Experience

Retail Dimension (RD.)

• New Zealand
• Retail
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Full Stack Developer

  • Sep 2019 - Present

  Full stack developer for the company Retail Dimension, maintaining a web app for their client, Countdown Ltd. It’s the app responsible for managing their in-supermarket TV ad players. Countdown execs can upload ad content, create playlists and schedules, then select the TV players to play those ads. The players themselves are Raspberry Pis connected to TVs. Location: fully remote. Techs: a bit of everything. Retail Dimension was built with Ruby on Rails. Its scheduling code got quite sophisticated, you could specify that a given playlist should repeat either X times, or until a given date, or forever, or only on certain days of the week. Writing custom SQL scopes implementing this got quite fantastically complex. Each TV players’ Pi OS used a NodeJS/Express code base to manage and process their unique local content. Show less



Conscience VC

• United States
• Venture Capital and Private Equity Principals
• 700 & Above Employee

• Full-stack Developer

  • Sep 2019 - Present

  Full-Stack Developer, for an in-progress personal project. I’m listing it here because (1) it’s quite substantial and hits most parts of a full web tech-stack, and (2) accompanies a series of articles explaining to beginner-to-intermediate developers just what goes into a full-sized web app. I can remember what being a beginner was like, some 10-15 years ago, and even then it was bloody daunting. I hate to think what it must be like for beginners these days. Incredibly complex! It wasn’t just learning all the millions of techs in isolation, it’s knowing how to make every tech play nicely with every other tech, and then cobble them together in fascinating and fun ways. That’s what the article series I’m writing aims to explain, and you can read the first one here: medium.com/@mikey.clarke/how-to-build-a-web-app-part-1-of-d2330bc34dea The code base itself is still very much a work in progress, but you can see it here: github.com/tyrant/gigsLocation: my home office.Techs: at time of writing, Ruby on Rails and its gem ecosystem. Some of the more major gems in use: HTTParty, Json-Schema, Webmock, Whenever, FactoryBot, Faker, Rspec, Database Cleaner, VCR. Lots and lots of them. Ask me about them, I’ll happily talk your ear off. Show less

• Web Developer

  • Nov 2006 - Present

• Web Developer

  • Dec 2016 - Apr 2017

  Personal project! It’s quite substantial, so I decided to include it in my work history. It’s a web app, written in Rails and React, which keeps tabs on the Upcoming Gigs page of several thousand of my favourite standup comedians, and displays their venues and gigs on a Google map. You can filter by comedian list and date ranges, then purchase tickets to their gigs. I’ve got a very very very early version up and running at sciencethisbitchup.com (and yes I know, silly URL, but I’d already registered it on a whim last year. I’ll register a more fitting one later.) Show less



Loyalty NZ

• New Zealand
• Advertising Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Full-stack Developer

  • May 2020 - May 2021

  Full-Stack Developer, working for Loyalty New Zealand - mainly Ruby on Rails, maintaining and expanding their million billion in-house tech stacks. They’re the people responsible for Flybuys. They have a lot of code. Location: partly remote; partly in their offices in Wellington. Techs: Ruby on Rails and its gem ecosystem; AWS and its devops ecosystem; tons of others too numerous to fully list here. Full-Stack Developer, working for Loyalty New Zealand - mainly Ruby on Rails, maintaining and expanding their million billion in-house tech stacks. They’re the people responsible for Flybuys. They have a lot of code. Location: partly remote; partly in their offices in Wellington. Techs: Ruby on Rails and its gem ecosystem; AWS and its devops ecosystem; tons of others too numerous to fully list here.



Minstry of Social Development, New Zealand Government

• Wellington & Wairarapa, New Zealand

• Frontend Web Developer

  • Dec 2018 - Jun 2019

  Front-end UI developer, reverse-engineering an Excel spreadsheet-based application, “Pathway to Employment”, used by WINZ offices to help connect unemployment benefit recipients with national employment opportunities. Front-end UI developer, reverse-engineering an Excel spreadsheet-based application, “Pathway to Employment”, used by WINZ offices to help connect unemployment benefit recipients with national employment opportunities.



