I stopped fighting to regain access to a platform I already disliked. I do not hate networking or meeting people. I hate the fake humility, manufactured vulnerability, engagement bait, recycled career commandments, and the expectation that everyone maintain a cheerful corporate mascot version of themselves. So I built this site instead—a place where the work can speak in complete sentences. If you want to know how I think, read the work. If you want to know whether we would work well together, talk to me. I f*** hate LinkedIn.

The first draft got cheaper. Work that once meant keeping Stack Overflow open in one tab and documentation parked on another monitor can now start with a useful assistant. But the job is still to decide what should be built, check the result, and own it in production. LLMs also make input validation more important: users paste generated text, submit malformed data, and use forms while rushed, frustrated, or not fully focused. Software still has to handle all of that gracefully.

As probabilistic components with explicit boundaries—not as an excuse to skip engineering. Useful systems constrain inputs and outputs, validate tool calls and user-submitted data, provide human review where the stakes warrant it, and measure quality after launch.

You can email Ricardo at zavala.ricardo.m@gmail.com or use the booking link on the portfolio to schedule a conversation.