Robert Helmer – Resume

Summary

Senior Staff Software Engineer with 20+ years of experience delivering scalable, privacy-first software and real-time data systems. Proven leader in cross-functional research collaborations and shipping products impacting millions of users globally. Skilled at modernizing legacy systems, accelerating release cadence, and mentoring engineers to grow in fast-paced environments.

Experience

Senior Staff Software Engineer Mozilla 2018–Present

Modernized Mozilla Monitor with React (Next.js), cutting release cycles from weekly to daily and increasing engineering velocity.
Led browser-based privacy research projects with Stanford and Princeton, analyzing 4.4M webpage visits from 1,817 participants and influencing Firefox telemetry.
Integrated privacy-preserving Prio telemetry into Firefox Experiments with MIT CSAIL, ensuring user data protection at scale.
Mentored junior engineers and contributed to open source research around browser privacy and telemetry.

Staff Software Engineer Mozilla 2014–2018

Improved Firefox add-on APIs and extension UX, boosting developer adoption and user satisfaction.

Senior Software Engineer Mozilla 2010–2014

Migrated Socorro crash reporting system to AWS, reducing costs and improving reliability.

VP of Technology CustomWeather 2008–2010

Led team delivering real-time weather data services with AWS automation, improving system uptime and scalability.

Build & Release Engineer Mozilla 2006–2008

Reduced Firefox/Thunderbird release cycles from 2 weeks to 12 hours through automation and process improvements.

SysAdmin & Developer CustomWeather 2001–2006

Built custom weather products and managed hosting infrastructure to support client needs.

SysAdmin & Developer Aeronet 2001–2006

Delivered websites and hosting services for regional businesses, enhancing local digital presence.

Systems Administrator Vectiv 1999–2001

Maintained infrastructure for real estate web applications, ensuring uptime and security.

Publications & Industry Collaborations

Industry Collaborator (Mozilla) – Rally and WebScience (Princeton, 2022): Developed browser-based research platform infrastructure analyzing 4.4M webpage visits from 1,817 participants. [arXiv]
Industry Contributor (Mozilla) – Protecting Privacy by Splitting Trust (MIT CSAIL, 2019): Integrated libprio privacy-preserving aggregation library into Firefox. [Dissertation]

Skills

Languages: JavaScript (TypeScript, Node.js), Python, Rust, Java, SQL

Frameworks & Libraries: React, Next.js, Django, Flask, Browser Extensions

DevOps & Infrastructure: AWS, Docker, GitHub Actions, CI/CD

Tools & Platforms: Git, Webpack, Chrome/Firefox Extensions

Focus Areas: Privacy engineering, observability, distributed real-time systems, accessibility (a11y), UI/UX design principles

Education

Associate of Science in Computer Science (in progress)
College of Marin, Expected 2027
Planning to transfer to BS program with AI & Formal Verification focus

Professional Development Coursework
College of Marin, 2023–2025
Graphics Design, Business & Entrepreneurship