Hi, I'm Maurice Johnson.

Senior Software Engineer

8+ years building scalable Java & Spring Boot systems, currently supporting a health portal used by millions of Veterans. I ship my own products, run a home lab, and make content about all of it.

View my workMy experienceGet in touch
Photo of Maurice Johnson

01 · About

Who I am

I'm a Senior Software Engineer with 8+ years of experience building scalable Java enterprise solutions. Right now I'm at Oddball, building and maintaining backend services for MyHealtheVet, the VA's primary health portal serving millions of Veterans. Before that I spent seven years at The Hartford, working my way up from Junior Developer to Software Engineer on the Enterprise Risk Management team.

Outside of work I ship my own products, including Offrrd, an AI-powered job search assistant, and Rally, a group fitness challenge app, both live on the App Store. I self-host a full home lab on Ubuntu Server and Raspberry Pis, and create content as nullpointerbro (160K+ likes on TikTok, 174K+ views on my top YouTube tutorial). I finished my M.S. in Computer Information Technology, with a concentration in Computer Science, at CCSU in Fall 2025.

Tech I work with

Languages

JavaPythonJavaScriptTypeScriptSQL

Backend & Data

Spring BootHibernateREST APIsMicroservice ArchitecturePostgreSQLOracleSQL ServerMySQLRedis

Infrastructure & CI/CD

DockerAWS ECSOpenShiftNginxJenkinsGitHub ActionsLinux (Ubuntu Server)

Observability & Testing

GrafanaPrometheusJUnitSeleniumKarate

Frontend

ReactReact NativeExpoNext.jsTailwind CSS

02 · Resume

Where I've worked

Download resume (PDF)
Oddball logo

Oddball

Remote / McLean, VA

  1. Aug 2025 - Present

    Senior Software Engineer

    • Design and ship Java 21 / Spring Boot API endpoints and backend services for MyHealtheVet, the VA's primary health portal serving millions of Veterans nationwide.
    • Own technical design for backend features end to end: author design docs, evaluate integration approaches across upstream VA systems, and align solutions with federal healthcare compliance requirements before implementation.
    • Led Java runtime and dependency upgrades across backend services, resolving compatibility breaks and closing outstanding security advisories with no production downtime.
    • Instrumented backend APIs with Grafana metrics and dashboards, surfacing latency and error-rate regressions in production before they reached Veterans.
    • Expanded unit and integration test suites across critical Veteran-facing workflows, raising coverage and reducing regression escapes into production.
The Hartford logo

The Hartford

Hartford, CT

  1. Jun 2022 - Aug 2025

    Software Engineer, Enterprise Risk Management

    • Designed and built Java / Spring Boot backend services powering enterprise risk models, improving system throughput 30%.
    • Decomposed a monolithic risk platform into independently deployable Java microservices, reducing deployment risk and improving feature delivery speed 25%.
    • Built Python automation for data refreshes, usage reporting, and stale-job alerting, eliminating 10+ hours/week of manual monitoring and reducing MTTR 40%.

  2. Sep 2019 - May 2022

    Associate Software Engineer, Enterprise Risk Management

    • Built backend microservices in Java / Spring Boot powering risk management workflows for business-critical internal systems.
    • Shipped in a high-velocity CI/CD workflow across GitHub, Jenkins, uDeploy, and OpenShift; wrote JUnit and Selenium suites that raised deployment confidence and reduced production defects.
    • Contributed React and JavaScript frontend work for internal risk dashboards used daily by analysts and team leads.

  3. Feb 2018 - Aug 2019

    Junior Developer, Enterprise Publishing Management

    • Delivered Java backend modules for internal publishing tools supporting Personal and Commercial Lines; partnered with QA and Production Support to triage and resolve defects.
HAI Group logo

HAI Group

Cheshire, CT

  1. May 2016 - Aug 2016

    Information Technology Intern

    • Managed end-user support requests for the Help Desk, resolving desktop and printer issues to improve user productivity.
    • Administered users and resources on Windows Server 2012 with Active Directory and Group Policy.
    • Used Dell KACE for software distribution, inventory, and patching, ensuring consistent updates and minimal downtime.
    • Configured and installed hardware and software for office relocations, supporting seamless transitions for employees.

Education

Central Connecticut State University logo

Fall 2025

M.S., Computer Information Technology (Computer Science concentration)

Central Connecticut State University

Eastern Connecticut State University logo

Fall 2017

B.S., Computer Science

Eastern Connecticut State University

03 · Projects

Things I've built

Offrrd icon

Offrrd

Private

AI-powered job search assistant, live on the web and the iOS App Store. Find matching jobs, generate AI-tailored resumes and cover letters, and track every application.

Java 21Spring BootPostgreSQLRedisClaude AIReact NativeExpoStripe
View details →
Bugged icon

Bugged

Private

A debugging gym for developers. One free "spot the bug" puzzle every day with a shareable result grid, plus a paid gym of tracks and real broken boxes you fix in a live sandbox.