Piczel.TV

• Greater Chicago Area

• Full Stack Developer

  • Jun 2018 - Nov 2018

  Full stack, part-time programmer for the anime/manga website Piczel.tv. It's a Rails/React app, each in its own separate repo. Full stack, part-time programmer for the anime/manga website Piczel.tv. It's a Rails/React app, each in its own separate repo.



cricHQ

• Spectator Sports
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Web Developer

  • Feb 2018 - Oct 2018

  Full stack, full-time programmer for CricHQ and its main Ruby on Rails app, “Phoenix”. It was gigantic. The tech stack itself had been around for about ten years, and at that point was over 700,000 lines of code. It was quite an education in maneouvring through deep, deep coding strata. Full stack, full-time programmer for CricHQ and its main Ruby on Rails app, “Phoenix”. It was gigantic. The tech stack itself had been around for about ten years, and at that point was over 700,000 lines of code. It was quite an education in maneouvring through deep, deep coding strata.



OpsTalent

• Poland
• Outsourcing and Offshoring Consulting
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Senior Web Developer

  • Nov 2017 - Feb 2018

  Front-end JS/React developer for the Polish company Opstalent Ltd. I helped develop a React app called “Routes Run Well”, for a client of Opstalent’s, a courier company working with FedEx, helping their couriers plan their routes and schedules. Front-end JS/React developer for the Polish company Opstalent Ltd. I helped develop a React app called “Routes Run Well”, for a client of Opstalent’s, a courier company working with FedEx, helping their couriers plan their routes and schedules.



MAJVALLEN TAXI AB

• Sweden
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Web Consultant

  • Oct 2017 - Feb 2018

  Performing consultancy work, technical advice, recommendations, upgrades and automated for the code base and tech stack powering majvallen.com, a taxi company in Sweden. Performing consultancy work, technical advice, recommendations, upgrades and automated for the code base and tech stack powering majvallen.com, a taxi company in Sweden.



Common Ledger

• Financial Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Web Developer

  • Jul 2017 - Nov 2017

  Full-stack Node.JS developer for commonledger.com, building Node and AWS projects alongside their other developers Full-stack Node.JS developer for commonledger.com, building Node and AWS projects alongside their other developers



Leumas Digital

• United Kingdom
• Marketing Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Web Developer

  • Jun 2017 - Nov 2017

  Full-stack Rails developer for the UK company leumasdigital.co.uk, building and maintaining a range of web applications as part of their programming team (devs, designers, sysadmins). Full-stack Rails developer for the UK company leumasdigital.co.uk, building and maintaining a range of web applications as part of their programming team (devs, designers, sysadmins).



100Danish Ltd

• Greater Boston Area

• Web Developer

  • Sep 2016 - Apr 2017

  I build a series of web apps for the web dev shop 100Danish, for their biotech clients, mostly ganesco.com, alongside a 5-10-strong team of other developers. It was never boring trying to build complex, sophisticated web apps on top of, of all things, Wordpress. Wordpress can work great for simple, straightforward content, but my goodness. I build a series of web apps for the web dev shop 100Danish, for their biotech clients, mostly ganesco.com, alongside a 5-10-strong team of other developers. It was never boring trying to build complex, sophisticated web apps on top of, of all things, Wordpress. Wordpress can work great for simple, straightforward content, but my goodness.



PledgeMe

• 115 Tory St, Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand

• Chief Tech Wrangler

  • Sep 2015 - Sep 2016

  Local, Wellington-based permanent role for the crowdfunding website PledgeMe. I was in charge of all things technical for www.pledgeme.co.nz – maintaining the existing Rails/jQuery code base; scoping out new features; building PledgeMe’s new lending campaign system, which you can see in action at https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/loans/5-eat-my-lunch-lunch-bonds Local, Wellington-based permanent role for the crowdfunding website PledgeMe. I was in charge of all things technical for www.pledgeme.co.nz – maintaining the existing Rails/jQuery code base; scoping out new features; building PledgeMe’s new lending campaign system, which you can see in action at https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/loans/5-eat-my-lunch-lunch-bonds



Globali Ltd

• San Francisco Bay Area

• Lead Programmer

  • Aug 2014 - Sep 2015

  Remote contracting role for the San Francisco startup Globali. Its goal is to be an aggregator UI for every major third-party hotel booking API. Travel agents can perform location-based searches, and view and book all relevant hotel rooms for their own clients, all in one place. It turned out to be a fantastic education in how to extract results from a truly horrible code base. I inherited about 100,000 lines of Javascript spaghetti code from a consultancy company who shall remain nameless. It had no documentation, no automated tests, and no comments. The high-level app architecture was actually not bad, but the low-level code was appalling, the kind of thing I might have written in my mid-teens. I don’t fault the incredibly junior developers involved for writing it, mind you, I fault the senior developers (if any existed) for not guiding them and managing them and performing good code reviews. Or the management for squeezing these juniors. Or both. Show less



