Full Stack Engineer (specializing in Ruby, Elixir, React)

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Career Highlights

  • Over 9 years of experience in web application development performing roles such as Full Stack Engineer and DevOps Engineer.
  • Experience in Web, Backend Development, Infrastructure (DevOps) and Frontend Development that includes Analysis, Design, Testing and Implementation.
  • Experience in developing Ruby on Rails APIs / applications using technologies such as Elastic Search, Git, PostgreSQL, Prawn, Puma, RabbitMQ, Redis, Solr, Kafka and Docker.
  • Experience in developing rich Javascript applications with frameworks such as Angular.js, jQuery, Meteor, ReactJS, Redux, VueJS and Vuex.
  • Experience in implementing and maintaining Infrastructure as Code solutions such as Chef, Grafana, HAProxy, Kibana, Logstash, Nginx, Node.js, Consul, Docker, Kubernetes and Terraform.
  • Experience in implementing TDD / BDD for Ruby on Rails and Javascript using testing frameworks such as Cucumber, Rspec, Karma and Capybara.
  • Professional Experience with Elixir, Ruby, CSS3, Javascript, ES7, Bash Scripting, Golang and PHP.
  • Highly professional communication skills honed through working with other developers and internal-to-company stakeholders.

Work Experience

Personal Business Development (TheLocusCo)

Dec 2023 - February 2025

Plainfield, IL

  • Currently spending months working in the Godot game engine using GDScript to create a 2D roguelite action platformer game.
  • Currently learning pixel art and animation using Aseprite to create the prototype art assets required for the game project.
  • Spent several months digging into Large Language Models and how to utilize them.
  • Studied Meta's Llama 3 to look for potential gains of using a locally tweaked LLM over remote solutions.
  • Converted this site from a React 14 frontend and Ruby on Rails 6 backend to a "simple" Jekyll deployment on Github Pages.
  • Learned Jekyll and brushed up on CSS skills to simplify a massive and unwieldy React frontend.

Skills and technologies I used at TheLocusCo

HTML5, CSS3, Javascript, Jekyll, Ruby on Rails 7, React 18, Redux, PostgreSQL 16, Rspec, VSCode, Github, Python, Meta Llama 3.2, Godot, Aseprite, GDScript, Retro Diffusion


Simpli.fi

June 2018 - Dec 2023

Fort Worth, TX

Simpli.fi is a technology company focusing industry-leading media buying and workflow solutions designed to capture your audience and power your best work.


Project Description

Implement features and maintain the backend and frontend code that powers the Simpli.fi user experience


Senior Full Stack Engineer


  • Wrote majority of the frontend, backend, and testing code for several major features.
  • Recipient of the Q1 2023 Golden Crow award for outstanding contributions to Simpli.fi.
  • Rewrote and assisted in the maintenance of a Ruby on Rails API running on IBM Kubernetes and Docker.
  • Worked with non-technical and technical stakeholders to add features and support refactoring.
  • Worked with technical and management stakeholders to discuss and improve architectural concerns.
  • Assisted in the maintenance of the primary Ruby on Rails & Vue Web Application.
  • Assisted in updating and maintaining several elixir microservices.
  • Assisted Data Engineers in better utilizing backend services outside of the data lake.
  • Dramatically expanded understanding of the interconnectedness of the core services using diagramming and documentation tools.
  • Reviewed technical projects submitted by applicants for technical interviews.
  • Assisted in integrating frontend and UX staff from acquisition companies into the Simpli.fi ecosystem.

Skills and technologies I used at Simpli.fi

Ruby on Rails 6, Vue 2-3, Vuex, Elixir, Icepanel, Javascript, PostgreSQL 12, Rspec, Figma, Github, ERB, CSS3, Google Maps API, Kafka, Python, Kubernetes, Consul, Terraform, Apache Spark, Golang


Personal Business Development (TheLocusCo)

Sept 2017 - April 2018

Santa Clara, CA

  • Spent 3 months learning Elixir and React and their surrounding ecosystems.
  • Converted this site from Rails to a React frontend with an Elixir backend.
  • Setup Ruby on Rails microservices to handle functionality that does not yet exist in Elixir.
  • Wrote 62+ container components and 39+ presentational components that interact with Redux.
  • Worked with 2 other developers to discuss and prototype a Steam API service that would give gamers greater visibility into the statistics Steam games are keeping on them.
  • Discontinued steam project due to the early 2018 privacy changes around much of the web and the Steam service in particular.
  • Converted this site back from a Elixir-Phoenix backend to a Ruby on Rails backend.
  • Open-sourced the repository running thelocus.co at https://github.com/TheLocusCo/locuscorev3.
  • Built my site analytics page (discontinued) with D3.js and React.

Skills and technologies I used at TheLocusCo

Elixir, Phoenix, Javascript, React 16, Redux, PostgreSQL 9, Rspec, Karma, Ruby on Rails 5, Atom, Github, ES7, JSX, ERB, JBuilder, CSS3, HTML 5, Steam API, Processing.js, D3.js, YML


Politech

Nov 2016 - Aug 2017

Remote

Politech creates digital products and delivers technology solutions that help political organizations, issue advocacy campaigns, and nonprofits thrive in a digitally driven world.


