Chris Wood, Developer in London, United Kingdom
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Chris Wood

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Chris is a skilled architect and developer with 20 years of commercial experience working for startups and small software-based businesses at all levels, ranging from an individual software engineer to a CTO. He's designed systems, led teams, and managed infrastructure to meet business goals.

Portfolio

Notably News
Python, PostgreSQL, PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers...
Fable Homes
Elixir, Phoenix, JavaScript, NGINX, Git, PostgreSQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS)...
Meticulous
TypeScript, AWS Lambda, Git, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, Back-end, SQL...

Experience

Python - 20 yearsJavaScript - 10 yearsPostgreSQL - 10 yearsJava - 6 yearsReact - 5 yearsElixir - 5 yearsTypeScript - 4 yearsNode.js - 4 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Git, Vim Text Editor, Linux, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

The most amazing...

...product system I have developed is the Tab payments platform: it has transacted over $100 million with merchants in over 30 countries.

Work Experience

Founder and Full-stack Developer

2024 - PRESENT
Notably News
  • Developed an LLM data pipeline to process notable events regarding well-known persons.
  • Designed automated code generation to provide reusable summarisation functions at scale, minimizing LLM calls for repetitive inputs.
  • Developed a consumer-facing website to bring products to market.
Technologies: Python, PostgreSQL, PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models (LLMs), Full-stack Development, OpenAI, Back-end, SQL, JSON REST APIs, Cloud, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Prompt Engineering, HTML, Tailwind CSS, Design, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), CSS, AI Content Creation, Beautiful Soup, Scrapy, Product Management

Founder and CTO

2021 - PRESENT
Fable Homes
  • Designed and built a combined tenant and property underwriting engine with a mix of public and private data.
  • Developed an on-demand property portal scraper using JavaScript and TypeScript.
  • Built a reactive consumer web app for application and property submission.
Technologies: Elixir, Phoenix, JavaScript, NGINX, Git, PostgreSQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Full-stack, Architecture, Large Language Models (LLMs), SDKs, Technical Writing, Fintech, API Integration, Full-stack Development, Web Scraping, Back-end, SQL, JSON REST APIs, Data Scraping, Cloud, HTML, Tailwind CSS, Storybook, Webflow, Security, Design, Data Encryption, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), CSS, Scraping, Scrapy, Playwright, Proxy Servers, Airtable, Google Sheets, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Real Estate, Dashboards, Product Management

Lead Engineer

2021 - 2021
Meticulous
  • Transformed a pre-market prototype to production standard for first customers.
  • Deployed a production system to AWS Lambda and AWS Step Functions.
  • Performed additional R&D, including academic literary review, across competing clickstream-capture approaches.
Technologies: TypeScript, AWS Lambda, Git, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Node.js, Back-end, SQL, JSON REST APIs, Cloud

Lead Engineer

2020 - 2021
Commissary Club (70 Million Jobs)
  • Built an experimental Elixir/Phoenix web application prototype for a specialist social network.
  • Developed and productionized a mobile-first specialist social network app using React Native (TypeScript, with a Python back end).
  • Performed a product role, translating requirements from multiple stakeholders.
Technologies: Elixir, Phoenix, React Native, TypeScript, Python, Full-stack, Architecture, SDKs, Full-stack Development, Back-end, SQL, App Store, JSON REST APIs, Cloud, Next.js, HTML, Tailwind CSS, Webflow, Figma, Design, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), MERN Stack, CSS

Founder and CTO

2015 - 2020
Tab
  • Co-founded a payments and bookings platform for travel businesses in emerging markets (primarily Latin America), backed by Y Combinator. The system has transacted tens of millions with merchants in over 30 countries.
  • Designed and built (on AWS and Heroku) a multi-currency payment/accounting system (Python, PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy) with a gateway cost optimization algorithm and rule-based fraud/misbehavior detection.
  • Implemented a sophisticated product pricing engine, supporting variable seasons, consumer categories, and external iCalendar inputs (pandas).
  • Introduced and managed the development of client web applications (Flask, React), APIs (Falcon), and iOS and Android apps (Swift and Java, experimental React Native).
  • Hired and managed a team of five developers in London and remotely.
  • Sold to initial customers in person in Guatemala tourist centers.
Technologies: Java, Swift, React, Flask, SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL, Python, iOS, Android, React Native, Git, Heroku, Pandas, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Architecture, Full-stack, Technical Leadership, SDKs, Technical Writing, Fintech, API Integration, Stripe API, Full-stack Development, AWS Lambda, Back-end, SQL, App Store, Google Play Store, JSON REST APIs, Data Scraping, Cloud, HTML, Security, Design, Data Encryption, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), CSS, Beautiful Soup, Google Sheets, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Dashboards, Product Management, Payment APIs

Django and Back-end Developer

2013 - 2014
YunoJuno
  • Delivered back- and front-end features for version 2 and 3 relaunches of YunoJuno.com.
  • Improved handling, messaging, and automation of the system monitoring freelancer availability.
  • Improved the search function, including by freelancer email address.
  • Implemented functionality for one-click importing of references from LinkedIn and email.
  • Rebuilt the freelancer search results view (using responsive HTML) to feature a new user scoring and static ranking metric.
  • Streamlined static asset compilation and introduced public CDNs to boost page load times.
  • Introduced a graph-based social network layer to support teams of freelancers.
Technologies: JavaScript, Django, Python, SDKs, Back-end, SQL, JSON REST APIs, HTML, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), CSS