New Zealand Shipping Federation

• Wellington & Wairarapa, New Zealand

• Web developer

  • Apr 2015 - Aug 2015

  I designed and built a complete replacement for the website nzsf.org.nz, from scratch. The current website at that address is the new one. I worked with the Shipping Federation’s board of directors, through several rounds of requirements-gathering and website-building, to ensure every need of theirs was met in the new site. It's a Ruby on Rails app, using the Comfortable Mexican Sofa CMS to allow every page's copy to be editable by the site's owners. I designed and built a complete replacement for the website nzsf.org.nz, from scratch. The current website at that address is the new one. I worked with the Shipping Federation’s board of directors, through several rounds of requirements-gathering and website-building, to ensure every need of theirs was met in the new site. It's a Ruby on Rails app, using the Comfortable Mexican Sofa CMS to allow every page's copy to be editable by the site's owners.



PathWrangler Ltd

• San Francisco Bay Area

• CTO, Lead Developer

  • Oct 2011 - Sep 2014

  It's an permanent, remote contracting role for the San Francisco startup PathWrangler. Its goal is to automate the boring logistical parts of adventure travel trips, leaving its users free to enjoy the fun bits. I wrote, maintained, upgraded and added features to the Ruby on Rails web-app/startup PathWrangler, at www.pathwrangler.com. Main developer, part-time designer, tech support for our clients, sysadmin. In charge of all things technical, basically. Client-facing bits: talking with many of our biggest clients, one-on-one meetings about exactly what their needs are, how to meet them, how best to improve the app, etc. Show less



Allfields Ltd

• Wellington, New Zealand

• Web developer

  • Jun 2011 - Aug 2011

  Web developer/contractor • Various fun tasks – an even mix of Rails applications and internal PHP framework editing, for the Ministry of Economic Development. • jQuery, Rails, PHP, Underscore.js. Web developer/contractor • Various fun tasks – an even mix of Rails applications and internal PHP framework editing, for the Ministry of Economic Development. • jQuery, Rails, PHP, Underscore.js.



Carnival.io

• Software Development

• Web developer

  • Jan 2011 - Jul 2011

  I do Rails and iPhone apps. Good ones, too! I do Rails and iPhone apps. Good ones, too!



Clarketus Ltd

• Wellington, New Zealand

• Web developer

  • Nov 2010 - Dec 2010

  Web development • Added features to, and maintained www.findmyflat.co.nz • Used Ruby on Rails, jQuery, Haml, Sass, Trademe API, Facebook Connect, Facebook API Web development • Added features to, and maintained www.findmyflat.co.nz • Used Ruby on Rails, jQuery, Haml, Sass, Trademe API, Facebook Connect, Facebook API



Catalyst

• New Zealand
• IT Services and IT Consulting
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Web developer

  • Feb 2010 - Sep 2010

  Helped write a replacement for WRMS, Catalyst IT's Work Request Management System. This involved reviewing the current version's PHP codebase, retching slightly, and writing a new version in Python - one with the same feature set, but far more easily maintainable. This used the Bottle web framework, written in Python, plus the database model layer framework SQLAlchemy, on top of a standard PostgreSQL database. I also used a fair bit of Ruby on Rails. Helped write a replacement for WRMS, Catalyst IT's Work Request Management System. This involved reviewing the current version's PHP codebase, retching slightly, and writing a new version in Python - one with the same feature set, but far more easily maintainable. This used the Bottle web framework, written in Python, plus the database model layer framework SQLAlchemy, on top of a standard PostgreSQL database. I also used a fair bit of Ruby on Rails.



OPMC Ltd

• Web developer

  • Jun 2009 - Jun 2010

  Constructing and modifying various websites maintained by the company, using (X)HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL Constructing and modifying various websites maintained by the company, using (X)HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL



The Guardian Vault Ltd

• Web developer

  • Nov 2008 - Dec 2009

  Wrote a Chinese translation for www.guardianvault.co.nz (the website construction, not the translation work), and performed SEO on the site, raising the position of the site on Google Search for the phrase "safe deposit box" from four to two. Wrote a Chinese translation for www.guardianvault.co.nz (the website construction, not the translation work), and performed SEO on the site, raising the position of the site on Google Search for the phrase "safe deposit box" from four to two.



Perweek Ltd

• Web developer

  • Oct 2008 - Apr 2009

  Constructing www.heystacky.com (currently not public). HTML; PHP; extensive use of JavaScript, AJAX and PrototypeJS; XML; XPath; Facebook API; XFBML; Eclipse; Dreamweaver. Constructing www.heystacky.com (currently not public). HTML; PHP; extensive use of JavaScript, AJAX and PrototypeJS; XML; XPath; Facebook API; XFBML; Eclipse; Dreamweaver.



