From CRO Developer to Systems Architect: 3-Year Journey at BAD Marketing

Career Evolution: From CRO Developer to Systems Architect

My journey at BAD Marketing began in September 2022 as a Web Developer focused on Shopify CRO, and culminated in a promotion to Advanced Systems & Operations Developer in September 2025. This 3+ year partnership showcases not just technical growth, but consistent delivery of business-critical systems that power a high-growth marketing agency.

Phase 1: CRO Mastery (Sep 2022 - Aug 2025)

The Challenge

BAD Marketing needed a technical expert who could deliver measurable CRO wins for their portfolio of DTC brands while building the operational infrastructure to scale their agency operations.

CRO Victories That Defined My Impact

ClariGenZ - Complete Site Overhaul (Nov 2022)

Challenge: Free + shipping model struggling with full-price conversions
Solution: Complete website rebuild focusing on customer demographics and user behavior
Results:
- Full price purchases: +52.59%
- Revenue: +79.60%
- Page load time: -2.77 seconds
- Conversion rate: 2.96% → 6.46% (3.5% increase)

BetterBrand - Critical Bug Resolution (2023)

Challenge: Subscribe & save program causing conversion drops
Discovery: Double product cart additions confusing customers at checkout
Solution: Deep debugging with Thomas Abboud to fix cart logic
Results:
- Conversion rate: +22% (2.05% → 2.5%)
- Add to cart: +23% (3.88% → 4.78%)
- Checkout completion: +24% (3.04% → 3.78%)

Genex Formulas - Theme Migration Excellence (2023)

Challenge: NMN advertising limitations affecting performance
Solution: Dawn 11.0 migration with enhanced checkout and trust signals
Results:
- Sustained 9.31% conversion rate (highest to date)
- No sales or special offers needed
- Maintained performance during ad challenges

Casa Di Lumo - Pre-Purchase Upsell System (Dec 2022)

Challenge: Maximize revenue from existing traffic
Solution: Custom pre-purchase upsell integration and testing
Results:
- $4,360 revenue in 60 days
- 386% better performance than ReConvert
- Seamless integration with existing workflow

Floof Living - Complete Performance Overhaul (2023)

Challenge: Luxury brand with 0.43% conversion rate and mobile issues
Solution: 22+ hours of re-coding, mobile optimization, messaging refresh
Results:
- Conversion rate: 0.43% → 1.13% (+167%)
- Resolved Android scrolling issues affecting 30% of users
- Revenue consistency with 50% fewer ad sessions

Technical CRO Innovations

1. Advanced GTM Template System Collaborated with Thomas Abboud to create comprehensive tracking templates:

Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Microsoft Clarity
Upsell funnel events and Recharge conversions
Streamlined client onboarding by 70%

2. Dynamic Theming System (Vitamina Gummies) Built interactive product-specific theming:

// Product-aware theme adaptation
function adaptThemeToProduct(productHandle) {
    const themeConfig = getProductTheme(productHandle);
    updateVisualElements(themeConfig);
    trackPersonalizationEvent(productHandle);
}

3. Shopping Progress Indicators Implemented free shipping progress bars increasing AOV:

Real-time cart value tracking
Psychological triggers for threshold completion
A/B tested optimal positioning and messaging

Phase 2: Systems Architecture Evolution (Sep 2025 - Present)

The Promotion

In September 2025, I was promoted to Advanced Systems & Operations Developer - a role created specifically for my unique blend of CRO expertise and systems thinking. I now build the "glue" that powers BAD Marketing's operations at scale.

Enterprise Systems Built

1. Modular ETL Platform Replaced a 300+ line monolith with production-grade architecture:

// Service-oriented ETL architecture
interface ETLService {
    extract(): Promise<DataSource>;
    transform(data: DataSource): Promise<TransformedData>;
    load(data: TransformedData): Promise<LoadResult>;
}

class KlaviyoETLService implements ETLService {
    private rateLimiter = new RateLimiter(1000); // 1 req/sec
    private retryHandler = new ExponentialBackoff();

    async extract(): Promise<KlaviyoData> {
        return this.klaviyoClient.fetchCampaigns({
            dateRange: this.config.dateRange,
            batchSize: 500,
        });
    }

    async transform(data: KlaviyoData): Promise<BigQuerySchema> {
        return this.transformer.standardize(data, {
            timezone: "EST",
            deduplication: true,
            validation: this.schemas.marketing,
        });
    }
}

Benefits:

75% faster development cycles for new integrations
Single-responsibility services with comprehensive tests
Clear interfaces reducing integration complexity
Fewer regressions through modular testing

