Summary
I am a software developer and architect, focusing on front-end web projects 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 (I have worked with Pivotal Labs and completed Scrum Alliance training)
- Very experienced collaborating with UX designers and product stakeholders to explore customer requirements and draft specifications
- Comfortable leading a team to implement well-specified features in feedback-informed development cycles
- Proud to have successfully established a regular cadence of maintenance and dependency updates to counter the deleterious effects of "feature-and-firefighting" development
Programming languages, frameworks, databases
- Very experienced in JavaScript (ES9+, React, Redux); familiar with TypeScript, NextJS, CoffeeScript
- Experienced integrating with back-ends such as Ruby/Rails & Elixir/Phoenix, as well as newer "static site generator" patterns
- Comfortable using relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc) directly, as well as database-powered APIs and document databases (NoSQL, MongoDB, Redis, etc) and GraphQL
- Admirer of test-driven development; comfortable with integration (Cypress) and unit (native, Jest, Jasmine, RSpec) frameworks
General web development
- Proficient in HTML5, CSS3/SCSS, Web Components, Web Workers, WebSockets, CORS
- Strong attention to W3C standards, browser/device compatibility, user accessibility/experience, and resource efficiency
- Experienced with web delivery best practices for high-traffic websites
- Familiar with SEO best practices (and very wary of tricks)
Related Experience
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Applications Architect (2022–present)
Lead Front-End Engineer (2015–2022)
Senior Front-End Engineer (2014–2015)
Front-End Engineer (2013–2014)Warner Brothers Discovery via merger with Bleacher Report (San Francisco, California / remote)Agile-influenced web software planning, specification, team-leading, and code development, on several projects using modern JavaScript in continuous-integration/deployment with multiple production releases per week. Currently collaborating on a multi-year project to migrate all of Bleacher Report's back-end systems to entirely new infrastructure. Planned and successfully executed a multi-year project to retire and replace the 15-year-old 'monolith' tech stack powering Bleacher Report's content. Served as Tech Lead of a key project to rebuild a key fully-custom internal CMS with a team of full-time employees and contractors. Collaborated with product owners and UX/UI designers 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).
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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. (Note: Current TV was sold in 2013 and the site has since been shut down; view an archived version here)
Tools used: Git, Subversion (code versioning); FogBugz, Pivotal Tracker (feature/bug tracker); Travis, Jenkins (continuous testing/integration).
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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 liaison to contracted email delivery service. Tools used: Subversion (code versioning), XSLTs.
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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)Concentrated in Mandarin Chinese language and literature.
Fun Facts
- I study languages for fun! In school I took classes in Mandarin Chinese, French, Italian, and Russian; lately I've been learning Lojban and Toki Pona 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.
- I listen to lots of music!
