Colin B.

Colin B.

Senior Software Engineer

United Kingdom
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About Me

Proficient Full Stack developer with over 15 years of experience designing and implementing web application, and 6+ years focusing on Ruby on Rails applications, including in the banking industry, industrial design, eCommerce, and content management systems. Colin puts a lot of emphasis on usability and speed for end-users when building high-standard applications, being highly experienced working in agile environments with a test-driven approach.

Work history

UpStack
UpStack
Senior Software Engineer
2020 - Present (4 years)
Remote
  • Create and develop innovative software solutions for different clients across a broad range of industries.

  • Participate in scrums consisting of cross-functional teams, both software and hardware.

  • Ensure that features are being delivered efficiently and on-time.

Government Digital Service
Government Digital Service
Ruby Developer
2020 - Present (4 years)
United Kingdom
  • Maintained and improved the GovWifi service which provides authentication services to wifi networks across thousands of government buildings.

  • Managed a service comprised of a Rails admin application and Sinatra API services which connected with a Radius server.

  • Wrote clean, maintainable, and efficient code.

Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
Front-End Developer
2018 - 2020 (2 years)
United Kingdom
  • Developed the bank's next generation application portals using agile methodologies with a strong focus on test-driven development.

  • Worked on the development of React applications connecting to a number of Java micro-services.

  • Handled various bugs occuring in the production environment, also participating in code reviews and quality assurance.

Made Tech
Made Tech
Reliability Engineer
2018 - 2018
United Kingdom
  • Taking over from the development teams post-launch, supported and further developed production applications throughout their lifecycle.

  • Ensured Heroku hosted system was running securely and smoothly with the least downtime possible.

  • Investigated and mitigated single points of failure, performance bottlenecks, and other issues related to the development process.

Charted Position
Charted Position
Director
2017 - Present (7 years)
Remote
  • Analyzed, designed, and developed applications for different industries and clients, acting as subject matter expert and software engineer.

  • Developed the holidai.co platform, a Ruby on Rails application for managing staff leave.

  • Created and developed ForwardBack, a React Native iOS app for helping look forward to things by looking back.

Aegon
Aegon
Front-End Developer
2017 - 2018 (1 year)
United Kingdom
  • Worked on the front-end code for Aegon’s new investment portal - a stateless interface to a back end Java app, built on Knockout.

  • Worked in Agile teams, delivering refined features alongside back end developers, UX, and QA.

  • Evaluated UX and UI designs for technical feasibility.

Wyoming Interactive
Wyoming Interactive
Senior Developer
2016 - 2017 (1 year)
United Kingdom
  • Whilst working on client projects, led the transition from the legacy email system over to managed Exchange at Rackspace, and from an internal NAS drive to Dropbox, ensuring a seamless transition for the whole company.

  • Worked on the development of full-service digital solutions for multiple industries, including life sciences, finance, education, and technology.

  • Provided a mentor role to junior developers, assisting them with training needs, and general queries.

Logic Now
Logic Now
Software Developer
2015 - 2016 (1 year)
United Kingdom
  • Worked on the development of the ServiceDesk product, allowing MSPs (Managed Service Providers) to manage interaction with their clients.

  • Redeveloped the user interface and much of the back-end code, whilst maintaining compatibility with the older version.

  • Worked on adding new features to the product, including Twitter integration, and fine-grained roles and permissions, based on product features and end customers.

IfLooksCouldKill / Creative State
IfLooksCouldKill / Creative State
Lead Developer
2013 - 2015 (2 years)
United Kingdom
  • Directly involved in both back and front-end web development, as well as server management for clients that spanned Arts, Culture, Education, Tourism & Leisure.

  • Created a system for managing software updates of ~50 (and counting) WordPress installations semiautomatically. This involved ensuring all were in version control, and based on a standardised installation.

  • Managed transition of client sites on various hosting solutions onto a set of dedicated LAMP servers; two production, and one staging. Managed the configuration of these servers using Chef.

Edinburgh University
Edinburgh University
eLearning Systems Developer
2011 - 2013 (2 years)
United Kingdom
  • Developed a new Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) from scratch using the Kohana framework.

  • Created a number of standalone modules which were open-sourced.

  • Supported the existing VLEs and other systems, which are mainly Classic ASP.

Line Digital
Line Digital
Senior Web Developer
2010 - 2011 (1 year)
United Kingdom
  • Acted as Technical Lead on the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe site. Worked with various technologies including a third party ticketing system, as well as Solr (for search), OpenX (for advertising) and Magento (for eCommerce).

  • Worked on the development of other Edinburgh Festival sites, including the Film Festival, the Book Festival, and the Science Festival.

  • Used the Symfony PHP framework, as well as a legacy internal framework/CMS for projects that varied from smaller sites which were primarily financial & tourism based, to some much larger sites.

Lost Ferret
Senior Web Developer
2008 - 2010 (2 years)
Remote
  • Co-developed their eCommerce solution, Aurora, that now powers many online stores, including high street retailers Moss Bros., Officers Club, Select Fashion, and Quiz Clothing.

  • Achievements include basket abandonment rates as low as 11.5% and checkout completion rates of up to 88% (internet average at the time was under 40%).

  • Oversaw server setup and maintenance for all client servers, including Apache, PHP & MySQL configuration and optimisation.

Inigo Media
Inigo Media
Web Developer
2005 - 2008 (3 years)
United Kingdom
  • Worked on the development of the company’s eCommerce and content management systems, as well as various bespoke applications.

  • Created an independent CMS that was used for some of the company projects.

  • Met with clients both at initial presentations to gather requirements, and closely collaborated during the course of projects.

Portfolio

Owner/Software Developer - Holidai
Owner/Software Developer - Holidai

Created this SAAS app providing staff leave management for SMEs. The application automates the staff leave management process, enabling companies to go paperless. Using the staff leave planner view, you can view your whole company, or filter by team. Managers receive notifications of staff leave requests, and users get the results, all instantly. Also developed Slack integration for the service, letting employers know which staff is on leave. Technologies used in the project: Ruby, Rails, React.js, SASS.

Front-End Developer - Major Bank Loans Applications
Front-End Developer - Major Bank Loans Applications

Worked on delivering front-end features in an Agile environment for the bank's loans application system, connecting to a number of Java micro-services. Developed a high-level application using React, Redux, SCSS, TDD. Handled various bugs occuring in the production environment, also participating in code reviews and quality assurance.

Full Stack Developer - CAT Digital
Full Stack Developer - CAT Digital

The Centre provides a commercial digital fabric printing and textile design service, consulting to large and small manufacturers as well as to individuals. The speed of this technology enables businesses to respond rapidly to new and changing markets and creates cost efficient opportunities for niche marketing. Digital textile printing technology allows designs and images to be printed straight from the computer screen onto fabric creating exciting opportunities for customised design and allowing photographic quality reproduction onto natural fibres, such as silk, wool, linen and cotton. Worked as a full stack developer for the project, developing the application that creates custom fabric prints with a backend managing print jobs. Technologies used in the project: Ruby, Rails, React.js.

Education

BSc.(Hons), Internet Technology
BSc.(Hons), Internet Technology
Anglia Ruskin University
1999 - 2003 (4 years)