Senior PHP Developer – Fortix

Currently working at Fortix, a leading SaaS for helping companies manage all aspects of their business. The software is complex and completely customisable by the end-user and is used by thousands of staff members each day.

My main role at Fortix is leading in the team in overhauling the UI/UX. I've done this by bringing in Vue 3 in some systems and then started implementing Alpine.js for the remainder of the legacy system to try and modernise it. This also included replacing the previous builder with Vite and updating the build steps in the CI/CD. I'm currently in the middle of replacing the current CSS stylesheets and implementing a proper naming convention and rules to ensure streamlined frontend development.

I still work with PHP 8 each day, building components for businesses to use. Due to the customisation available to the user, each component must be built to be highly efficient and documented meticulously.

Another part of my role is helping the DevOps team, ensuring that the systems run smoothly 24/7. We currently operated a clustered system powered by Nomad under the hood. I also help with building new Docker containers for new microservices.

Technology Used:

PHP 8.2, Nomad, Vue, Alpine.js, Vite.

Lead PHP Developer – crowdfunder.co.uk

I was employed as the Lead PHP Developer for the UK's leading crowdfunding platform to develop the startup's website and build new features required for business' development. I lead the developers in the team, helping to develop their skills through code reviews and planning out tasks to push them further. I also onboarded all the new developers, helping them get up to speed with the system.

I was developing and maintaining high demand payment systems used throughout the site which were used by hundreds of thousands of people per day and taking over £1 million per day.

As part of the job, I've worked on building an API which was used to power a 3rd party site for a nationwide competition last year called VOOM. Due to the competition, it was crucial to make it extremely scalable with high performance. We achieved this by running the system on AWS.

I was also tasked with making the system run more efficiently by moving the expensive tasks to a queue based approach. It included using Redis and Resque to manage the queue. We also write 1000s of unit tests to ensure we don't release bad code.

Technology Used:

PHP 7, Twig, AWS, HTML5, LESS/CSS, Grunt, Gulp, Javascript, Docker, Redis, Resque, Stripe, PayPal, GoCardless, Unit Testing, Restful API, Agile Development, MySQL, Mail APIs (Mandrill).

Lead Developer & Co-Founder – Instachimp

Instachimp is a company created through the love of imagery and technology to put their own unique twist on live event photography. As the lead developer at Instachimp, it was my responsibility and challenge to invent a huge scalable web based system capable of handling 1000s of photos an hour at multiple venues around the world.

I've developed a whole system which finds Instagram & Twitter images matching the event's hashtag and prints them within seconds right in front of the end user. Based on a realtime API system, it feeds into a local server on site at the event. The local app, built in Node JS, processes and prints the images whilst displaying them onto 100s of TVs around the premises simultaneously.

As the technical lead of the business, I managed all the servers and ensured they were secure and functioning correctly. I planned, deployed and fine tuned the MYSQL and NoSQL (elasticsearch, Redis, memcached) databases.

Due to the nature of the business, I had to handle incoming client requests to the system and manage the team to get large updates out fast and reliably, sometimes within hours.

Being the Co-Founder, I was also in charge of teams around the business and managed the day to day running of the business. This has helped me grow a great sense of how different departments work and has been a skill I've used everywhere since to help bring different departments together. I also worked directly with clients arranging events and any last minute technical changes that could be required to finalise a deal.

During my time at Instachimp, we gained a number of high profile clients such as Domino's Pizza, Redbull and Plymouth University whilst printing over 20,000 photos.

Technology Used:

PHP 7, Twig, HTML5, LESS/CSS, NodeJS, Electron, Websockets, Restful API, Javascript, Docker, Redis, Resque, RabbitMQ, Unit Testing, Rackspace, CentOs, Agile Development, MySQL, Mongo, Mail APIs (Sendgrid & Mailgun).

Lead Developer – Tickethive

During 2012 I developed a new ticketing platform called Tickethive. The system provides tickets to some of the most popular Cornish events such as The Masked Ball and during it's first 6 months sold just over 9,000 tickets turning over £500,000.

Tickethive was built from scratch using PHP and includes a backend system built on Laravel, fully scalable API and deployable distributed software. The backend system allows the users to create/edit events, monitor ticket sales and analytics, embed an iframe into their own site and manage ticket allocations.

Tickethive also has a barcode scanning system which is a desktop app built in C++ deployed on site at events such as Love Riot. I've been in charge of managing teams of 15 people to efficiently but effectively get 4000 people into the event arena whilst checking that their tickets are valid.

Technology Used:

PHP 5.6, Laravel, Lumen, Blade, HTML5, LESS/SASS/CSS, NodeJS, Restful API, Javascript, Vagrant, Rackspace, Memcache, CentOs, MySQL, Mail APIs (Sendgrid & Mailgun).

Web Designer/Developer – Rolling Sixes

Whilst working for Rolling Sixes, I worked on a number of website projects that required site designs and custom functionality. My tasks here included managing projects and directly contacting customers to collaborate on projects and ideas. My biggest project at Rolling Sixes was developing an RFID system built in C which I used to manage 400 members of staff at a large festival in 2012. The system monitored the hours and whereabouts of the staff which allowed us to accurately calculate wages and areas that required more staff.

Web Designer/Developer – Pixedo

After I left college I worked as a freelancer developing websites and custom systems. These include sites based in the UK and Holland ranging from bands and DJs to a charity websites.

In this time I also managed the client's servers providing maintenance, support, disaster recovery and security.

Technology Used:

AWS, CentOs, NGINX, MySQL, Docker, Vagrant, CPanel, Jenkins, PHP 5.6-8, Laravel, Lumen, Blade, Twig, HTML5, LESS/SASS/CSS, NodeJS, Restful API, Javascript, Vagrant, Docker, Rackspace, Memcache, Mail APIs (Sendgrid & Mailgun).