Across every team, no matter the role, the humans behind Onebrief are our superpower. Throughout this blog series, we'll spotlight Onebrief-ers across the organization and share a behind-the-scenes look at their contributions, their inspiration, and stories of their successes, failures, and most profound professional memories.

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Meet Charles Howard.

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Q: Tell about yourself!

I’m a Principal Software Engineer on Team Creator, where we help users turn ideas into decision-ready plans, faster. My focus is on developing and enhancing our mapping and document editing systems - two of the core pieces that make Onebrief such a powerful platform for military planning.

What makes this work uniquely challenging is the combination of scale, precision, and purpose. We’re not just building another productivity tool, we’re creating collaborative systems that military teams depend on to make critical decisions. That means the technology must be fast, intuitive, and resilient, even under the most demanding conditions.

I joined Onebrief early on when the team was just nine people. Watching the product evolve (and playing a part in that evolution!) has been incredible. I’ve had the chance to flex between engineering and management roles, adapting to the company’s needs while getting hands-on with some of the toughest problems I’ve ever worked on.

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Q: Tell us how you came to Onebrief and why.

Before Onebrief, I spent many years at Auto Data Direct, where I worked with state vehicle data and helped modernize the temporary license plate issuance process in Florida. That experience gave me a deep appreciation for building systems that people depend on daily.

But I was ready for a new challenge, something that would push me technically while also providing that sense of accomplishment that comes with building systems that have a real-world impact. Onebrief offered exactly that. The chance to work on sophisticated mapping and realtime collaboration systems, in service of a product that could directly improve military decision-making, was too compelling to pass up.

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Q: What’s your superpower?

I specialize in graphics programming - everything from interactive whiteboards to geospatial mapping to advanced data visualizations. It’s a space where math and creativity intersect, and I thrive on making complex information clear, usable, and visually powerful.

Beyond that, I’m especially good at untangling complexity. I love taking messy, fragile code and reshaping it into elegant, maintainable systems that can scale. Whether that’s refactoring prototypes or designing core abstractions, I find real satisfaction in transforming chaos into clarity.

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Q: What motivates your work?

The problems we’re solving at Onebrief are unlike anything I’ve worked on before. It’s not just about writing code, it’s about building technology that can change how military teams think, collaborate, and act. The stakes are high, and that drives me to bring my best every day.

Equally as motivating is the team itself. The people here combine technical brilliance with a culture of openness and respect. We challenge each other, support each other, and share a common belief in the mission. That combination makes the hardest problems feel worth tackling.

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Q: What most excites you about the work you’re doing at Onebrief?

What excites me most is seeing our engineering breakthroughs translate into real-world impact. When we make collaborative planning more seamless and intuitive, we’re not just solving abstract technical puzzles - we’re helping military teams operate more effectively and, ultimately, helping save lives.

That’s what makes the work here so uniquely challenging and rewarding. It’s a rare chance to combine cutting-edge engineering with mission-driven purpose, and I feel fortunate to be part of it.

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Join Charles' team; we're hiring! 

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