james cleveland

full stack / react native / devops

e-mail: jc@blit.cc
github: @radiosilence

Experienced polyglot engineer with a huge breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, working in multiple languages across a wide range of commercial frontend, backend, devops, and embedded contexts. Lives for problem solving and optimising, and thrives in the challenges of the London tech startup scene.

Communicating complex technical solutions and to stakeholders and fellow engineers in a way that they can relate to is also key to my approach, as if people can’t understand what’s happening, the most appropriate solution is unlikely to be reached.

Recently bolstered skillset in the areas of infrastructure, platform and CI/CD and IaC (devops), but as a natural creative, what drives me is a job where I wake up every day and go to work and build something interesting.

recent work

Senior Full Stack Engineer, Apolitical Apr 2024 — Aug 2024

Key Skills: Next.js, NestJS, React, Kubernetes, SCSS, TypeScript, JavaScript, Vite, Express

• Developed new features using Next.js and TypeScript, facilitating the migration to a new architecture.
• Created APIs and endpoints with NestJS and Next.js for improved functionality.
• Managed legacy JS code within React microservices.
• Resolved issues and enhanced performance of code deployed on Kubernetes.
• Enhanced and expanded existing CI/CD pipelines through GitHub Actions.

Senior Cloud Native Engineer, EngineerBetter Jan 2022 — Jan 2024

Key Skills: AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Azure, Concourse, Python, Go, CSPM, Cloud Foundry, BOSH

• Specialized in transforming cloud infrastructure for companies by adopting software development practices like continuous deployment, GitOps, IaC, and cloud-native approaches.
• Developed Kubernetes controllers in Go and created complex CI pipelines using Concourse, GitHub Actions, and GitLab pipelines.
• Led enterprise-level project transformations with a focus on manageability, scalability, and declarative workflows prioritizing reproducibility and drift resilience over GitOps.
• Implemented Cloud Security Posture Management policies and influenced enhancements to Azure Policy during a Microsoft Paddington office visit.
• Built code & deployment auditing tools using Python for enterprise clients.
• Contributed to open-source projects such as Kubernetes External Secrets Operator and assisted in the development of Compliance Framework, a verified CSPM tool.

Lead Full Stack / Mobile Engineer, Superbike Factory (Freelance) Jan 2021 — Apr 2023

Key Skills: React, AWS, TypeScript, React Native, API Gateway, AWS CDK, REST API, DynamoDB

• Developed an internal Android app for bike delivery drivers with job viewing, note and photo uploads, training features, and customer payment functionality.
• Utilized IaC, GitOps, CDK, Lambda, DynamoDB, and API Gateway to create an infrastucture that seamlessly integrated with existing systems.
• Used React Native, MobX-State-Tree, and AWS Amplify for the app.
• Established a comprehensive BitBucket Pipeline for deploying infrastructure, incorporating CloudFront outputs, and automating app builds with minimal configuration needed.
• Enhanced security measures in existing infrastructure code through rigorous auditing and patches.

Lead Developer, ROXi Jan 2020 — Jan 2022

Key Skills: React, Astro, AWS, TypeScript, React Native, Java, Swift, Node.js, WebSockets

• Developed key projects such as the “Companion App” from scratch in React Native, which utilized a unique approach for low latency LAN communication using native Android/iOS websocket server implementations on mobile devices due to constraints of running the TV app within a browser context.
• Implemented Java and Swift WebSocket libraries as native React Native modules and ensured thread safety on iOS using GCD.
• Created internal curation tools with MobX-State-Tree, Tailwind, and Vite
• Designed an eCommerce website with account servicing functionality using the Astro framework.

Lead Frontend Developer, Sapien Interactive (Freelance) Jan 2020 — Jan 2024

Key Skills: React, TypeScript, React Native, Node.js, Firebase, MobX-State-Tree, WebSockets

• Recruited by a former business partner to create a React Native app for both a startup venture and a revitalized project.
• Utilized MobX-State-Tree to enhance application performance through observables, ‘flows’, and minimal boilerplate.
• Transformed codebase from class components to functional components with mobx-react observers and hooks, transitioning from Redux to embrace MobX’s simplicity and elegance.