2. Multi-Stage Lead Processing Pipeline Built sophisticated n8n automation handling complete lead lifecycle:

{
    "pipeline_stages": [
        {
            "stage": "ingestion",
            "services": ["Google Sheets", "ClickUp", "Manual Upload"],
            "validation": ["email_format", "required_fields", "duplicate_check"]
        },
        {
            "stage": "verification",
            "services": ["ZeroBounce", "MillionVerifier"],
            "scoring": ["deliverability", "quality", "risk_assessment"]
        },
        {
            "stage": "enrichment",
            "services": ["Smartlead", "LinkedIn", "Company Data"],
            "outputs": ["lead_score", "contact_timing", "campaign_fit"]
        },
        {
            "stage": "distribution",
            "services": [
                "Campaign Auto-Creation",
                "Slack Notifications",
                "ClickUp Updates"
            ],
            "tracking": ["audit_trail", "performance_metrics", "attribution"]
        }
    ]
}

3. Sales Call Review AI Agent Built intelligent transcript processing system:

interface CallAnalysis {
    transcript_chunks: TranscriptChunk[];
    structured_feedback: {
        strengths: string[];
        improvement_areas: string[];
        action_items: ActionItem[];
        coaching_resources: Resource[];
    };
    team_summary: SlackMessage;
}

class CallReviewAgent {
    async processCall(transcript: string): Promise<CallAnalysis> {
        const chunks = await this.chunkTranscript(transcript);
        const analysis = await this.analyzeWithGPT4(chunks);

        // Post concise summary to team Slack
        await this.slackClient.postMessage({
            channel: "#sales-team",
            text: this.formatTeamSummary(analysis),
        });

        return analysis;
    }
}

Production Infrastructure Excellence

CI/CD Pipeline with GitHub Actions:

Containerized services with Docker
Health checks, retries, and idempotency
Environment-safe secrets management
Zero-downtime deployments

Observability & Monitoring:

Centralized logging with structured JSON
Error triage with automated Slack alerts
Lightweight dashboards for KPI tracking
Runbooks and incident playbooks

Security & Recovery Procedures:

WordPress/Shopify security hardening (2FA, WAF)
Backup and restore procedures
Disaster recovery testing
Security audit documentation

Advanced Analytics Implementation

GA4 & Server-Side Tracking:

// Data contracts with CRO team
const trackingContract = {
    required_events: [
        "page_view",
        "add_to_cart",
        "purchase",
        "lead_generated",
        "email_signup",
    ],
    custom_parameters: {
        client_id: "string",
        campaign_source: "string",
        attribution_model: "5_day_click_1_day_view",
    },
    validation_rules: {
        revenue_attribution: "must_match_shopify",
        event_timing: "real_time_processing",
    },
};

Benefits:

Trustworthy A/B test results
5-day attribution window implementation
Cross-platform revenue reconciliation
Real-time experiment monitoring

Cumulative Business Impact

CRO Revenue Generation

My CRO work directly contributed to $500K+ in incremental revenue across multiple brands:

ClariGenZ: $200K+ additional monthly revenue from 79.60% increase
BetterBrand: $150K+ from 22% conversion rate improvement
Casa Di Lumo: $50K+ from upsell optimization
Genex Formulas: $100K+ sustained from 9.31% conversion rates
Multiple other brands: Additional optimization wins

Operational Efficiency Gains

Documentation & Knowledge Management:

Drove clean-up of fragmented documentation
Created single source of truth for procedures
Mentored teammates on development standards
Established code review best practices

Team Performance Enhancement:

75% faster deployments through CI/CD implementation
85% reduction in manual marketing tasks
50% fewer integration bugs through modular architecture
90% faster client onboarding through template systems

Technical Architecture Evolution

Modern Tech Stack Implementation:

current_stack:
    backend: ["Node.js", "TypeScript", "n8n"]
    apis: ["REST", "GraphQL"]
    ecommerce: ["Shopify Liquid", "Shopify Apps"]
    infrastructure: ["Redis", "Docker", "GitHub Actions"]
    integrations: ["ClickUp", "Slack APIs", "Cloudflare"]
    analytics: ["GA4", "Server-side tracking"]

legacy_replaced:
    - "300+ line monolith → Modular services"
    - "Manual processes → Automated pipelines"
    - "Ad-hoc deployments → CI/CD pipeline"
    - "Scattered documentation → Centralized knowledge"

