Projects | Skills | Professional Experience | Education | Hobbies | Contact
Aspiring full stack junior developer; amateur background in developing video-game plugins (+7 years); professional background in healthcare advertising (+5 years). Recently graduated from the Makers Academy bootcamp; excited to join a friendly, ambitious team that will support me as I continue to grow and improve as a developer.
Through my self-taught hobby of developing video game plugins (aka mods), I discovered a love for wrestling with a programming language to bring ideas into reality. Dissatisfied with healthcare advertising, I left my Account Director role in 2021 to develop my hobby-acquired skills into a more fulfilling, stimulating and challenging career in software development.
After several months of self-directed learning, I joined Makers Academy to improve my amateur coding skills for use in a professional context, and to learn new skills and languages to make me a desirable candidate for a future employer. I am now ready for a junior developer role. I am determined and hungry for the challenge, and I am so excited to get started.
| Name | Description | Tech/Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Heyday | Makers Academy final team project: a web-app that helps groups find a day to meet up, resolving availablilty and preferences while emphasising privacy and ease-of-access. | JavaScript, React, Node, Jest, Express, EmailJS, HTML, Sass, Heroku, Vercel |
| Switchwatch | A stopwatch web-app specifically designed for users who have several tasks to complete and record their time on, and need to switch between quickly | JavaScript, React, Node, HTML, CSS |
| Skyrim modding | Scripts written for my various mods for the video game, Skyrim | Papyrus, Skyrim Creation, TES5Edit Kit |
During my time at Makers Academy, I completed several pair-programming and solo challenges. The ones I found particularly educational and enjoyable are listed here.
| Name | Aim | Description | Tech/Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acebook | Group engineering challenge: use a framework to develop a full-stack web-app | A simple social media web-app based on Facebook which allowed users to create a basic profile and comment on other users' profiles | Ruby, Ruby on Rails, SQL, PostgreSQL, Rspec, Rubocop, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap |
| Banking | Solo technical challenge: write well-crafted code to solve a technical problem | Wrote easily readable, understandable, and editable code for making transactions with a bank account using a REPL. Coach reviewed, passed on first attempt and then refined | JavaScript, Node, Jest, Prettier |
| Bowling | Solo challenge: solve a technical problem and convert code from one language to another | Created a scoring card for a bowling game using Ruby (a deceptively difficult task requiring solid planning and execution), and then converted to JavaScript | JavaScript, Ruby, Node, Jest, Rspec |
| Thermostat | Pairing challenge: create and test-drive a simple JavaScript program using Node | We created a thermostat that could be interacted with via the command line and utilise API calls from OpenWeather to receive and display real-world info | JavaScript, Node, Jest, APIs |
| RPS Game | Solo challenge: create a game that is playable in a web browser | Tasked with creating a Rock, Paper, Scissors (RPS) style game. Finished quickly and was able to stretch myself to a 16-item game (instead of the 3-item RPS game) | Ruby, Sinatra, Capybara, Selenium Webdriver, HTML, CSS, Rspec, Rubocop |
- JavaScript (React, Node, Express, Jest)
- Ruby (Rails, Sinatra, Rspec, Capybara)
- Papyrus (Skyrim Creation Kit)
- SQL (PostgreSQL, TablePlus)
- HTML, CSS, Sass
- Heroku
- Git, GitHub, Command-line
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; understanding and responding to client goals and issues was an essential part of my role at LAB. In one example, I rapidly responded to a prospective client's verbal and written briefs with an insightful, well-written, comprehensive action plan of such an exceptional standard that she skipped the usual procurement process and hired LAB outright, replacing her then-current agency with no pitch required. During the Makers Academy final project, excellent team communication made pair-programming much easier and helped us resolve different (sometimes conflicting) ideas for the web-app's final functionality.
