Work Experience

• Lead Developer, Linx Systems - May/2018 - Present - Bloomington, IL

  ⇢ Managed a team of cross-discipline programmers.
  Some of my responsibilities as lead developer included: Assigning tasks to best fit individual/team capabilities, mentoring junior developers on best practices, guiding career development, and reporting progress to upper management. As lead developer, I had to choose when to delegate a job to a team member and when to take on that work myself in order to move the project along as efficiently as possible.
  ⇢ Rewrote flagship mobile app in 3 months using React Native and shrunk codebase by 92%.
  I advocated for a tech stack switch from Objective-C and Java to a shared React Native platform so we could focus company resources and developer time behind perfecting one system instead of two. The results, a complete rewrite of our largest app in only 3 months, were spectacular. By using React Native I was able to bring feature and UI parity between iOS and Android versions for the first time.
  ⇢ Deployed multiple single page ReactJS web apps
  Built from scratch two new front end websites to accompany our React Native mobile apps. These new ReactJS websites decoupled our backend (Django views) from the frontend to allow us to more cleanly separate tech stacks. While the responsiveness of each website is nice, I am particularly proud of the deployment automation that I developed to allow for 1 button deployments.
  ⇢ Hardened product security with two factor authentication.
  Integrated Twilio to support sending SMS in addition to emails for 2FA security. Used browser fingerprinting to mark trusted devices and keep bad actors from causing trouble with client tools.
  ⇢ Met with clients and fostered working relationships with continuous support.
  Exported calmness and clear headedness when confronted with problems. Worked with clients to resolve any and all issues including personal tech support (how to setup a new phone).
  ⇢ Contributed to Open Source
  Gave back to the community with open source contributions. (React Native, RNCamera)

• Founder, Chimp Studios  - Jan/2009  - May/2018 - Bloomington, IL

  ⇢ Published macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS apps used by hundreds of thousands.
  Internally developed and maintained apps such as Stock + (macOS), Exchange It (macOS, iOS, watchOS), Convert It (macOS), Print Selection (macOS), and Puppy Snake (tvOS), each can be found on their respective app stores. I took each of these apps from paper drawing board through development, testing, and production release. I have personally handled over 3,600 customer support tickets related to these apps and pushed continual updates that have resulted in over 7.5 million end user upgrade events.
  ⇢ Followed Agile methods to break complex projects into simpler ones.
  Using my physics background, I break up hard problems into smaller easier problems. My favorite organizational tool to do this is a Trello Board. My sprints are typically a week long with a showcase at the end of the week.
  ⇢ Communicated with companies to complete contracts and meet deadlines.
  On occasion, I have worked on contract to help another company cross the finish line. After listening and understanding the business requirements I have completed the work on time and according to the agreed upon compensation.
  ⇢ Negotiated contracts with affiliate resellers and promotional groups.
  By seeking out additional digital store fronts to carry and promote Chimp Studios software, I was able to increase YoY profit by 19%.

• Co-Owner, Red Brick Apartments - Aug/2016 - Oct/2018 - Bloomington, IL

  ⇢ Analyzed market rents to maximize gross income.
  Increased gross income by 5.5% by strategically raising below market rents while leaving at market rents alone.
  ⇢ Evaluated cost/benefits of different housing upgrades.
  Compared carpet, laminate, and vinyl flooring choices with a goal of maximizing longevity versus the cost of materials and labor. After reducing each material choice into a ratio of viable working life divided by the total cost, it was simple to pick a winner based off numerical data. A similar data driven decision process was made for other choices.
  ⇢ Managed a portfolio of residential units and fostered working relationships.
  Something as simple as listening and promptly addressing tenant complaints can and has had a positive impact on company profit by reducing tenant turnover and preventing minor maintenance issues from turning into bigger ones.

• Lead Mac/iOS Developer, FIPLAB Ltd. - Oct/2011 - May/2012 - London, UK - Remote

  ⇢ Led development of top ranking apps such as Disk Doctor, NotesTab, and Battery Health used daily by millions of customers.
  I reported directly to C level executives and developed macOS and iOS apps. I provided daily updates of project progression and worked to make the geographical differences disappear (there was a 6 hour time difference due to remote work status).
  ⇢ Provided tier 3 customer support.
  If the first tier customer support could not resolve the issue and tier two CS had questions or needed confirmation then I would be brought into the escalation ladder. If a CS ticket reached tier 3 it was usually a code level bug that would need to be replicated, found (via extensive debugging), and patched.
  ⇢ Advised executives on future projects and timelines.

• Previous Experiences:

  ⇢ Summer intern for State Farm Inc., 9 weeks in 2009.
  My primary responsibility as test analyst was the porting of a visual basic 6 developer tool to java. The tool integrated several MS Access databases to generate data dynamically. At the end of the internship I trained my full-time replacement in the usage and maintenance of the tool.