# Senior Magento 2 & Adobe Commerce Lead Developer

About 20 years building software, Magento since 2012. I led a team of about 5 on 18 storefronts for America's leading museums and zoos, including the Obama Foundation's official store. Adobe Commerce builds, ERP/POS integrations and Magento→Shopify migrations.

- Senior Lead Magento 2 Developer, Event Network, 2021–2025: led a team of about 5 on 18 storefronts
- Led the Obama Foundation's official store and the American Museum of Natural History's, with their executive leadership
- Owned every deploy, and built the checkout regression suite that runs on staging before each release
- Led the company's migration from Magento 2 to Shopify

## Storefronts I've built and run for

As Senior Lead Magento 2 Developer at Event Network (2021–2025) I led development and maintenance of 18 Magento 2 storefronts for museums, zoos and cultural attractions.

## What I do

I work as a lead developer inside your team, as a contractor alongside your agency, or directly for a merchant. Six things I'm hired for:

### [Adobe Commerce lead development](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/adobe-commerce-developer)

Custom modules, themes and multi-store / multi-website builds on a shared codebase. Checkout and payments, performance with Varnish, Redis, Elasticsearch and a CDN, security and SEO. I led a team of about 5 across a portfolio of 18 live stores.

### [Magento → Shopify migration](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/magento-to-shopify-migration)

Data-model mapping, SEO redirect maps, integrations and cutover. I led Event Network's move from Magento 2 to Shopify, and I've run Magento → Shopify migrations for other merchants both before and since.

### [Migration discovery audit](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/migration-audit)

Before you commit a budget: what is actually in your Magento install, what maps cleanly to the target platform, what doesn't, and what it will take. You get a written plan you can execute with me or with anyone else.

### [Upgrades & security patching](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/magento-upgrade)

Magento 2.4.x upgrades, security patches and Adobe Commerce feature work. 2.4.6 is in its last year of extended support (it ends August 31, 2027), so the next move needs planning now.

### [ERP, POS & API integrations](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/engineering-leadership)

REST and GraphQL integrations that keep inventory, orders and fulfillment in step between the store, the ERP, point of sale and shipping (ShipWorks). Webhooks, message queues and data syncing that hold up when the store is busy.

### [AI as leverage](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/atlas-ai-workspaces)

I use Claude Code and multi-model APIs (Anthropic Claude, OpenAI, Gemini) as leverage on real engineering work, with every change reviewed. I also built Atlas, a sandboxed AI workspace platform, so I know where the guardrails belong.

## Magento 2.4.6 is in its last year of support

Adobe Commerce 2.4.6 left standard support on **Aug 11, 2026**; extended support, at no additional cost, ends **Aug 31, 2027**. 2.4.5 and older are already past it, and Magento Open Source follows the standard window only. The choice is upgrade or replatform, and I've done both.

| Version | Standard support ends | Extended support ends | Security-only fixes until |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2.4.4 | Apr 12, 2025 | Apr 14, 2026 | May 31, 2027 |
| 2.4.5 | Aug 12, 2025 | Aug 11, 2026 | May 31, 2027 |
| 2.4.6 | Aug 11, 2026 | Aug 31, 2027 | May 31, 2028 |
| 2.4.7 | May 31, 2027 | May 31, 2028 | – |
| 2.4.8 | May 31, 2028 | – | – |
| 2.4.9 (released May 12, 2026) | May 31, 2029 | – | – |

Source: [Adobe Commerce lifecycle policy](https://experienceleague.adobe.com/en/docs/commerce-operations/release/planning/lifecycle-policy) (Last checked Sep 25, 2026)

[Upgrade or replatform: the plan](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/magento-upgrade)

## How a project runs

### Audit

Read the codebase, the extensions, the data and the integrations. Find out what the store really does, not what the documentation says.

### Plan

Map the data model, the URLs and every integration to the target. Agree scope, order of work and what done means.

### Build

Modules, themes, integrations and data migration, built and tested against real data, not samples.

### Launch

A rehearsed cutover: freeze, final data sync, redirects live, DNS switch, checks.

### Hypercare

Stay on after launch to watch orders, integrations and search traffic, and fix what shows up.