When the medical review system, Veeva Vault, was launched across the healthcare advertising industry, I quickly adapted to it and developed processes for my agency, LAB, to use it. This allowed LAB to approve advertisments faster than other agencies. Clients recognised LAB as Veeva experts, and I was asked personally to teach other agencies how to use it. Similarly, during my final project at Makers, my fast uptake of both ReactJS and Express (which I learnt myself as they were not taught on the course) helped me plan the structure of our web-app and tackle the hardest coding challenges of the project under a tight timeline.
Proven track record of combining different skillsets to solve problems. In one example while at LAB, I saved a colleague's account from leaving our agency by single-handedly solving a multidisciplinary presentation problem that required my skills in graphic design, writing and science literacy. In my hobby of video game plugin development, I developed my own methods for solving code errors, which I have since improved at Makers Academy to become a competent debugger.
Proofing skills noted as impressive by clients while at LAB. Detail-orientation has been essential to my success in video game plugin development, helping me create comprehensive content changes supported by fully-documented descriptions. At both LAB and Makers Academy, I have found my attention to detail invaluable in producing robust plans, predicting (and avoiding) issues, and spotting mistakes.
A small creative agency specialising in healthcare communications and advertising, including digital solutions for pharmaceutical sales teams and design of web materials, including websites, microsites and advertisements.
Relevant experience listed below.
Account Director, April 2021
• Project management: project planning, finance, internal resource management, digital platform management
• Client relationships: strategy development, tactic development, day-to-day communications and weekly meetings
Senior Account Manager, Oct 2018 - Mar 2021
• Established myself as the in-agency expert on Veeva Vault, a content management platform partnered with Salesforce used throughout the UK pharmaceutical industry. Educated other agencies on my processes for using this software, recognised as best practice by clients
• Developed a reference management process for regulatory review (used in combination with Veeva Vault), now used by several agencies
• Created promotional emails, including development of creative copy, imagery, and HTML code
• Personally designed client website, including layout design, wireframes, and creation of written/visual content
• Won two new accounts during the COVID-19 pandemic
Account Manager, Dec 2017 - Sep 2018
• Re-designed pitch templates in collaboration with design department to look more professional and aesthetically pleasing; this improved pitch performance and helped end a long period of not winning pitches
• Began proofing HTML files in CLM deployment packages to check correct links, and edited HTMLs where necessary
Senior Account Executive, Jan 2017 - Nov 2017
• Improved Agency efficiency and transparency by creating automated financial, planning and tracking documents
• Improved Agency proofing capabilities by creating an Excel- based proofing process, saving time and improving performance
Account Executive, Oct 2015 - Dec 2016
• Client-facing within first month
• Solo client-facing meetings within first year
Case Handler, Jan 2015 - Sep 2015
First paid role out of university; refined communication skills
in a short-term, intensive contract
Makers Academy - Sep 2021 - Jan 2022
A highly selective 4-month software engineering bootcamp:
- Emphasis on Test-driven development (TDD), pair-programming and agile workflows, as well as emotional intelligence and XP values
- Focus on becoming "language agnostic" and able to adapt to new languages with ease
- Encouraged independant learning and problem-solving
- Specifically taught Ruby (with Rspec) and JavaScript (with Jest)
- Full stack web development, including web frameworks like Ruby on Rails and ReactJs
University of Manchester - BSc Hons, 2011 - 2014
- 2.1 in Stem Cell Biology
- First class science communication project
- Course-rep three years running
Sherborne School - 2005 - 2010
A Levels: Biology (A), English (A), Chemistry (B)
Modding - my main hobby is creating mod plugins for the video game, Skyrim. I've enjoyed some success in this, with over 1.6 million unique downloads across 8 mods. I am currently working on my 7th update of my most popular mod, Zim's Immersive Artifacts
Dog walking - I'm lucky enough to live between three parks in South London, so grabbing a coffee and taking the dog for a walk is a great pleasure of mine
Cooking - my favourite thing to do on a Sunday is spend half the day creating an amazing roast dinner, preferably followed by a glass of wine and a movie
To get in touch, please send me a message via GitHub or my LinkedIn page.