Senior Mobile Developer, Zopa Financial Services Jan 2018 — Jan 2020

Key Skills: React, TypeScript, React Native, Redux, Zeplin, Java, Kafka, Kotlin, Swift

• Led development of the credit-card section in Zopa’s app using React Native and Redux.
• Built native modules for the React Native app using Swift and Kotlin for brand new Stripe card issuing APIs.
• Enhanced skills in React Native through collaborative upkeep of a cutting-edge codebase with (then) modern patterns like hooks.
• Ensured high code quality through thorough testing with detox and @testing-library/react-native.
• Collaborated closely with analysts and backend developers, contributing to bug fixes and gaining deep understanding of financial products.

skills

TypeScript / JavaScript

TypeScript, Next.js, Astro, NestJS, Generics, async/await, Node.js, React Native (+ Swift/Kotlin/Java), Expo, React, Zustand, esbuild, bun, Redux, MobX-State-Tree, Flux, Immer, ReasonML, RxJS, Webpack, Vite, GraphQL, WebSockets, Socket.IO, ZeroMQ, Oao, Lerna, i18n, Axios, Express

Python

Typing, Django, Dataclasses, Flask, Twisted, Cython, Jinja2, Celery, pypy, pip (contributor), libev, uWSGI

Devops

Docker, Terraform, AWS, DynamoDB, Lambda, API Gateway, S3, ELB, VPC, Security Groups, AMIs, CloudFront, Cognito, CloudFormation, CDK, SES, SQS, CloudWatch, ECS, Fargate, EC2, EFS, RDS, Lambda@Edge, IAM, Route53, OAI, Apigee, CircleCI, Docker, Concourse, Mesos, Marathon, BitBucket Pipelines, GitHub Actions, Kubernetes, GitOps, Traefik, Unikernels, NanoVM, Azure Policy

Data

PostgreSQL, MySQL, Couchbase, MSSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Memcached, GraphQL, CouchDB

Styling

Tailwind, DaisyUI, CSS, Mobile First, Bootstrap, SASS, SCSS, LESS, Foundation, HTML5, XML

Other Languages

Go / Golang, Kotlin, Swift, Java, C# C++, C, x86 ASM, Qt, C30, bash, zsh, JSON, TOML, YAML, HCL

Misc

Git, SVN, BDD, TDD, Vagrant, Nginx, Apache, Agile, JIRA, Trello, Linux, Ansible

who is james?

I don’t see programming and computers as simply a job, but part of who I am. I think the world is going through very interesting times and it will be passionate programmers and thinkers that will play an important part in shaping it. My current hobbies are photography (events, portrait, street, travel), and I’m an avid cyclist (mainly fixed, but also gravel). When I lived in Brighton I often helped out with putting on shows and DJing club nights. I enjoy going out with friends and finding new bands or other weird and wonderful things to do. I am a keen follower of current affairs, especially from a technical standpoint, and think a lot about the world and am interested by new developments politically and scientifically.

less recent work

Senior Frontend Developer, On The Dot Jul 2017 — Jan 2018

Key Skills: React, TypeScript, Redux, Go, Node.js, API Gateway, Apigee, Auth0

Lead Frontend Developer, SmartFocus Mar 2015 — Jan 2017

Key Skills: React, AngularJS, Redux, Redis, Node.js, flux, WebSockets, Express, ZeroMQ, C++, C#, .NET, Qt

Lead Frontend Developer, Bootbag Jan 2014 — Jan 2015

Key Skills: React, CSS, Redux, HTML, flux, WebSockets

Technical Director, Links Creative Jan 2013 — Jan 2015

Key Skills: PHP, React, AngularJS, Django, jQuery, Node.js, Linux, nginx, Express, .NET, C#

Web Developer, Freelance Jan 2010 — Jan 2013

Key Skills: PHP, AngularJS, Django, jQuery, Node.js, Flask, Linux, nginx, Apache