Project Description

Ruby on Rails Application Enhancements


Fullstack Engineer


  • Worked on change and feature requests submitted by the CEO or Customer Experience Team.
  • Attend weekly scrum meetings to discuss blockers and relay progress on various open requests.
  • Worked with Customer Experience Team to translate design documents into a list of required behaviors for the module. Implement a prototype that meets the behaviors.
  • Worked with Customer Experience Team to iterate on the prototype module, connect the module to a test environment's data and verify interactions perform as expected.
  • Update feature requests with their current status and expected time to completion daily.
  • Participate in pair programming with other developers.
  • Review push requests as features were to be pushed to staging for stakeholder testing.
  • Provide live support during deployment of changes to production.
  • Assisted in the upgrade and maintenance of production servers.
  • Review technical interviews and take-home projects of applicants to the company.
  • Wrote 45 integration and 150 unit tests using RSpec for the core Ruby on Rails application.
  • Wrote 3 user-facing modules for the core application utilizing HAML and jQuery.
  • Assisted in writing, debugging and testing some extremely challenging recursive SQL statements.

Skills and technologies I used at Politech

Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Rspec, Ruby on Rails 5, Sublime Text 3, Github, HAML, CSS3, HTML 5, Basecamp, Redis, YML


SocialCentiv

June 2014 - July 2016

Dallas, Texas

SocialCentiv is a technology company focusing on organic ways to grow brand awareness using social media platforms.


Project Description

Maintain and Improve the Infrastructure


DevOps Engineer


  • Worked with Rightscale to plan out a migration from Heroku to Rackspace hosted servers.
  • Took ownership of migration after Rightscale contract looked to be too expensive in the long run.
  • Implemented a custom DevOps infrastructure for SocialCentiv using Chef and Rackspace Cloud.
  • Worked with Backend and Frontend Developers to build a CLI that would give them a similar level of control to the Heroku CLI. This was open-sourced and is called Cheftacular.
  • Worked with the rest of the engineering team to plan infrastructure upgrades and add new A-B testing environments. Incorporated these upgrades and tools into Cheftacular.
  • Worked with Business Intelligence (BI) to setup a Data Warehouse.
  • Implemented dashboards to give employees greater visibility into key company metrics.
  • Implemented infrastructure remediation using Sensu to fix problems automatically.
  • Utilized over 80 Chef cookbooks for stacks such as Ruby, Java, Python, NodeJS, PHP, and more.
  • Recipient of the Q4 2014 to Q1 2015 President's Award for outstanding service to SocialCentiv.
  • Assisted in development on SocialCentiv's backend API that used MVC principles and TDD.

Skills and technologies I used at SocialCentiv

Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Rspec, Ruby on Rails 4, Sublime Text 3, Github, HAML, CSS3, HTML 5, Meteor, Wordpress, Sensu, Graphite, Grafana, Uchiwa, Node.js, HAProxy, iptables, Kibana, Logstash, Nginx, Redis, Puma, Unicorn, Slack, YML


Personal Business Development (TheLocusCo)

July 2013 - May 2014

Fort Worth, Texas

  • Created a Rails API with Angular.js to manage personal email accounts.
  • Converted this site from PHP to Rails.
  • Reworked the Wordpress CMS running this site to a MVC-compliant Ruby on Rails project.
  • Created Ruby Gem Cookie Crypt, two-factor security solution for Rails apps using Devise.
  • Created Ruby Gem SceneJS On Rails, 3D WebGL graphics solution for Rails utilizing SceneJS.

Skills and technologies I used at TheLocusCo

Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Rspec, Ruby on Rails 3, Sublime Text 2, Github, HAML, CSS3, HTML 5, YML


Trinovus, LLC

June 2012 - June 2013

Lubbock, Texas

TriNovus offers financial processing services based on its own software, including ancillary services such as statement rendering and check processing.


Project Description

Ruby on Rails Application Enhancements


Web Application Developer


  • Migrated an existing .NET / RPG banking platform to Ruby on Rails using MVC principles.
  • Assisted in development on TriComply. Banking Compliance Solution.

Skills and technologies I used at Trinvous

Javascript, jQuery, PostgreSQL, Rspec, Ruby on Rails 3, Sublime Text 2, Github, HAML, CSS3, HTML 5, YML, .NET


John Peter Smith Hospital

Summer 2011

Fort Worth, Texas

Transforming healthcare delivery for the communities we serve.


IT Intern


  • Discussed web design concepts with web engineers at John Peter Smith Hospital.
  • Assisted database analyst in writing queries to build reports.
  • Imaged PCs and assisted in solving various computer-related issues around the hospital.

Education

2008 - 2012

B.S. Computer Science

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

Certifications

Neilsen Norman Group

April 2015 - Present

  • Certificate in User Experience (UX) for completing 30 hours of UX training and passing related exams.
  • Certificate viewing available upon request.

Notable Activities

Association of Computing Machinery

Texas Tech University

Fall 2011 - Spring 2012

Webmaster Officer

Lubbock, Texas


  • Built http://acmttu.org/, however the site is no longer available. Referenced in portfolio.
  • Incorporated jQuery, PHP5, CSS3, and Wordpress to build a website for the organization.
  • Discussed website features with members during meetings.
  • Interviewed members interested in assisting with development on the site.
  • Assisted with planning events for ACM and incorporating said events into the website.