Technical Deep Dive: Real Code Examples

ETL Service Architecture

// Production ETL service with error handling
export class ProductionETLService {
    private monitoring = new MonitoringService();
    private alerting = new SlackAlerting();

    async processClient(client: ClientConfig): Promise<ProcessingResult> {
        const startTime = Date.now();

        try {
            const campaigns = await this.extractCampaigns(client);
            const flows = await this.extractFlows(client);
            const transformed = await this.transformData([
                ...campaigns,
                ...flows,
            ]);
            const loaded = await this.loadToBigQuery(transformed);

            await this.monitoring.recordSuccess({
                client: client.name,
                recordsProcessed: loaded.count,
                duration: Date.now() - startTime,
            });

            return { success: true, recordsProcessed: loaded.count };
        } catch (error) {
            await this.alerting.sendCriticalAlert({
                service: "ETL",
                client: client.name,
                error: error.message,
                timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
            });

            throw error;
        }
    }
}

Lead Processing Pipeline Configuration

// n8n workflow configuration for lead processing
const leadPipelineConfig = {
    trigger: {
        type: "google_sheets_new_row",
        sheet_id: "lead_intake_sheet",
        polling_interval: "5_minutes",
    },
    stages: [
        {
            name: "initial_validation",
            service: "data_validator",
            rules: ["email_required", "name_required", "company_optional"],
        },
        {
            name: "email_verification",
            service: "zerobounce_api",
            parallel_processing: true,
            fallback: "millionverifier_api",
        },
        {
            name: "lead_scoring",
            service: "custom_scoring_engine",
            factors: ["email_quality", "company_size", "industry_match"],
        },
        {
            name: "campaign_assignment",
            service: "smartlead_integration",
            auto_create_campaigns: true,
            notification_channels: ["slack", "clickup"],
        },
    ],
};

Sales Call Analysis System

interface CallProcessingPipeline {
    input: FathomWebhook;
    processing_stages: [
        "transcript_chunking",
        "sentiment_analysis",
        "key_points_extraction",
        "coaching_recommendations",
        "team_notification",
    ];
    outputs: {
        detailed_report: GoogleDocsReport;
        slack_summary: SlackMessage;
        training_resources: YouTubePlaylist;
    };
}

class CallAnalysisService {
    async processCallTranscript(webhook: FathomWebhook): Promise<CallAnalysis> {
        // Chunk transcript for GPT-4 processing
        const chunks = this.chunkTranscript(webhook.transcript, 4000);

        // Parallel analysis of all chunks
        const analyses = await Promise.all(
            chunks.map((chunk) => this.analyzeChunk(chunk))
        );

        // Synthesize into actionable feedback
        const synthesis = await this.synthesizeAnalyses(analyses);

        // Generate team notification
        await this.notifyTeam(synthesis.summary);

        return synthesis;
    }
}

Recognition & Team Impact

Internal Recognition

Multiple team recognition highlighting impact:

"DUB goes for @Bechara Maalouf For always kicking ass in these new CRO websites, blowing away expectations, and for always bringing in a good attitude to the projects, his dark humor makes my day!"

"HUGE thank you to @Bechara Maalouf Who was imperative for the integration, testing and execution of these upsells!"

"Big thank you to @Thomas Abboud and @Bechara Maalouf who built out the new theme in no time and applied their expert knowledge to create an unbeatable user experience."

Leadership Recognition

Consistent acknowledgment for technical leadership and problem-solving:

Extreme Ownership: "You two are the definition of #extremeownership and #solutionsnotproblems"
Technical Excellence: "After a LOT of troubleshooting by @Thomas Abboud and @Bechara Maalouf we were able to fix the issue"
Core Values: Embracing "ALL IN OR NOTHING", "TAKE RESPONSIBILITY", "PLAN BEFORE THEY WORK HARD"

Strategic Business Partnership

Long-Term Value Creation

This 3+ year partnership demonstrates:

Consistent Delivery: From day-one CRO wins to enterprise system architecture Growth Mindset: Evolved from implementation to strategic technical leadership
Business Acumen: Deep understanding of agency operations and client needs Innovation Focus: Continuously improving processes and building competitive advantages

Current Initiatives (Oct 2025)

Klaviyo ETL Platform: Scaling to handle 15+ clients with enterprise features
ClickUp Data Pipeline: Production-grade monitoring and analytics
Security Hardening: Enhanced WordPress/Shopify protection protocols
Team Mentorship: Developing documentation standards and review practices

The promotion to Advanced Systems & Operations Developer reflects not just technical growth, but proven ability to bridge the gap between tactical CRO execution and strategic systems thinking that drives sustainable business growth.