Xander M. Lopez

Los Angeles, CA | xandermlopez@gmail.com | xandermlopez.com

linkedin.com/in/xander-lopez | github.com/XanderXML-Bit | zendren.net

Summary

Federal IT specialist and founder of Zendren LLC. At the U.S. Department of the Treasury, design, build, and operate software applications, working with customers, engineers, and program offices to turn their requirements into working products. At Zendren, set product direction and architecture for a software portfolio while doing the hands-on engineering, including AI integration, testing, and application security.

Experience

IT Specialist (Artificial Intelligence), GS-2210-14

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Departmental Offices | June 2026 – Present

Office of the CIO / Treasury Common Services Center

• Design, build, and maintain internal and external-facing software applications, taking each project from business requirements and architecture through implementation, deployment, and ongoing operation.
• Work directly with customers, senior executives, engineers, and program offices to map current workflows, clarify requirements, and set development priorities.
• Coordinate technical work on small teams and larger cross-functional efforts, and evaluate architecture and implementation choices through engineering reviews.
• Develop full-stack applications, write automated tests, and conduct code and security reviews. Use development tools including OpenAI Codex, VS Code, Git, and GitHub.
• Configure infrastructure with Terraform, deploy containerized applications with Docker, and operate cloud services on AWS.
• Demonstrate working applications to stakeholders, document technical decisions and operating requirements, and fold their feedback into continued development.

Founder & Technical Lead

Zendren LLC | September 2025 – Present

• Set product priorities, define requirements, plan releases, and manage dependencies across application, AI, and platform work for Zendren's software portfolio.
• Design application architecture, APIs, and data flows for web applications and automation. Integrate language and vision models with application logic, data storage, and controls that let users review model output.
• Evaluate model providers, integration approaches, and development tools for capability, cost, reliability, and security, using prototypes and failure-case tests before committing to a technical approach.
• Review code, coordinate delegated development, and maintain version control and technical documentation.
• Define what AI agents may read, change, and execute. Scope credentials, set human-approval boundaries, and keep audit logs for review and recovery.
• Implement application-security controls for untrusted content and external requests, including prompt-injection defenses, server-side request forgery protection, and rate limiting.
• Build parameterized Vitest and pytest suites for application behavior, document parsing, financial calculations, and API failures, using synthetic inputs to test edge cases and security defenses.

Recreation Assistant / Recreation Aide

City of Los Angeles, Department of Recreation & Parks | May 2022 – Present

• Coordinate staffing, logistics, and day-of operations for seasonal events serving 500–800 attendees.
• Troubleshoot AV equipment, registration systems, and staff devices, and train coworkers on digital tools. Create signage and flyers, and support registration and communication for hundreds of families each week.

Founder & Manager

Imperion Property Management LLC | April 2025 – August 2025

• Founded and operated a short-term rental management business, setting up business accounts, vendor workflows, administrative processes, and client outreach.
• Recruited and managed two contract staff. Coordinated schedules and service delivery, handled sales conversations, negotiated service contracts, and resolved client issues.

Independent Developer — AI & Software Projects

Self-directed | August 2020 – March 2025

• Built a campus-policy chatbot using open-source language models and a vectorized collection of UC San Diego Associated Students documents; self-hosted a website and Instagram pilot for staff and students.
• Developed GPT-based financial-analysis tools and early agent prototypes, and self-hosted Stable Diffusion.
• Designed and administered a survey of 349 high school students on AI familiarity and career concerns, analyzed the quantitative and qualitative responses, and presented recommendations for AI education.

Projects

Imperion — AI agent infrastructure: Built Zendren's internal platform for coordinating AI agents, scheduled work, and multi-step tasks. It connects persistent memory, model routing, and MCP tools across Hermes Agent, OpenAI Codex, and Claude Code, with approval controls and audit logs.

Splitful — Receipt scanning and expense splitting: Built and released a web application that helps groups split shared expenses by assigning receipt items to each person. OCR and vision-language models extract the line items, and the app calculates each person's total with tax, tip, and fees.

CrewSlate — Workforce scheduling: Designed and built a scheduling application that helps supervisors and coordinators manage staff rosters and prepare weekly schedules. It includes reusable templates, availability and qualification checks, manager review, and exports.

Technical Skills

Languages: Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, SQL, C/C++, C#, Lua, HTML/CSS.

Web & Infrastructure: React, Node.js, REST APIs, Capacitor, Firebase, AWS, Terraform, Docker.

AI: LLM integration, OCR, vision-language models, retrieval-augmented generation, vector databases, agent orchestration, MCP, prompt engineering.

Engineering: Git, CI/CD, Vitest, pytest, API testing, security review, technical documentation.

Design: UI/UX, Photoshop.

Education

University of California, Los Angeles | 2026 – Present

Cognitive Science

Los Angeles Pierce College | September 2024 – June 2026

Computer science and general-education coursework; LACCD cumulative GPA: 3.71.

Dean's Honor List; President's Honors.