Accounting & Finance | Project Operations | Landscape Architecture & Land Development | Business Systems | Applied AI

jcontreras4833@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/jcontreras4833 | github.com/eco619 | eco619.com

My career has developed across several disciplines that increasingly became connected. I began in accounting and finance, expanded into information technology and business systems, and then spent more than 26 years working in landscape architecture, land planning, land development, and multidisciplinary project environments. Along the way, I held hands-on accounting, Controller, CFO, Principal, and Project Manager responsibilities while remaining directly involved in the systems, information, financial controls, and project workflows that supported the work.

Those experiences gave me a practical view of how organizations and projects actually operate: how financial and technical information moves between people and disciplines, how decisions become deliverables, how responsibilities intersect, and how problems develop when information, systems, or communication become disconnected. Much of my work has involved understanding those connections, improving the process around them, and giving people reliable information for making decisions.

Today, I apply that combined accounting, project, development, technology, and operational experience to artificial intelligence and information systems. Through eco619, I architect and develop the Continuous Intelligence Platform, a provider-agnostic compound AI system that transforms fragmented operational information into traceable, verifiable organizational knowledge and decision support.

· General ledger accounting, account reconciliations, accounts payable and receivable, billing, collections, payroll oversight, month-end and year-end close,   financial reporting, and year-end 1099 preparation and reporting.

· Budget development, cash-flow management, forecasting, six-month revenue projections, workload forecasting, profitability analysis, and financial decision support.

· Project accounting, WIP reporting, project cost tracking, direct and indirect labor, overhead allocation and recovery, utilization, revenue forecasting, and project-based financial management.

· Property and real-estate accounting across multiple property owners and separately maintained records, including rental income, tenant receipts, reconciliations, reporting, and period-end accounting using Yardi.

· Implemented and configured two accounting systems during my career to support company and project operations, including implementation of Deltek FMS, conversion and operating setup, financial and project-accounting configuration, and employee training.

· Financial controls, risk assessment, resource allocation, federal contract financial reporting, and coordination of financial performance with project and operational requirements.

· More than 26 years supporting landscape architecture, land planning, development operations, and construction-related project delivery.

· Multidisciplinary coordination with architects, civil engineers, landscape architects, irrigation specialists, contractors, consultants, developers, clients, municipal reviewers, and public agencies.

· Planning, permitting, entitlements, technical documentation, construction documents, project approvals, consultant coordination, and construction-related field support.

· Project budgets, schedules, staffing, cost tracking, WIP, forecasting, workload planning, resource allocation, and identification of developing financial or schedule issues.

· Experience across healthcare, residential, mixed-use, parks and recreation, military housing, affordable housing, infrastructure, and large-scale community development.

· AutoCAD-based design and documentation, irrigation and water-resource planning, brush management and fuel-modification planning, and coordination of environmentally sensitive and culturally significant site conditions.

· Business and operational leadership across professional design and project-based organizations, including Controller, CFO, Principal, and Project Manager responsibilities.

· Project planning, coordination, execution, staffing, workload management, consultant communication, contracts, proposals, documentation, and operational performance.

· Developed proposals, scopes of work, fee structures, and contract terms for professional services; participated in client presentations and negotiations and successfully secured contracts for new and continuing work.

· Cross-functional problem solving connecting financial performance, staffing requirements, project workload, client requirements, technical information, and business objectives.

· Weekly project coordination and resource planning across multiple active projects, with direct involvement in approximately four to five projects simultaneously while supporting overall office operations.

· Process improvement and workflow development intended to preserve project continuity, improve information flow, resolve issues early, and maintain project momentum.

· Microsoft systems engineering and long-term responsibility for business technology, systems administration, collaboration platforms, document workflows, and information systems.

· Hands-on IT infrastructure experience including workstation and server deployment, network installation and troubleshooting, structured Ethernet cabling, Cat6/RJ45 cable termination, network switches, and physical connectivity from office workstations to centralized server and network infrastructure.

· AI systems architecture, LLM workflow integration, autonomous processing, document intelligence, OCR and multimodal workflows, provider-agnostic AI integration, prompt engineering, and operational intelligence.

· Architecture and development of the Continuous Intelligence Platform, integrating artifact registration, metadata, specialized readers, OCR and visual recovery, AI interfaces, verification, governance, relationships, and downstream knowledge workflows.

· Autonomous ingestion and orchestration against real-world project records, with run-specific telemetry and metrics used to verify behavior and diagnose component, configuration, execution, handoff, and orchestration failures.

· Engineering documentation, architecture specifications, verification and traceability standards, technical records, Python, PowerShell, JSON, Git/GitHub, Microsoft 365, and SharePoint.

Independent AI Systems Architect & Research Engineer (eco619 Portfolio)

eco619 | 2025 – Present

· Architect and develop the Continuous Intelligence Platform, a provider-agnostic compound AI system designed to transform fragmented operational information into traceable, verifiable organizational knowledge and decision support.

· Develop modular processing pipelines integrating artifact registration, metadata, document readers, OCR and visual recovery, AI interfaces, verification, governance, and downstream knowledge workflows.

· Advance independently tested components into integrated platform execution while preserving clear module responsibilities, inputs, outputs, lineage, and failure boundaries.

· Build provider-agnostic AI integration so workflows can use different local or hosted models without redesigning downstream processing.

· Execute and validate autonomous ingestion and orchestration against real-world project records, using run-specific telemetry and metrics to confirm platform behavior and identify execution failures.