Java 21Spring BootPostgreSQLRedisReact NativeExpoDockerCloudflare WorkersStripe
View details →
Rally icon

Rally

Private

Group fitness challenges powered by Apple HealthKit and Health Connect, live on the iOS App Store. Goals are personalized to each member's body metrics and every day caps at 1,000 points, so everyone competes on effort, not fitness level.

Java 21Spring BootPostgreSQLRedisReact NativeExpoHealthKitHealth Connect
View details →
mbjohnsonjr icon

mbjohnsonjr

The site you're looking at: a modern developer portfolio built with Next.js, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Framer Motion.

Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSFramer Motion
View details →
Nullpointerbro icon

Nullpointerbro

Private

The home base for my content brand, rebuilt from scratch as a full-stack app: home lab guides, an affiliate gear shop, and a small community, self-hosted end to end.

Java 21Spring Boot 4Next.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLTailwind CSSDockerSelf-hosted
View details →
Monster Tag icon

Monster Tag

Private

Kids' peek-a-scare timing game for ages 6-12: collect monsters, build loadouts, and pull off the perfect scare. React Native + Expo with a server-authoritative Spring Boot backend.

React NativeExpoTypeScriptJava 21Spring BootPostgreSQLRedis
View details →
Brainzzy icon

Brainzzy

Cross-platform trivia game with a Flutter front-end, Spring Boot API, and MySQL, self-hosted end to end.

FlutterJavaSpring BootMySQL
View details →
Eazyweather icon

Eazyweather

Full-stack weather application built with Java, Spring Boot, Thymeleaf, Bootstrap, and jQuery.

JavaSpring BootThymeleafBootstrapjQuery
View details →

04 · Home Lab

Infrastructure I run myself

Six nodes, 50+ containerized services, and real production workloads: Offrrd's backend, the Monster Tag API, and nullpointerbro.com all serve the public from this rack. Everything is monitored in Grafana, and it's the subject of most of my content.

6

servers

52

services running

Public App Server

Ubuntu Server. Production node where my public-facing apps are hosted, behind Nginx and hardened with CrowdSec and Cloudflare Tunnel

Home Server

Ubuntu Server. Internal services: Home Assistant, Grafana, Jenkins, Gitea, and the smart home stack

Media Server

Ubuntu Server. Jellyfin media stack with the full *arr suite (Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, Bazarr, Jellyseerr)

Garage Pi

Raspberry Pi OS. Relay-wired Raspberry Pi Zero exposing my garage door as a secure API

Scoreboard Pi

Raspberry Pi OS. Raspberry Pi 4B driving an RGB LED sports scoreboard via a custom Sportsmatrix UI

OG Pi

Raspberry Pi OS. The Pi that started it all: network utilities and monitoring agents

Running in the lab

Observability

GrafanaPrometheusUptime KumaBeszelcAdvisorGoAccessMetabase

Network & Security

Nginx Proxy ManagerWireGuardAdGuard HomeCrowdSecCloudflare Tunnel

DevOps

JenkinsGiteaNexusPortainerCode-server

Smart Home

Home AssistantZigbee2MQTTZ-Wave JS UIMQTT Explorergo2rtc

Media & Files

JellyfinSonarrRadarrProwlarrJellyseerrNextcloud

AI & Production Apps

Open WebUIOffrrd API + Postgres + RedisMonster Tag APInullpointerbro.comBugged sandbox runner

What it's taught me

  • Running real production apps from my own rack. DNS, SSL, reverse proxying, intrusion prevention (CrowdSec), and uptime are my problem, and I like it that way.
  • A full self-hosted DevOps loop: code in Gitea, builds in Jenkins, artifacts in Nexus, mirroring the enterprise CI/CD stacks I've worked in professionally.
  • Observability as a habit: Grafana + Prometheus dashboards across every node and container, with Uptime Kuma and Beszel for alerting, the same tooling I use at work.

05 · Content

I also make videos

I create tutorials, home lab builds, and self-hosting content as nullpointerbro, teaching the same stack I use professionally.

160K+

TikTok likes

9.5K

TikTok followers

174K+

views, top YouTube tutorial

2K+

YouTube subscribers

@nullpointerbro on YouTube @nullpointerbro on TikTok nullpointerbro.com

Create your FIRST CRUD RESTful API

Java, MySQL, Spring Boot, JPA & Maven. My most-watched tutorial.

YouTube174K views

Java Tutorial Series

From Hello World to methods, classes, and objects. A five-part beginner series.

YouTube5 episodes

Home lab shorts as @nullpointerbro

Home lab builds, self-hosting guides, and shop-my-setup, short-form.

TikTok160K+ likes

06 · Contact

Get in touch

Questions about something I've built, ideas worth building, or just want to talk shop about home labs? My inbox is open.

mj@mbjohnsonjr.com