ROBERT DICKEY Builder • Systems • Web • Mobile • Infra • Security
Engineering reliable, safety-critical systems

Hi, I’m Robert. I build real-world software across web, mobile, infrastructure, and security.

I focus on turning operational problems into reliable tools: web apps, mobile apps, backend services, and infrastructure that stay up when people are counting on them — in K-12, healthcare-adjacent organizations, and other safety-critical environments.

Day job: Operational & safety platforms (K-12 focused)
Stack: PHP, JavaScript, SQL, Linux & Windows Server, Azure, mobile
Domains: K-12, operations, identity & access, healthcare-adjacent workflows
See what I work on ↘ View skills
Based in the U.S. (Central Time) Working with operations, security & product teams in education and beyond

About

A quick summary of who I am, where I’ve been useful, and how I think about systems.

I’m a builder who likes solving real-world, real-time problems: people trying to get work done, systems that can’t go down, and workflows that need to be simple enough to use on a busy day.

My background is in PHP, JavaScript, and SQL on Linux and Windows servers — with a lot of time spent designing schemas, profiling queries, tuning infrastructure, and making sure teams can actually use what we ship without needing a 40-page manual.

I work mostly in K-12 operations and safety (dismissal, hall passes, visitor management, emergency drills), with patterns that also apply to healthcare-adjacent and other safety-critical environments: check-in flows, identity & access, audit trails, and reliable data sync.

I care a lot about operational clarity, reliability, and security. In practice that looks like clear flows, fast pages, sensible defaults, least-privilege access, and logs that tell the truth about what happened.

Operational & safety platforms Web & mobile apps Database schema & migrations Linux & Windows servers Azure & cloud ops Security architecture & hardening Identity, SSO & access control Load & capacity planning automation orchestration & ETL Integrations & data sync Monitoring & observability UI/UX for busy people
What I’m usually doing
  • Designing or refactoring backend features (often PHP/SQL) for live workflows
  • Building web and mobile front-ends that stay out of the way but surface the right info
  • Profiling and tuning queries, indexes, and background jobs around peak load times
  • Hardening systems: access control, audit logs, encryption in transit, backups & DR
  • Working with school and operations teams to turn messy processes into clean flows

Skills

A quick snapshot of the technical and practical areas I work in.

Web & Application
Senior
PHP JavaScript / jQuery HTML/CSS REST-style APIs Multi-tenant app design C# / .NET & IIS (when needed)
Mobile & Front-end
Hands-on
Companion mobile apps Flutter / Dart Native iOS (Swift) Native Android (Kotlin / Java) Responsive web UIs Designing for touch devices
Data, SQL & Storage
Senior
Relational SQL (MySQL, Postgres) Database performance optimization Indexing & query tuning NoSQL & cloud stores (Firebase / Firestore, Azure) Data modeling & schema design ETL pipelines & background jobs
Infrastructure & Servers
Hands-on
Linux & Windows Server Apache, Nginx & IIS tuning C-family & systems languages (C, Rust) Scripting & automation (Bash, Perl) Azure & cloud hosting On-prem & hybrid deployments Background jobs, schedulers & automation
Security & Reliability
Practical
Defense-in-depth mindset Threat modeling & risk assessment Principle of least privilege Identity, SSO & role-based access Audit trails & change logging SSL/TLS & secure configuration Backups, DR & failure planning Monitoring & alerting around peak times

Things I work on

A overview of the kinds of systems I’ve designed, owned, and shipped.

Real-time logistics & routing
Live operations

Systems that coordinate people, places, and timing so the right person ends up in the right spot at the right moment — carline, dismissal, attendance, and similar logistics flows.

Focus: accuracy, speed, low chaos under load
Real-world transit & logistics flows Live status boards & dashboards Push-style notifications & alerts
People & access flows
Operational

Digital passes, movement tracking, and activity logs that balance safety with not getting in the way of real life — hall passes, appointment-style flows, and controlled access to spaces.

Focus: clarity, limits, patterns & policy
Pass & permit systems Staff & admin views Policy-aware reporting
Check-in, identity & on-site access
Front-line

Tools to check people in, print badges, and log who is on site — with safety checks, basic watchlists, and audit trails behind the scenes. Designed primarily for K-12 but applicable to healthcare-adjacent and other controlled environments.

Focus: safety, UX at the door, traceability
Badge printing & identity Watchlists & policies Audit logs & investigations
Data sync & integrations
Under the hood

Nightly and on-demand jobs that keep users, records, and schedules aligned across systems: identity providers, source databases, SIS-like systems, internal apps, and reporting layers.

Focus: reliability, guardrails, and observability
Database-backed schedulers & automation SFTP / vendor APIs / webhooks De-dup, reconciliation & backfills

Contact

If you work in this space (or are exploring similar problems), feel free to say hi.

I’m always open to talking about operational tooling, safety-critical systems, performance debugging, infrastructure, or security-minded design — especially in K-12, healthcare-adjacent, or other real-world environments where the software is only part of the story.
Email me ✉
Topics: web, mobile, systems, operations, infrastructure, security.