## The AI edge: Atlas

I built Atlas, a platform that runs Claude Code and Codex behind a tailored AI workspace for each client, with strict sandboxing, so non-technical owners can safely make changes to their own sites. It runs in production today: a coaching business edits its own site through its admin AI panel, fully isolated from every other project on the server.

For a hiring team that means a lead developer who uses AI tools daily and knows how to fence them in: what they may touch, what they may not, and how every change stays reviewable.

[How Atlas works](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/atlas-ai-workspaces)

## Experience

[Full résumé](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/resume)

## Questions

**Are you available, and for what kind of role?**

Yes, now. I'm open to full-time senior or lead Magento / Adobe Commerce roles and to contract work. I'm based in Pacific Beach, San Diego, and work remotely or hybrid/on-site in San Diego.

**Can you work as a contractor inside our agency?**

Yes. I founded and ran a Magento agency myself, so I know how agency delivery works: your process, your client, your standards. I can lead a Magento or Adobe Commerce build, take a migration workstream, or handle an audit.

**Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source?**

Both. I've worked on Magento 1 and 2, Magento Open Source and Adobe Commerce, including Magento Cloud and headless builds with PWA Studio and GraphQL.

**Is Magento 2.4.6 still supported?**

On Adobe Commerce, yes, in extended support (at no additional cost) until August 31, 2027, then security-only fixes until May 31, 2028. Standard support ended August 11, 2026. Magento Open Source follows the standard window. Either way it is time to plan an upgrade to 2.4.7 or later, or a replatform.

**Do you only do Magento?**

Magento and Adobe Commerce are my core. I also work in Shopify: I led Event Network's move of its museum and zoo storefronts from Magento 2 to Shopify.

**How do you use AI in client work?**

As an accelerator, never unsupervised. I use Claude Code and multi-model APIs to move faster, and I stay accountable for every change that reaches your codebase. Atlas, the platform I built, exists because I take the sandboxing side of this seriously.

## Let's talk

Hiring for a senior Magento or Adobe Commerce role, looking for a contractor for a migration or audit, or facing the 2.4.6 deadline? Email or call me directly.

Email: mkuhlman12@gmail.com

Phone: 707-540-1336

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-kuhlman-dev

Location: Pacific Beach, San Diego, CA

## Experience

### Independent Adobe Commerce & Shopify Consultant

Independent · San Diego, CA · remote · 2025–present

Magento to Shopify migrations and eCommerce builds for merchants, with AI-assisted development as leverage.

### Senior Lead Magento 2 Developer

Event Network · San Diego, CA · 2021–2025

Led a team of about 5 developers on 18 Magento 2 storefronts for museums, zoos and cultural attractions, including the Obama Foundation's official store.

### Co-founder & Full-Stack Engineer

CourseDuck.com · 2019–2022

Co-founded CourseDuck.com and built it end to end as the only engineer.

### Magento freelancer, consultant and agency founder

Independent · 2012–2019

Magento 1 and 2 work for merchants and enterprise clients: freelancing, consulting and a Magento agency I founded.

## Selected work

- [The Obama Foundation and the American Museum of Natural History](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/obama-foundation-and-amnh): Trusted with two of the most visible stores in the portfolio, I worked directly with executive leadership at the Obama Foundation and the American Museum of Natural History, and every change to their stores went through review and a deploy I owned.
- [One platform for the long tail of partner stores](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/storefront-consolidation): I replaced a long tail of underperforming partner storefronts with one shared storefront platform, and partner sales grew sharply.
- [Event Network: Magento 2 → Shopify](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/event-network-shopify-migration): I led the company's move of its museum and zoo storefronts from Magento 2 to Shopify: the data model, the SEO redirect map, the integrations and the cutover.
- [Leading the team and the release process](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/engineering-leadership): I led a team of about 5 developers and owned how code reached 18 live stores: every pull request reviewed, every deploy mine, and checkout tested on staging before it shipped.
- [Atlas: sandboxed AI workspaces](https://www.michael-kuhlman.com/work/atlas-ai-workspaces): I built Atlas so non-technical owners can safely change their own sites with Claude Code and Codex, each in a strictly sandboxed workspace; it runs in production today.

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Canonical: https://www.michael-kuhlman.com