Sooke, BC, Canada · Open to new opportunities

Nicholas Bates

Engineering Manager — Backend Engineering & Software Development Leadership

20+ years in software development. Most recently, 5+ years building and managing a backend engineering team at ArborXR, growing it from 2 people to as many as 8 direct reports and owning system architecture, scalability, and security/compliance readiness for an enterprise SaaS product.

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Nicholas Bates

About

Engineering manager with 20+ years in software development. Most recently, I spent 5+ years building and managing a backend engineering team at ArborXR (formerly SpringboardVR), growing it from 2 people to as many as 8 direct reports. I owned system architecture, scalability, and security/compliance readiness — SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, and GDPR audit prep, penetration-test coordination, and customer cybersecurity questionnaires — for an enterprise SaaS product, and led the engineers who built it.

My approach spans any altitude: writing and reviewing code, setting technical direction, and building the conditions for a team to do its best work. That range comes from two decades split between hands-on development, running an independent consultancy, and growing into full-time engineering leadership.

Recent Experience

Software Development Manager, Backend Engineering — ArborXR

2021 – 2026

Lead Backend Developer — SpringboardVR → rebranded to ArborXR

2017 – 2021

Founder & Director of Development — Iconic Media


1999 – 2016

Development Manager / Software Engineer — Bravenet Web Services


2008 – 2015

Current Projects

BusyBlend — Founder & Engineer

In development

A shared shopping and meal-planning suite: a truly native iOS and Android app built on NativePHP with offline-first sync, backed by a Laravel web platform and Filament admin.

Skills

Leadership

  • Engineering Leadership
  • Talent Acquisition
  • Team Building & Performance Management
  • Mentoring
  • System Architecture & Scalability
  • Security & Compliance Audits

Platform & Architecture

  • Multi-Tenant SaaS Architecture
  • GraphQL & REST API Design
  • Developer-Facing Surfaces (Public API, CLI)
  • Search & Indexing Services
  • Event-Driven Messaging (RabbitMQ, MQTT)
  • Legacy System Decommissioning & Migration
  • Vendor Evaluation

Engineering

  • PHP
  • Laravel
  • Python
  • JavaScript
  • Node.js
  • Vue.js
  • React
  • NativePHP
  • Git
  • TDD / BDD
  • Agentic & AI-Assisted Development Workflows

Data & Infrastructure

  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • MongoDB
  • AWS
  • GCP
  • Docker
  • Kubernetes
  • Firebase

Monetization & Billing

  • Custom Billing & Licensing Systems
  • Usage-Based Metering
  • Subscription & Plan Management
  • Proration
  • Revenue Share & Payouts
  • Chargebee
  • Stripe

Security & Compliance

  • SOC 2 Type II
  • ISO 27001
  • GDPR
  • Vanta
  • Penetration-Test Coordination
  • Enterprise Security Review

"Nicholas has been a great person to work with. In projects we've worked on together, he's been thorough in completing the tasks and ensuring that they are done to — and in some cases higher than — the customer spec. I don't hesitate to recommend him to others."

Jamie Penner, V3 Media

Education

Multimedia Design & Communication Diploma

1999 – 2000

Applied Multimedia Training Centers, Calgary, AB, Canada

Get in Touch

Currently open to new opportunities in engineering leadership and software development. Feel free to reach out.

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