Jon Kabay
Marketing Technology Solutions Architect
I design marketing technology systems and build them. Enterprise ESP architecture, email infrastructure, and deliverability for a 100+ brand network.
About Me
I plan marketing technology and build it myself.
I've spent 11 years in email, starting as a web designer and developer. Today I work on both sides of marketing technology: I design how the systems should work, and I build them, so projects don't stall waiting on a developer or a designer.
As Lifecycle Solutions Manager at Risepoint, I own the marketing technology behind a 100+ university partner network: two enterprise ESPs, automation and journeys built once and deployed across the network, and sender reputation across multiple sending domains. After the Wiley and Academic Partnerships merger, I led the migration from Acoustic to Salesforce Marketing Cloud without interrupting a single campaign.
On my own, I designed and built Senderhive, a multi-tenant ESP with a visual automation engine, role-based access and usage metering, a 68-email-client rendering and deliverability-scoring testbed, and AI features built on the Claude API.
Earlier, at AccuData, I designed, built, and deployed email for brands including Outback Steakhouse, Hyatt Regency, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, BoatU.S., and Nick Alexander BMW. I also grew the creative services division 44x in four years.
I've run 8 ESPs in production and built 1, so I know these platforms as an operator and as a builder.
Technical Range
Each skill is tagged by how I got it: built, operated, delivered, or owned.
1,781 API route handlers · 134 route modules · MySQL data modeling · REST & WebSocket
276 page components and 136 shared components · Monaco-powered authoring environment · component design system
11 years hand-coding responsive HTML email across 8 ESPs
BA Media Arts · full corporate rebrand · design system governing a 100+ brand network
Sender reputation · IP warming · throttling · blacklist remediation · SPF/DKIM/DMARC
Schema design · revenue attribution · churn logic · send-time optimization
68-email-client testbed · CSS transform simulation · dark-mode testing
CAN-SPAM · GDPR · CCPA architecture across 100+ partner brands
Areas of Architecture
Email Systems Architecture
Design systems, rendering standards, and template architecture shared by 100+ brands.
- Responsive Email Design Systems
- Rendering & Dark-Mode Standards
- Template Architecture at Network Scale
- Cross-Client QA Instrumentation
Platform & Interface Architecture
Component systems, authoring tools, and admin screens, designed together with the data model behind them.
- Component Systems & Design Tokens
- Authoring & Editor Tooling
- Admin & Workspace Surfaces
- Role-Based Access Control
Sending Infrastructure & Deliverability
Sender reputation, authentication, IP strategy, and multi-domain sending: the work that gets email into the inbox.
- IP Warming & Reputation Management
- SPF, DKIM & DMARC
- Blacklist Remediation & Delisting
- Multi-Domain Sending Architecture
Automation & Journey Architecture
Trigger design, orchestration, and reusable workflows built once and deployed across a whole network of brands.
- Journey & Workflow Orchestration
- Trigger-Based Campaign Architecture
- Segmentation & Personalization
- A/B Testing & Experimentation
Data & Intelligence Architecture
Schema design, revenue attribution, churn modeling, and send-time optimization, so lifecycle decisions can be measured.
- Schema & Data Model Design
- Revenue Attribution
- Churn Prevention Modeling
- Send-Time Optimization
Full-Stack Platform Engineering
Multi-tenant architecture, API design, data modeling, and realtime infrastructure. I design the platform and build it myself.
- Multi-Tenant Platform Architecture
- REST API Design & Integration
- MySQL Data Modeling
- WebSocket Realtime & Auth
A multi-tenant email marketing platform I designed and built solo: the Swarm sending engine, the Hatch email editor, the Honey Comb testing suite, and 8 workspace tools.
Swarm ESP
Full email service provider: campaigns, automation, A/B testing, deliverability scoring, subscriber management
Hatch Editor
Monaco-powered HTML email editor with live preview, QA dock, snippet library, and template composition
Honey Comb
68 email-client renderings with CSS transform simulations, dark mode testing, and source HTML viewer
Automation Engine
Visual flow builder with eight step types: email, delay, condition, split, tag, list, webhook, and goal
AI Integration
Claude API for subject line generation, email body creation, spam-safe rewriting, and content optimization
Multi-Tenant
Agency and brand workspaces with URL namespacing, usage and billing metering, role-based access, and audited impersonation
Design System
SDS v3 with light/dark modes, 8 workspace themes, custom mascot with 13-layer SVG animations
Intelligence Suite
Churn prevention, revenue attribution, send time optimization, email archive, preference center
Let's Talk Architecture
Building or rebuilding a marketing technology stack? I'm happy to talk through architecture, ESP selection, deliverability, or automation.