Gerard O'Neill, Developer in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Gerard O'Neill

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Gerard is a senior full-stack software engineer with over a decade of experience building web applications. Originally from the US, his background includes working for Etsy and Trello, a subsidiary of Atlassian, and he now resides in the Netherlands, working as a full-time freelancer. Gerard is most comfortable working with Laravel and React but can quickly adapt to any tech stack and is eager to take on new challenges.

Portfolio

Vegan Hacktivists
JavaScript, TypeScript, API Integration, APIs, OAuth, MySQL, PHP, CSS...
Trello
TypeScript, JavaScript, Express.js, React, Backbone.js, MongoDB, HTML5, GitHub...
Etsy
PHP, MySQL, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML5, GitHub, JSON, Git, HTML...

Experience

  • JavaScript - 12 years
  • Software Engineering - 11 years
  • MySQL - 11 years
  • PHP - 11 years
  • Laravel - 6 years
  • React - 6 years
  • TypeScript - 5 years
  • GraphQL - 4 years

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

React, Laravel, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL, MySQL, GitHub, JSON, Git, HTML, Next.js, TALL Stack

The most amazing...

...project I've developed is a volunteer-driven translation platform with a review system, which I built single-handedly.

Work Experience

Director of Engineering (Volunteer)

2019 - 2023
Vegan Hacktivists
  • Spearheaded all technical matters for the organization, such as data analytics and tracking, internationalization, DevOps and deployment, and choosing tech stacks.
  • Provided direction on non-technical matters for the organization, like determining the value of projects, recruiting and onboarding team members, and creating processes to facilitate collaboration between members with different skill sets.
  • Built a translation platform with multiple user types, a review system, and on-site and email notifications.
  • Led groups of volunteer developers on multiple projects, including advising on tech stacks and project architectures, providing feedback through code reviews, and contributing directly to the codebase.
  • Developed a coding challenge used to determine the skill level of developers interested in joining the team.
Technologies: JavaScript, TypeScript, API Integration, APIs, OAuth, MySQL, PHP, CSS, Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, React, Laravel, Laravel Mix, Laravel Forge, Laravel Homestead, Back-end, Back-end Development, Front-end, Front-end Development, Laravel Livewire, Inertia, Software Engineering, jQuery, HTML5, GitHub, JSON, Git, HTML, Web Development, Web App Development, Intercooler.js, Blade Templates, Ajax, OAuth 2, Software Development, Development, Web, SQL, Webpack, Web Architecture, CSS3, Full-stack, Unit Testing, REST APIs, API Design, Databases, Software Design, Software Architecture, Leadership, Architecture, LAMP, PHP 7, Relational Databases, Sass, Web Applications, Full-stack Development, Alpine.js, TALL Stack

Staff Software Engineer

2016 - 2021
Trello
  • Built a highly reusable set of React components for rendering Trello boards and cards for use in the Trello web app and other projects.
  • Developed many user-facing features for Trello's web client, ranging from card functionality for all users to tools for enterprise administrators.
  • Rebuilt many existing features and components to migrate them from CoffeeScript and Backbone.js to TypeScript and React.
Technologies: TypeScript, JavaScript, Express.js, React, Backbone.js, MongoDB, HTML5, GitHub, JSON, Git, HTML, Web Development, Web App Development, Back-end, Front-end, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, API Integration, APIs, GraphQL, Software Engineering, CSS, jQuery, Ajax, Software Development, Development, Web, Webpack, Web Architecture, CSS3, Full-stack, Redux, Unit Testing, REST APIs, API Design, Databases, Software Design, Software Architecture, Architecture, Web Applications, Full-stack Development

Full-stack Software Engineer

2013 - 2016
Etsy
  • Built a prototype to allow sellers to advertise their products on Facebook.
  • Worked on a complete overhaul of the website's navigational menus, which led to gains across the board, from increased sales and search engine traffic to decreased bounce rates.
  • Implemented ads in Etsy's Android app, boosting yearly revenue by roughly $3 million.
  • Participated in a complete rebuild of the company's advertising platform, Promoted Listings.
Technologies: PHP, MySQL, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML5, GitHub, JSON, Git, HTML, Web Development, Web App Development, Back-end, Front-end, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, API Integration, APIs, Software Engineering, Ajax, OAuth 2, OAuth, Software Development, Development, Web, eCommerce, SQL, Web Architecture, CSS3, Full-stack, Unit Testing, REST APIs, API Design, Databases, Software Design, Software Architecture, Architecture, LAMP, PHP 7, Relational Databases, Sass, Web Applications, Full-stack Development

