Chad Haynes, WaterSmart’s Vice President of Platform and Infrastructure Engineering, has played an integral role in both the development and maintenance of WaterSmart’s products since day one. Reflecting back, Chad recalls “I’m amazed at how far we’ve come from a handful of us huddled around one big table at a shared work space! We had only a prototype for a Customer Portal and no Analytics Dashboard at all. Seeing the product develop from the ground up has been immensely satisfying.”

“Working with Chad is a refreshing experience after working on many siloed development teams in the past. While he has the full breadth and depth of ownership across the platform, he’s always willing to share his knowledge and help engineers grow,” one fellow engineer noted. Often seeming to work magic, Chad is well trusted by colleagues and customers alike when it comes to the intricacies of WaterSmart’s platform. This past year Chad has taken on a greater leadership role with our data team, spearheading improvements for the onboarding of all of our new customers. “I’m excited to focus on making the onboarding process as easy and as smooth as possible for our utility partners.”

Chad started his career as a developer in the Laboratory for Statistical Genetics at The Rockefeller University. As the only developer in a group of researchers he was able to freely experiment with a lot of different techniques and technologies. Later, working for StarMine, a financial analytics software company later purchased by Thomson Reuters, Chad further developed his skills working within a team inside a larger organization. Chad is proud to be a UNC grad and happily roots for his Tar Heels each March, often celebrating the start of March Madness in Las Vegas.

“When I first started at WaterSmart, we didn’t have enough sales and marketing people to staff a conference we were attending so I was recruited to man the booth. I’m not the best salesman but I did my best to lure people into our booth! I was far more successful as the bartender at our cocktail event later in the day though.” Chad is often the team member that starts the party, regularly leading colleagues to karaoke bars around the city. His rendition of ‘Torn’ by Natalie Imbruglia is beyond compare.