Rich Cookson

Brought in to fix ongoing issues with a web site providing custom PDF data sheets for bespoke light installations.

• Making fixes and adjustments to a complex Angular application and its FireBase backend
• Investigating search engine visibility problems and making improvements to gain greater traffic

Working as a technical consultant and developer for a WooCommerce site providing language courses for medical professionals.

• Carrying out weekly review and installation of plugin updates for WordPress
• Advising staff on issues with payment processes as required
• Setting up payment testing mechanisms

Implemented the UI for a MVP of a new eCommerce site using Mantine, Next.js and Storybook.

• Customising Mantine components and composing further components to fit UX wire-frames provided
• Built out pages and routes using the new Next.js App Router
• Worked with back-end engineer, coordinating daily on progress and advising on integration

Worked on multiple projects involving SCORM and Next.js

• Created cop-timeline.wearetilt.com, a one page timeline of the COP climate change conference history
• Implementing a boilerplate for the creation of LMS courses using Next.js
• Reworked a Laravel backed assessment tool into a SCORM course

Front end developer on a project to create a dashboard app, displaying a number of charts and statistics monitoring roll-out and communication of devices for a telecommunications company.

• Developed the React app in StoryBook for rapid development while the back-end was being worked on
• Used React Query to consume the multiple API's required by the app
• Created a number of charts based on customised Victory Charts components, and also bespoke charts as SVG components
• Carried out demonstrations of progress to internal team at Hugo & Cat as well as to stakeholders at the client company thorough sprints

In charge of the management and ongoing development of a Sharepoint site creation framework based on Hugo static site generator, JavaScript, PowerShell scripts and the Sharepoint API, for a multinational pharmaceutical corporation.

• Managed development on improvements to the initial framework to improve structure and usability of the scripts and code
• Produced components in to allow rich features such as site search, user challenges, quizzes and other custom functionality
• Moved development from an old jQuery stack to modular ES6 vanilla JavaScript once IE 11 support was dropped
• Developed and wrote rich documentation for all features and components utilising the framework itself
• Worked directly with a range of project managers at Tilt and with the stakeholders at the end client

Worked on two projects. One to finish up a set of sites for a global PR agency, and another to implement client feedback on a style guide for an entertainment corporation

• Carried out general bug fixes and improvements on a Wordpress multi-site set up in final stages of the project
• Implemented client changes in the Fractal based style-guide, focused mainly around a complex vanilla JavaScript filtering component, and including adding functionality to support multiple languages

Carried out baseline performance analysis and recommended a course of action to decrease perceived and actual load times of a complex legacy web application for a major financial corporation.

• Set up SpeedCurve and configured scripts to analyse different views within the application to allow performance to be monitored constantly
• Carried out basic image and web font optimisation strategies saving approximately 40% in static asset size pre-caching
• Created a code splitting script, which separated pre-authentication and post-authentication CSS. This allowed the creation of a prototype loading a minimal CSS payload for user registration and login views, reducing the initial pre-cached CSS payload from 3.2MB to 420kB
• Investigated and recommended techniques to preload JavaScript and the remaining application CSS in the background using dns-prefetch and pre-connects among other techniques

A simple one page site for a new technology consultancy powered by Wordpress.

• Developed the front end of the sites from scratch as a bespoke Wordpress theme
• Constructed custom Gutenberg blocks for the page using the Advanced Custom Fields plugin
• Connected the site to the clients internal communications tool allowing tight integration of the contact form and live chat to their workflow

Reworking three Drupal websites to use Wordpress, while retaining look and feel as well as functionality.

• Developed front end of the sites from scratch as Wordpress themes
• Architected Custom Post Types and Custom Taxonomies
• Constructed custom Gutenberg blocks and other functionality using Advanced Custom Fields
• Set up and documented local development environment

Worked on two projects. One to assist in incorporating a complex legacy web application into a modern site for a large financial firm, and another to reverse engineer a store locator application to make modifications

• Aided lead developer in working with US and India based management and development teams to integrate the legacy application into the more modern site
• Utilised Docker to mock up original server infrastructure used by the store locator application so modifications could be made

Took over development of numerous content micro-site builds for Samsung Backstage, a portal for sales staff to learn about Samsung's range of mobile devices.