Full-stack Developer (via Toptal)

2013 - 2014
CrisisCleanup (via Toptal)
  • Made wide-ranging front- and back-end improvements to the open-source codebase, including a complete redesign of the admin interface.
  • Added support for the management of multiple disasters (hurricanes, floods, wildfires) within a single application instance.
  • Added functionality for importing existing data (by flexible CSV).
  • Added CMS features for use by non-technical administrators.
  • Implemented an auto-complete search feature that functions parallel to data entry to reduce duplicates.
  • Migrated the entire project to GitHub from the previous RCS.
Technologies: JavaScript, Python, Google Maps, Vue, Google App Engine, Full-stack, SDKs, API Integration, Full-stack Development, Back-end, SQL, JSON REST APIs, HTML, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), CSS, Dashboards

CTO

2008 - 2011
Revector
  • Architected and delivered two major iterations of the automatic telephone call generation platform, which generated hundreds of thousands of telephone calls per year from across the globe to detect international bypass/refile.
  • Developed a web-based business intelligence add-on for enhanced client reporting.
  • Opened and headed up the London office. Hired and managed a team of three software developers (plus interns).
  • Liaised with clients, GSMA members, and 3rd-party companies for R&D and product white-labeling.
  • Wrote initial marketing materials and coordinated trade show presences.
Technologies: MySQL, PHP, Linux, GSM, RTP, SIP, Java, Python, QlikView, Selenium, Redis, Full-stack, Architecture, Technical Leadership, SDKs, Technical Writing, API Integration, Full-stack Development, Back-end, SQL, SOAP APIs, Security, Design, Data Encryption, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Business Intelligence (BI), Google Sheets, Dashboards

Software Developer

2007 - 2008
Dothomes
  • Redeveloped and operated all web crawlers (Python, MySQL) to cover around 500,000 properties in the UK.
  • Crawled USA properties at the time of launch, covering approximately 1.5 million properties.
  • Designed and deployed competitor analysis in the UK and US.
Technologies: MySQL, Python, Web Crawlers, Web Scraping, Back-end, SQL, Data Scraping, HTML, Scraping

Founder

2006 - 2007
Codical
  • Founded an experimental venture to create an environment for hosting funded, self-supported open-source and "mixed-source" software.
  • Undertook a broad literature review across software, economics, and IPR.
  • Prototyped a code tracking system developed in Python and an incentive model.
  • Wrote and pitched business and marketing plans to interested parties.
Technologies: MySQL, Python, Less, Redis, Back-end, SQL, Design, Data Encryption, WebApp, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX)

Cambridge Auction

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cambridgeshire/content/articles/2005/05/18/cambridge_auction_feature.shtml
Organized a charity auction in Cambridge. I oversaw website development, print media, and remote bidding. I also stage-managed the evening, leading a team of 12. The event raised over £20,000 and was continued in later years.

Speech Summarization with Syntactic Sentence Detection

An academic project to assist text summarization by detecting sentences' probabilistic analysis of syntax using the RASP parser.

The resulting software was able to put sentence markers back into Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll: "Twas bryllyg and ye slythy toves did gyre and gymble in ye wabe *STOP* All mimsy were ye borogoves and ye mome raths outgrabe."

Python Testing Crawler

https://github.com/python-testing-crawler/
A crawler for automated functional web application testing: a low-cost, high-coverage approach to software testing. It was developed as an open-source project based on previous success in commercial settings.
2004 - 2005

Master's Degree in Computer Speech, Text, and Internet Technology

Cambridge University - Cambridge, UK

2001 - 2004

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Cambridge University - Cambridge, UK

Libraries/APIs

SQLAlchemy, React, Node.js, Stripe API, Beautiful Soup, Playwright, Pandas, Google Maps, Vue, PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, SOAP APIs

Tools

Git, NGINX, Hidden Markov Model, Figma, Google Sheets

Languages

Python, HTML, JavaScript, TypeScript, Elixir, SQL, CSS, Swift, Java, Less, PHP

Frameworks

WebApp, Django, Flask, React Native, Phoenix, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Scrapy, Selenium

Paradigms

Business Intelligence (BI)

Platforms

Amazon Web Services (AWS), Heroku, Linux, QlikView, Windows, Google App Engine, AWS Lambda, iOS, Android, MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Webflow

Storage

PostgreSQL, Redis, MySQL, MongoDB

Other

Full-stack, Architecture, Technical Writing, API Integration, Full-stack Development, Web Scraping, Back-end, JSON REST APIs, Machine Learning, Technical Leadership, Artificial Intelligence (AI), SDKs, Fintech, OpenAI, Data Scraping, Cloud, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Prompt Engineering, Security, Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), MERN Stack, Scraping, AI Content Creation, Proxy Servers, Airtable, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Dashboards, Product Management, Payment APIs, SIP, RTP, GSM, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Speech Recognition, Linear Algebra, Neural Networks, Computer Science, Web Crawlers, Large Language Models (LLMs), Chatbots, App Store, Google Play Store, Storybook, Data Encryption, Real Estate

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