Staff/Principal Engineer · Nederland, Colorado
Luke Miller
I build the platforms other engineers build on; lately identity systems and AI tooling.
I grew up in the Colorado mountains, where I learned most of what I know as I go–without a roadmap or a runbook. This fun, winding road, has made me a better engineer.
The short version
In 1998 I was a sponsored telemark skier who wanted a website, so I built one. The next year I was working at Planetoutdoors.com in the first dot-com boom, learning everything I could from the programmers there. I landed a web design job just as the bubble burst, and that's where my skills really took shape.
From there it was one step at a time: designer, design agency partner, frontend developer, full-stack engineer. I started Snow Jewel in 2005, then spent twelve years with Dojo4, a Boulder software co-op I eventually co-owned, building community and everything from data visualization tools to multi-tenant OAuth login for client teams.
In 2023 I joined the identity team at EasyPost. I turned a single UPS OAuth integration into the service that handled all of EasyPost's OAuth, SSO and MFA work, and taught myself agentic engineering along the way, eventually leading AI practice for that team of engineers.
None of those jumps came with instructions. That's still how I learn best.
Selected work
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One OAuth integration became a platform
How a single UPS integration turned into EasyPost's identity service, built so other teams could add integrations on their own.
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AI adoption that stuck
Agent instructions, automated reviews, a RAG pipeline and weekly office hours that helped 40+ engineers get real value from AI tools.
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Eight years with one client
Leading a small team on InvitedHome's guest site, owner portal and admin tools, in a client relationship that started in 2018.
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Charts built to be presented
Leading frontend and data visualization for Spotright's audience analysis tool, with D3 charts and PDF reports. It's still sold today as Wiland's PersonaBuilder.
How I work with people
The Dojo4 ethos
For years, I was part of Dojo4, an agency that actively operated as “a social experiment masquerading as a business.” We didn’t just talk about community; we codified it into our operations:
- Converted the business into a shared-ownership co-op, making organizational decisions through fist-to-five voting that required a two-thirds supermajority.
- Enforced a strict financial policy to pay our contractors before we paid ourselves as owners, and often before the clients had even paid us.
- Hosted free, open Friday lunches every week, inviting anyone from our extended network to sit at the table.
- Operated as a certified B Corp, earning multiple “Best for the World” awards.
- Carried that exact high-trust model forward into Spry Elephant, where I currently lead a tight three-person engineering team to support a client relationship we’ve maintained for years.
Civic reality: Trustee / Mayor Pro Tem
Since early 2024, I have served as an elected Trustee, and since April 2026 as Mayor Pro Tem, for the Town of Nederland. Local government is the ultimate stress test for patience, perspective, and truly listening to people. My work involves:
- Collaborating with town staff on master plans, annual budgets, and complex civic decisions.
- Navigating the $100–200M potential acquisition of the Eldora ski area, financed through municipal revenue bonds.
- Managing multi-year due diligence and complex public financing.
- Proving that a small, persistent group can drive massive transactions that have a generational impact on a community’s future.
What others say
Client and coworker testimonials coming soon!
Off the clock
Bikes came first. I raced the Red Zinger Mini Classics from 1984 to 1989, against kids like Jonathan Vaughters, Bobby Julich and Colby Pearce, then raced mountain bikes and rode trials at the 1990 World Championships in Durango. I still ride every week, and these days my son races in the high school league.
Skiing took over after that. I patrolled at Eldora just out of high school, and from 1998 to 2010 I was a sponsored telemark skier for K2, Outdoor Research, Garmont, Patagonia and The North Face. Most of that was film and photo work: my photos ran in Powder, Skiing, Freeskier and Backcountry, and I made the cover of the telemark film Unparalleled.
I spent six summers with Yosemite Search and Rescue. I've been around the world three times, and my family still travels abroad every year, most recently to Japan and Oaxaca.
Home is Nederland, where a minus sign in front of the temperature still makes me a little giddy.
What I'm looking for
The two things I am most interested in are solving problems and learning new things. I am looking for a role to push my skills and make a difference.
I am interested in teams and organizations that value doing good and are using technology to create a positive impact for people and the world.
I am also available for select consulting through Snow Jewel, LLC.