Summary
I am a software developer focusing on front-end web development with open-source languages, most recently JavaScript / NodeJS. I have experience in a formal XP development process as well as blends of the components of agile project management, as an individual contributor, Tech Lead, and Scrum Master, with both local and fully-remote teams.
Objective
I am looking for an endeavor which impacts people's lives in a meaningful way, so that I can be proud to tell others what I do for a living.
I want to continue using and learning new techniques and best practices in front-end and back-end software development, making use of tests, continuous deployment, pairing, and other techniques when appropriate.
I plan to continue contributing to open-source projects as a way of giving back to the software community which has helped me for so long.
Skills
Project management:
- Familiar with formal Agile development (have worked with Pivotal Labs and completed Scrum Alliance training)
- Very experienced collaborating with designers to explore customer requirements and draft specifications
- Comfortable leading a team to implement well-specified features in feedback-informed development cycles
Programming languages, frameworks, databases
- Very experienced in JavaScript, React & Redux; familiar with TypeScript
- Comfortable using relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL) and related APIs as well as GraphQL
- Comfortable using back-ends such as Ruby & Rails, Elixir & Phoenix
General web development
- Proficient in HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript best practices
- Familiar with SEO best practices (and wary of "experts")
- Strong attention to W3C standards, browser independence, user accessibility, as well as code efficiency
- Practiced in test-driven development; comfortable with integration (Cypress) and unit (Jest, Jasmine, and RSpec) frameworks
- Very comfortable using version control systems (Git) to collaborate with other developers
Related Experience
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Applications Architect: 2022–present
Warner Brothers Discovery (Atlanta, Georgia)Planning and executing a multi-year project to retire and replace the 15-year-old 'monolith' tech stack powering Bleacher Report's content. -
Lead Front-End Engineer: 2015–2022
Senior Front-End Engineer: 2014–2015
Front-End Engineer: 2013–2014Bleacher Report (San Francisco, California)Agile-influenced web software development on several projects using modern JavaScript (ES9+, React/Redux) in continuous test environments (Cypress & Jest via CircleCI) with multiple production releases per week. Tech Lead of a key project to rebuild a custom internal CMS with realtime interactivity (SPA using websockets). Collaborated with product owners to define features and architecture of new projects, tools, and systems. Conducted technical interviews of job applicants with co-workers, both in person and via phone/video, and collaborated with department leaders to reform the interviewing and onboarding processes. Mentored new employees and junior engineers. Debugged errors in an Elixir/Phoenix service-oriented back-end. Built dramatic improvements in user-facing features, and improved internal structure and organization of legacy custom framework. Tools/services used: Git (code versioning/reviews); Jira (feature/bug tracking); Travis CI, CircleCI, GitHub Actions (continuous testing/integration); Docker (container deployment); Balsamiq (design wireframing). -
Front-End Developer: 2011-2013
Current TV (San Francisco, California)Agile test-driven development using Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, RSpec, Jasmine, Backbone.js, and jQuery. Helped create D3.js-based visualizations of data on interactive maps and graphs in SVG. Maintenance of and custom feature development on WordPress-based sites (1-2m visitors per month). Heavily involved in the implementation of a responsive design rewrite of the main site. Other tools used: Git, Subversion (code versioning), FogBugz, Pivotal Tracker (feature/bug tracker), Travis, Jenkins (continuous testing/integration). (Note: Current TV was bought by Al Jazeera in January 2013, and the site has since been shut down.) -
Developer: 2007–2011
Wolfgang's Vault (San Francisco, California)Lead developer for several WordPress and MediaWiki sites, as well as a custom legacy site built in Perl and Python. Implemented complete redesigns and new features based on low-fidelity mockups for these sites. Migrated a site from a proprietary CMS to a fully customized WordPress installation. Operations support for a production Linux web server. Constructed all consumer-facing email and implemented several design changes to email templates. Served as technical liason to contracted email delivery service. Other tools used: Subversion (code versioning), XSLTs. -
Webmaster: 2002–2003, 2005–2007
Oberlin College Library System (Oberlin, Ohio)Maintained and updated custom database-backed web applications and static-content pages as needed for the college's four libraries. Maintained and debugged Ajax applications with MySQL backends. Implemented a redesign of the Library System's main page. Completed a virtual tour project started by the prior webmaster.
Education / Certification
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Certified ScrumMaster®
2016 -
Bachelor of Arts, East Asian Studies
2007, Oberlin College (Oberlin, Ohio)Concentration: Mandarin Chinese language and literature
Fun Facts
- I've formally studied Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian, and Russian, and research Lojban grammar in my spare time.
- I'm an avid photographer, both film and digital, and particularly fond of long (multi-hour) exposures and piecing together wide panoramas in a real darkroom.
- I enjoy etymology, eagerly-hyphenated compound modifiers, and the serial comma.
- I write (code, this resume, etc.) with NeoVim, and have been using a Dvorak keyboard layout (e.g. non-QWERTY) since 2003.