· Diagnose runtime and integration issues by separating software defects from configuration problems, obsolete code, temporary test execution, orchestration failures, and failed handoffs; correct demonstrated issues and retest the affected execution path.

· Validate generated records and processing outputs for completeness, traceability, and consistency rather than treating successful execution alone as proof of correct performance.

· Develop engineering standards, architecture specifications, execution documentation, and version-controlled technical records to support maintainability, reproducibility, and continued engineering work.

· Translate operational problems into technical requirements and AI-enabled workflows by applying business, project, technology, and information-management experience to system design decisions.

Principal | Financial Oversight, Operational & Project Leadership

DeLorenzo International, Inc. | San Diego, CA | 2011 – 2026

Landscape Architecture and Land Planning Firm

· Led business operations, financial oversight, project planning, coordination, and execution across landscape architecture, land planning, construction, and land-development projects.

· Managed company budgets, workload forecasting, operational planning, project profitability, resource allocation, staffing requirements, and business risk across multiple active projects and development initiatives.

· Coordinated architects, civil engineers, contractors, consultants, developers, clients, and public agencies across multidisciplinary projects from planning through construction-related delivery.

· Oversaw project documentation, permitting processes, consultant communication, schedules, technical coordination, and project continuity.

· Led weekly project coordination meetings to review status, staffing, schedules, priorities, workload, and resource allocation while maintaining direct involvement in multiple active projects.

· Led and participated in business-development efforts including client relationships, proposals, project scopes, fee negotiations, and contract negotiations that resulted in awarded professional-services contracts.

· Prepared and managed brush management and fuel-modification plans for residential developments, military housing, and private properties to satisfy municipal and CAL FIRE wildfire-safety requirements.

· Identified developing risks involving site conditions, constructability, coordination, financial performance, and schedule, and worked with teams to resolve issues and maintain project momentum.

· Managed project budgets, schedules, staffing, cost tracking, WIP, and forecasting to support project performance and successful delivery.

Controller | CFO

DeLorenzo Incorporated, Inc. | San Diego, CA | 2000 – 2011

Landscape Architecture and Land Planning Firm

· Directed financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, and financial planning supporting company operations and long-term business decisions.

· Developed and maintained six-month revenue projections, workload forecasts, monthly financial statements, comparative reports, profitability analysis, and revenue-versus-expense reporting.

· Managed accounts receivable, collections, billing, cash-flow monitoring, general ledger activity, reconciliations, month-end reporting, year-end accounting activities, and 1099 preparation and reporting.

· Implemented and managed Deltek FMS project accounting systems supporting direct and indirect labor, overhead allocation, project cost tracking, profitability, utilization, WIP, and revenue forecasting.

· Worked closely with project managers and leadership to align financial performance, staffing, workload, project requirements, and business objectives.

· Managed federal contract accounting requirements through labor classification, cost allocation, financial reporting, and project-performance monitoring.

· Developed and monitored labor multipliers, overhead recovery, project profitability metrics, and financial forecasts supporting project execution and business planning.

Controller | Information Technology

The John Collins Company | San Diego, CA | 1995 – 2000

Real Estate & Property Management

· Held hands-on responsibility for the property-management accounting function across multiple property owners while supervising accounting staff.

· Performed property-level accounting, general ledger activity, rental income and tenant receipts, accounts payable and receivable, account reconciliations, financial reporting, and period-end accounting.

· Maintained separate accounting records in Yardi for multiple property owners and related property and impound accounts.

· Managed accounting controls, discrepancy resolution, and the financial records required for property-management operations.

· Managed information technology and business systems supporting accounting and property-management operations.

· Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton — Contributed to delivery of the landscape architecture scope as part of the multidisciplinary consultant team for the approximately $500 million hospital project.

· Fanita Ranch — Supported planning and development efforts for a 2,600-home master-planned community incorporating parks, schools, agricultural uses, and regional trail systems.

· Regional WaterSmart Conservation — Supported implementation of a regional conservation program serving thousands of homeowners and contributing to significant water-use reduction initiatives.

· Northern California Community Water Management — Led a nine-year regional water-management initiative serving approximately 4,000 homes across three communities, including landscape and irrigation planning, consultant coordination, and long-term implementation.

· Sensitive-Site Project Work — Coordinated documentation and field-support activities for projects involving environmentally sensitive and culturally significant site conditions.

Financial / Reporting: Microsoft Excel, Deltek FMS, QuickBooks, Yardi

Business / Collaboration: Microsoft Word, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, PowerPoint, Adobe Suite

Project / Development: Procore, Microsoft Project, Bluebeam Revu, AutoCAD, Adobe Acrobat

AI / Engineering: Python, PowerShell, Git, GitHub, JSON, provider-agnostic AI workflows, OCR and multimodal processing

Business Systems: AppSheet

· Pacific Coast College — Associate of Arts, Accounting and Finance

· Cuyamaca College — Landscape Design, Irrigation Design & AutoCAD

· University of Phoenix — Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

· University of Alberta — Software Architecture

· IBM — AI Engineering, Python for Data Science, AI & Development, Knowledge Management, Information Systems, AI-Assisted Workflows, RAG  & LangChain

Microsoft - Agentic AI Strategy & Solution Planning  

· Google — Prompting Essentials

· Upcoming Continuing Education — Microsoft Agentic AI Business Solutions Architect

· Understand the business before designing the technology.

· Technology should simplify operations, not complicate them.

· AI is another discipline for solving business problems—not the objective itself.

· Successful execution is not the same as validated performance.

· Build solutions organizations can understand, trust, maintain, verify, and evolve.