Mendez Consulting

Mendez Consulting · New Orleans

Mission-critical software, built to stay up.

I'm Paul Mendez, a senior principal architect who has spent 22 years building distributed Java systems for the Department of Defense and the energy sector. I modernize legacy platforms, secure them to zero-trust standards, and use agentic AI to ship the work faster.

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  • Active Top Secret clearance
  • 22 years in software
  • 9 industry certifications
  • 60%+ shorter delivery cycles
Paul Mendez

Paul Mendez · Senior Principal Architect

An architect who still writes the code.

I've spent most of my career on systems that can't go down: DoD personnel and identity platforms, cryptographic login and signing services, and real-time production dashboards for offshore oil operations. I led those programs as the architect, and I still write much of the code myself.

Today I run Mendez Consulting as an independent principal consultant. Clients bring me in to break monoliths into fast, independently deployable services, to meet STIG, FIPS 140-3, and zero-trust requirements without slowing their teams down, and to put agentic AI to work safely inside regulated environments.

  • DoD & federal programs
  • Energy sector
  • Enterprise Java
  • Zero-trust security
  • Agentic AI & MCP
Download CVpaul@mendezconsultingllc.com

Consulting

What I can take off your plate

Senior engineering and architecture for government and enterprise teams, either for a defined project or as an embedded principal on your program.

Build

Enterprise Java

New platforms and hard fixes on Java 17/21 and Jakarta EE 10 (JBoss EAP 8, WildFly, and WebLogic), built for high concurrency from day one.

Distributed architecture

Event-driven microservices, event sourcing, distributed transactions that stay consistent, and caching and locking that hold up under load.

API design

REST and gRPC APIs with OpenAPI 3.0 contracts kept in sync automatically, so clients and services never drift apart.

Data platforms

Multi-tenant Oracle 19c/23c, MySQL, and NoSQL, with transactional audit trails, query tuning, and real-time event rollups.

Advise & modernize

Agentic AI engineering

MCP integrations and autonomous developer workflows with Claude Code and Google Antigravity, checked by deterministic validation so the output is safe to ship.

Zero-trust security

mTLS, PKI and CAC identity, cryptographic gateways, and secure proxy routing, built to STIG and FIPS 140-3 requirements.

Cloud & DevOps

AWS and Azure architecture, containerized environments, multi-stage CI/CD, and JVM observability that surfaces problems before users do.

Modernization

Monoliths re-architected into modular, independently cacheable services that respond in under 200 ms.

Track record

Results, not just roles

Dec 2014 – Present

Senior Principal Software Engineer & Architect

Mendez Consulting · Independent Principal Consultant

Client engagements: CSRA, General Dynamics IT, and CACI

  • Cut routine delivery cycles by more than 60% with agentic workflows and MCP integrations (Claude Code, Google Antigravity, Python), backed by deterministic verification gates and AST-based migration checks.
  • Brought response times under 200 ms by re-architecting monoliths as Jakarta EE 10 REST microservices on containerized JBoss EAP 8.
  • Isolated sensitive cross-boundary traffic with outbound mTLS infrastructure, enterprise PKI keystores and forward-proxy routing.
  • Unified access across military, federal, and civilian LDAP directories with an identity-reconciliation service under consistent RBAC.
  • Eliminated per-seat Adobe licensing program-wide with a headless, PKI-backed signature engine for high-volume PDF workflows.
Dec 2012 – Dec 2014

Senior Software Engineer / Project Lead

Wipro Technologies · Shell Oil

Led architecture of the Exception Based Surveillance platform (C# MVC, OData) and built real-time production dashboards on OSIsoft PI telemetry and SSIS pipelines for offshore operations.

Oct 2006 – Dec 2012

Senior Lead Programmer Analyst

Lockheed Martin

Led Java development of a DoD CAC/PKI cryptographic login engine, and delivered WS-Security SOAP services and US Navy STIG compliance rollouts.

Sep 2007 – Sep 2010

Adjunct Instructor

ITT Technical Institute

Taught advanced Linux administration, networking, and systems architecture.

Mar 2004 – Oct 2006

Lead Web Developer & Systems Administrator

TGTSoft

Built and ran high-traffic e-commerce infrastructure, billing automation, and SOAP integrations.

Toolkit

Skills

Languages

  • Java 17 / 21
  • Python
  • TypeScript
  • SQL

JVM & app servers

  • Jakarta EE 10
  • JBoss EAP 8 / WildFly
  • WebLogic

Agentic AI

  • Model Context Protocol
  • Claude Code
  • Google Antigravity

Security

  • mTLS / PKI / CAC
  • STIG & FIPS 140-3
  • Zero-trust architecture

Cloud & DevOps

  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Docker / Compose
  • CI/CD

Data

  • Oracle 19c / 23c
  • MySQL / NoSQL
  • Distributed caching

Platform & scripting

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Bash / PowerShell
  • Linux networking

Frontend & testing

  • React Native / Expo
  • OpenAPI 3.0
  • JUnit 5 / ReadyAPI

Credentials

Certifications & education

CompTIASecurity
Amazon Web ServicesCloud
Microsoft AzureCloud
SplunkMonitoring

Education & training

Education

  • B.S., Information Systems SecurityITT Technical Institute, 2006
  • A.S., Software Application ProgrammingITT Technical Institute
  • A.S., Computer Network SystemsITT Technical Institute

Training

  • Scrum Master Boot CampConstrux

Available for new engagements

Let's talk about your system.

Planning a modernization, hardening a platform for zero trust, or bringing agentic AI into a regulated environment? Send me a short note about what you're working on, and I'll reply personally.

Email meConnect on LinkedIn

paul@mendezconsultingllc.com