Front-end Web Development Instructor

2014 - 2015
General Assembly
  • Taught two 10-week courses to around 30 students, covering basic web technologies, six hours a week.
  • Developed an entire curriculum from scratch with graded assignments and a final project for the students' end-of-the-course assessment.
  • Held office hours to help students who required additional assistance.
Technologies: JavaScript, Bootstrap, jQuery, HTML, API Integration, HTML5, CSS, Software Engineering, GitHub, JSON, Git, Web Development, Web App Development, Front-end, Front-end Development, Ajax, Software Development, Development, Web, CSS3, Web Applications

Web Application Developer

2012 - 2013
Thrillist
  • Implemented a real-time monitoring dashboard for a remote machine that hosts Thrillist’s authentication API, displaying the status of critical services used by the API.
  • Developed a tool to allow site admins to scan through authentication API logs in order to aid in debugging.
  • Built a thorough test suite for Thrillist's revamped authentication API, which affected millions of users' accounts upon deployment.
Technologies: Backbone.js, JavaScript, PHP, CakePHP, MySQL, Bootstrap, jQuery, Ruby, Sinatra, Git, HTML, Web Development, Web App Development, Back-end, Front-end, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, API Integration, APIs, Software Engineering, CSS, HTML5, GitHub, JSON, Ajax, Software Development, Development, Web, SQL, Web Architecture, CSS3, Full-stack, Unit Testing, REST APIs, API Design, Databases, Software Design, Software Architecture, Architecture, LAMP, Relational Databases, Web Applications, Full-stack Development

Online Translation Platform

https://veganlinguists.org
I was the sole developer of a content translation service that enables people to submit content and request translations in several of the over 30 languages supported by the platform. On this platform, translators can translate content into other languages they speak, and other translators can review the translations to ensure their quality and readability. There is complete transparency for all involved parties through the lifecycle of the content being translated through visible status updates, platforms, email notifications, and comments.

Mobile-first Conference Web App

A web app built with Laravel and React to drive the engagement of attendees of a 5-day conference. It was created specifically for mobile devices and designed to look and feel like a retro video game, with activities and tasks to keep conference attendees engaged. These included scavenger hunts based on QR codes, answering trivia questions, voting on user-submitted content, a referral system to encourage more users to join, and submitting art drawn on the website.

Custom Shopify Store

https://clayandcaridad.com
A handmade Shopify earring shop with a theme built from scratch. It is fast, full-featured, and highly customizable. I worked as the sole developer of this shop, with no prior Shopify experience before creating it.

Vegan Educational Program

https://veganbootcamp.org
An educational program and community that kickstarts and supports people looking to shift to a vegan diet and lifestyle. I built the first iteration of the platform, a project that spanned over six months. The platform included several courses, each consisting of lessons and quizzes. Upon completing a course, users were awarded points they could trade for coupons provided by partnering organizations and businesses.

The website also included a referral system, allowing users to obtain points by getting others to register, complete with a dashboard to see how many users they brought to the site. This project was part of the organization's larger one involving another website, so I implemented an OAuth provider that made user statistics and account details accessible. All aspects of the website, from coupons and course contents to color and background images, were manageable using the custom-built admin panel.

Competitive Expense Tracking Website

The project was built using Ruby on Rails and Ember.js and was designed to encourage users to save money. They could create groups and invite friends and family to join. The website would then host monthly competitions to see who could spend the least. The project was live between 2016 and 2020.

Facebook Messenger Marketing Platform

https://www.getpaloma.com
I was one of three developers who built Paloma's MVP, a platform that marketers use to connect with potential customers through Facebook Messenger. I took over the project started by two developers and brought it across the finish line. One of the biggest tasks I worked on was building a feature that allowed marketers to set up automated chat responses, which included the ability to ask customers questions and respond accordingly.
2009 - 2013

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

Libraries/APIs

React, Node.js, Backbone.js, jQuery, Laravel Homestead, Inertia, REST APIs, JSON API, Ember Data, Facebook API

Tools

GitHub, Git, Webpack, Microsoft Excel

Languages

TypeScript, GraphQL, PHP, CSS, JavaScript, HTML5, HTML, Intercooler.js, SQL, CSS3, PHP 7, Sass, Ruby, Python

Frameworks

Laravel, Tailwind CSS, Laravel Livewire, Bootstrap, Laravel Mix, OAuth 2, Next.js, Alpine.js, Redux, Express.js, CakePHP, Sinatra, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ember.js, Flask

Paradigms

Web Architecture, Unit Testing

Platforms

Web, LAMP, Shopify

Storage

MySQL, JSON, PostgreSQL, Databases, Relational Databases, MongoDB

Other

Software Engineering, Web Development, Web App Development, Back-end, Front-end, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, API Integration, APIs, OAuth, Laravel Forge, Blade Templates, Ajax, Software Development, Development, eCommerce, Full-stack, API Design, Software Design, Software Architecture, Leadership, Architecture, Web Applications, Full-stack Development, TALL Stack, Vite, Ember CLI, Slate

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