Lawfuel Inc Ltd

• Web developer

  • Oct 2008 - Feb 2009

  Made improvements and bug fixes to www.lawfuel.co.nz Made improvements and bug fixes to www.lawfuel.co.nz



Yellow Fever Ltd

• Web developer

  • Nov 2008 - Dec 2008

  Wrote a administrator content management system for www.yellowfever.co.nz Wrote a administrator content management system for www.yellowfever.co.nz



Firstin Ltd

• Web developer

  • Jun 2008 - Dec 2008

  Maintaining and updating www.firstin.co.nz. Maintaining and updating www.firstin.co.nz.



Property Advocates

• Web developer

  • Oct 2008 - Oct 2008

  Wrote www.propertyadvocates.co.nz. Wrote www.propertyadvocates.co.nz.



Crescendo Multimedia Ltd

• Web developer

  • Feb 2008 - Mar 2008

  Built a custom content management system for the clients’ use.Used: PHP, CSS, MySQL, HTML, XAMPP and TinyMCE (JavaScript text editor).

• Web developer

  • Feb 2008 - Mar 2008

  Built a custom content management system for the clients’ use.Used: PHP, CSS, MySQL, HTML, XAMPP and TinyMCE (JavaScript text editor).



Capital Planning Corporation

• New Zealand
• Information Technology & Services

• Web developer

  • Nov 2007 - Feb 2008

  I worked on a series of client-oriented projects, using PHP and Javascript. I worked on a series of client-oriented projects, using PHP and Javascript.



Zoe Communications

• Web developer

  • Oct 2007 - Oct 2007

  Updated website www.arthritis.co.nz (currently down). Used PHP, HTML, MySQL, JavaScript and the Smarty template engine. Updated website www.arthritis.co.nz (currently down). Used PHP, HTML, MySQL, JavaScript and the Smarty template engine.



Capital Language Academy

• Web developer

  • Aug 2007 - Aug 2007

  Maintained and updated www.campbell.ac.nz. Used PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, and the Joomla CMS. Maintained and updated www.campbell.ac.nz. Used PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, MySQL, and the Joomla CMS.



Gusto Design and Print

• Web developer

  • Jun 2007 - Jul 2007

  Updated website www.caa.govt.nz from HTML3.2 to HTML4.0, making the site more CSS-friendly. Used HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Dreamweaver, ASP.NET Updated website www.caa.govt.nz from HTML3.2 to HTML4.0, making the site more CSS-friendly. Used HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Dreamweaver, ASP.NET



Jordan James Ltd

• Web developer

  • May 2007 - Jun 2007

  Updated www.academicscore.com. Used: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, XAMPP. Updated www.academicscore.com. Used: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, XAMPP.



2006 TIANZ Ltd

• Web developer

  • Nov 2006 - Nov 2006

  Updated www.tianz.co.nz. Used HTML, JavaScript, CSS and the Smart Alec CMS. Updated www.tianz.co.nz. Used HTML, JavaScript, CSS and the Smart Alec CMS.



Jack Motors Ltd

• Station Assistant

  • Jan 2006 - Jun 2006

  Sole charge of station with adjoining store. Customer service EFTPOS/Cash handling Merchandising Forecourt attendance Maintaining the POS computer systems Maintaining order and security Keeping the premises in order Sole charge of station with adjoining store. Customer service EFTPOS/Cash handling Merchandising Forecourt attendance Maintaining the POS computer systems Maintaining order and security Keeping the premises in order



McDonalds Paraparaumu Crew

• Customer service

  • Mar 2005 - Jul 2005

  EFTPOS/Cash handling Food Preparation and cleaning Drive through EFTPOS/Cash handling Food Preparation and cleaning Drive through



KFC Kilbirnie Team Member

• Customer service

  • Aug 2003 - Nov 2003

  EFTPOS/Cash handling Food preparation and cleaning EFTPOS/Cash handling Food preparation and cleaning



Kapiti Pak'n Save

• Grocery Assistant

  • Nov 2000 - Feb 2003

  Assisting supervisor on cash runs. Customer service Merchandising Assisted maintaining of back store computers. Frequently left in charge of department during supervisor absence. Assisting supervisor on cash runs. Customer service Merchandising Assisted maintaining of back store computers. Frequently left in charge of department during supervisor absence.