• Audited existing micro-site code which was based on Node, Gulp and Bootstrap
• Improved tooling and framework for micro-sites to improve reusability and optimise page performance
• Supported lead front end developer and Moodle developers on the redesign of Samsung Backstage

Lead developer, organizing a team of 3 front end developers, creating an on-boarding portal and associated sites for a large multinational professional services client.

• Created initial tooling stack based on Node and Gulp and set guidelines for code best practices in the team
• Carried out code reviews and mentored a junior team member
• Worked closely with CMS developers to integrate produced templates into the Laravel backend

Responsible for development of a Vue.js based learning application based on Lumesse internal framework.

• Set up a Vue.js web app based on an internal framework, coding custom components and integrating existing ones
• Constructed a complex single page scrolling animation using GreenSock
• Fixed bugs and made content adjustments to several other applications

Working as a senior software developer, I was responsible for developing and expanding several internal software projects, as well as aiding with client work.

• Led a project to create a content organisation application using React, Node, Express and MongoDB
• Customised and extended the REST API of a headless Wordpress multi-site installation, providing content to custom front end interfaces built with Express and Handlebars
• Expanded and improved the same Wordpress sites content editing functions using ACF Pro
• Reverse engineered existing web applications, fixing bugs and creating technical documentation for them
• Mentored a junior developer and carried out code reviews.

Took over responsibility for the marketing and community sites for Starling Bank while a new permanent developer was hired.

• Worked with the marketing team on Advanced Custom Fields customisations and updates to the Wordpress based Starling Bank site
• Advised and aided on performance and SEO optimisation improvement work
• Implemented changes and fixes to the Discourse community site

A short contract to help cover the maintenance of existing client sites and aid with the implementation of the companies rebranding.

• Worked on updates to multiple Wordpress sites using plugins such as Timber, Advanced Custom Fields and alternative code structures such as Bedrock
• Partnered with a designer to implement the company rebrand on the intranet, and their blog Pegasus Pulse - improved the layout and responsive code

Brought in to cover holiday leave, I worked on Wordpress site builds for two client projects both of which are now live.

• Utilised the Advanced Custom Fields plugin amongst others, to create rich, reusable content modules in Wordpress
• Created front end templates using PHP and the Wordpress template hierarchy
• Implemented responsive layouts from designs provided in Adobe XD
• Worked closely with other developers on these projects to ensure work was carried out efficiently and to deadline

Working on Futurebrand’s style guide application, based on Craft CMS.

• Created Twig responsive layouts for new sections of the application from Sketch designs in Zeplin

Continuing the rolling redesign of the University’s site, this time focusing on the complex course information pages.

• Produced the initial course template from Sketch designs utilising Foundation 6 components and custom code where necessary, and refined them based on UX testing
• Carried out site performance optimisation, removing and refactoring legacy code as necessary
• Upgraded the site core to the latest version of Foundation 6 to take advantage of new responsive components

Working on Futurebrand’s style-guide application, based on Craft CMS.

• Updated Grunt to separate existing jQuery based JavaScript code from new React based components
• Reorganised SASS code to make implementation of new brand styles an easier process
• Implemented new brands and reworked some Twig templates to allow custom features

Replacing the lead front end developer midway through the project, I completed the construction of components based on Bootstrap 3 and accompanying style-guide.

• Led a small team of two other front end developers in continuing the build and carried out code reviews
• Worked with the project manager to organise tasks and attended daily Scrum remotely, utilising tools such as Slack to keep in touch with all participants in the project
• Reorganised deployment of components and style-guide using Springloops and management of the project Git repository

Principal front end developer working on templates for a rolling redesign of the University site focused on improving recruitment of new students.

• Upgraded core code to Foundation 6 and reorganised code to create new components based on the atomic design methodology
• Reworked legacy JavaScript to be more modular and utilise Foundation components more readily
• Implemented new designs based on a responsive, mobile first perspective

Created a complex animation to show the purpose of a publishing application utilising Greensock JavaScript animation library.

Built several possible versions of a new responsive navigation system for Wallpaper.com for UX testing, with final result being deployed. I also carried out maintenance work on other Time Inc. properties.

• Worked with Vagrant based development environment and built skills in setting up Vagrant VMs from scratch
• Utilised Jenkins and Git in a Continuous Integration environment for updating sites with fixes and enhancements