Paul 'unr' Morrison
Senior Engineering Manager
Senior Frontend Engineering Leader with 15+ years building and scaling product-focused UI systems from startup to public company. Led distributed teams of up to 14 engineers across 5 countries, owned frontend architecture, guided producted design direction, product delivery, and execution through rapid growth and contraction.
Experience
Founding Engineer → Senior Engineering Manager
Owned entire frontend architecture, design system integration, regulated market compliance, and ueser experience while the company scaled from small startup to ~150 staff.
- Acted as a founding technical leader, partnering with executive leadership (CEO, product, finance) to shape product direction, technical strategy, and major business decisions during company growth and IPO
- Led and scaled a distributed engineering team of 8–14 across 5 countries, owning hiring, performance management, and delivery execution
- Hired 10+ engineers and built structured hiring, onboarding, and performance management systems (including promotions, PIPs, and terminations)
- Reset delivery expectations and planning processes following major company contraction, restoring consistent execution after ~70% reduction in engineering headcount
- Maintained team output and velocity by leading adoption of AI-assisted development workflows, enabling same-day bug triage and faster iteration cycles
- Owned frontend architecture and user experience across the entire product, including onboarding, navigation, payments, and betting flows in multiple regulated markets
- Reduced time-to-first-byte from ~5s to ~0.5s through SSR performance improvements, memory leak fixes, and frontend optimization, improving page speed, SEO, and user experience
- Led development of core user-facing systems including registration flows (KYC, OTP, compliance), cashier redesign, and real-time sportsbook experiences across regulated markets
- Partnered closely with Product and Design to scope and deliver UI-heavy features, influencing UX decisions, simplifying implementation, and balancing usability with technical constraints
- Acted as frontend authority and design partner, guiding component systems, design consistency, and implementation feasibility across all product surfaces
- Owned vendor evaluation and integration strategy (build vs buy), including major platform integrations aligned with Node.js, REST APIs, and PostgreSQL systems
- Contributed to product and engineering readiness for TSX public listing, including audit processes, compliance systems, and production stability
- Established async communication and onboarding practices for a globally distributed team, improving collaboration and ramp-up effectiveness
Product Engineer
Early-stage marketplace startup where I owned product development end-to-end.
- Built and launched a digital trading marketplace, owning frontend architecture (Vue/Nuxt, SSR) and core user workflows
- Developed Node.js-based automation systems for real-time trading and transaction processing
- Designed and implemented key product features including buy/sell flows, inventory systems, and transaction interfaces
Frontend Developer → Senior Frontend Developer
Innovation consultancy (acquired by Cognizant), delivering enterprise and experimental digital products.
- Led frontend development for enterprise platforms, focusing on performance, usability, and cross-browser compatibility
- Grew from sole frontend developer to senior developer and team lead within a 10-person engineering team
- Mentored junior developers and contributed to hiring and team development
- Established frontend standards, code review practices, and delivery processes in a cross-functional environment
Skills
Software Engineering Leadership: Software Engineering Management, Frontend Engineering Leadership, Team Building, Hiring, Onboarding, Performance Management, Mentorship, Distributed Teams, Cross-Functional Leadership, Stakeholder Communication, Delivery Planning, Engineering Strategy
Frontend & Product Engineering: TypeScript, JavaScript, React, Next.js, Vue, Nuxt, UI Architecture, Design Systems, Component Architecture, Web Performance, SSR, UX Engineering, Product Engineering, Real-Time User Interfaces
Backend & Platform: Node.js, REST APIs, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Cloudflare Workers, AWS, Docker, CI/CD, Datadog, Production Operations, Vendor Integrations, Build vs Buy Decisions
Modern Engineering Workflow: AI-Assisted Development, Agentic Workflows, Code Review, Technical Strategy, Incident Triage, Regulated Markets, Compliance Workflows, Engineering Process Design
Education
Diploma, Digital Media Arts
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology