Jeff Knutson
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Phoenix, AZ, United States
Toptal member since April 12, 2014
Jeff is a full-stack developer and entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience working with Fortune 100 companies, such as 3M, Best Buy, Target, Thomson Reuters, and medium/small businesses. He's led development teams and also acted as a strong individual contributor. Most of his experience has been in the Microsoft technology space, but in recent years, Jeff has primarily worked on React and Angular to sharpen his front-end skills.
Portfolio
Experience
- C# - 15 years
- JavaScript - 10 years
- Git - 8 years
- React - 5 years
- Visual Studio Code (VS Code) - 5 years
- Windows PowerShell - 4 years
- ASP.NET Web API - 2 years
- Angular - 2 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
Git, JavaScript, C#, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), React, React Redux, Angular
The most amazing...
...thing I've built is a prototype (2001-2003 at Microsoft) together with another developer, which was shown to Bill Gates!
Work Experience
Full Stack Developer
GateKeeper Systems Inc.
- Built a new customer-facing application for airport safety monitoring and reporting.
- Created application structure and primary developer.
- Helped bring a new application into BETA. The launch is coming soon.
Principal Good Guy
Good Guy Consulting
- Provided custom software consulting, development, and training services for the financial, IT, insurance, legal, and retail industries.
Senior Full-stack Developer
Cargill
- Served as a senior developer on the Cargill Digital Experience Platform (DXP) team.
- Owned the development of enterprise-level React applications and component libraries and enforced code reviews.
- Mentored junior developers and acted as a technical reference for various DXP teams.
Full-stack Developer
BlueStem Brands, Inc.
- Acted as a full-stack developer on the tools team for Bluestem.
- Owned the development and support of internal web applications/tools used to publish content to the various Bluestem retail web properties.
- Awarded with Bluestem Teamwork, a quarterly award given to acknowledge teamwork and accomplishment.
Full-stack Developer
Brightpeak Financial
- Developed web applications allowing applicants to apply for savings accounts and term life insurance policies with Thrivent Financial.
- Built a back-end API using C#, MSTest, Moq, Bitbucket, Jenkins, and ASP.NET Web API to collect health questionnaire information. This system allowed customers to provide their own health information for an insurance application instead of having a customer service representative collect it on the phone.
- Provided production support for Brightpeak web applications. Developed PowerShell scripts to automate common support tasks, wrote ad-hoc SQL queries to read/update support data in SQL Server, and maintained/enhanced several C# WinForms support tools.
Adjunct Faculty
Divergence Academy
- Taught a three-day Windows PowerShell course. The curriculum is based on the book Learn Windows PowerShell in a Month of Lunches by Don Jones.
Front-end Developer
Best Buy
- Re-platformed the Best Buy Mexico website (http://www.bestbuy.com.mx) to the in-house platform. Helped migrate the Best Buy Global Header/Footer from English to Spanish, built the store details page, and built portions of the product display page. Other responsibilities included production support, release management, creating Jenkins jobs for builds/running automated tests, and interviewing new candidates.
- Built Geek Squad on Demand (GSoD). In September 2016, Best Buy piloted GSoD in the Cleveland and Atlanta markets to help consumers schedule in-home tech repair and support for their consumer electronics. I worked directly with the business stakeholders and designers to implement an MVP.
- Developed the front end for a new page on bestbuy.com containing content relevant to post-purchase (product manuals, Geek Squad Protection plan details, product specifications, and links to Geek Squad support options). Version 1.0 of the product support page went live in November 2016, just prior to the holiday season and was built as an MVP geared towards televisions only. Technologies used: JavaScript, Backbone.js, Mocha, Git, Webstorm, Grunt, and Jenkins.
Full-stack Developer
Dow Jones
- Developed/supported the Barrons.com site.
- Prototyped customer self service for the Wall Street Journal using React and Node.js.
Application Security Specalist
Best Buy
- Performed security assessments/penetration testing.
- Provided technical guidance, consulting, and governance for Best Buy's customers, workforce, partners, and other business stakeholders regarding security best practices.
- Handled code reviews for security defects.
- Wrote ad-hoc PowerShell scripts to perform specific security assessment actions.
- Maintained and enhanced internal websites used for doing penetration testing and generating reports.
Developer
Cache Financial Services
- Provided .NET and JavaScript development expertise for a provider of mobile remote check deposit capture services for small to midsize financial institutions.
- Supported and added new features to an internal website used by the bank’s back office to review/approve/decline uploaded checks.
- Participated in peer reviews for all code check-ins.
Web Development Consultant
Thomson Reuters
- Helped build new features for the WestLaw Next suite.
Web Development Consultant
Best Buy
- Helped develop and support the In-Store and Online TradeIn applications, for the Secondary Markets Division. The application was used by the BestBuy employee whenever a client brought in a device for trade-in, to determine the value of the item brought in.
- Created a PowerShell module to automate code submission for static code analysis to Veracode.
- Created the initial threat model and worked with the internal Best Buy Enterprise Information Protection team to identify, classify and mitigate threats.
Team Lead/Consultant/Developer
Thomson Reuters
- Was a tech lead/developer for the FirmCentral and Concourse products, for the Thomson Reuters Legal division.
Developer/Consultant
Dow Jones
- Helped build a data import tool to get Telekurs data into the Dow Jones system.
Consultant
Thomson Reuters
- Documented WestLawNext™.
Principal Consultant
Magenic Technologies
- Developed a financial calendar web service, ETF center, ETF screener, and live usage statistics.
Senior Consultant
Inetium
- Developed for a license plate printing manufacturing system, a loan processing system, and a price quoting system.
Software Engineer
Agribank
- Developed an automated build and deployment system.
Software Engineer
Microsoft
- Collaborated with a peer to prototype a plug-in UI. The leadership team demonstrated this prototype to Bill Gates!
Senior Consultant
Magenic
- Developer an internet portal for the energy management division.
- Mentored fellow developers on the Gateway.com team.
- Developed for the Target intranet portal which delivered a news feed, rotating ads, and a stock ticker.
- Contributed to the development of a tire retreading manufacturing system.
Consultant
PowerCerv
- Developed setup applications for PowerCerv’s main product lines (PowerTOOL 5.0, PADLock 5.0, PCAdmin 5.0) using InstallShield.
Consultant
Consultants in Computer Software
- Developed for a packaging management system using Microsoft Access 2.0.
Programmer
Schwan's
- Developed for an order placement system used in the Schwan’s call center as well as a commission calculation system.
Programmer/Analyst Intern
BlueCross BlueShield of North Dakota
- Developed for Medicare Part B claims processing.
Experience
WestLaw Next
http://next.westlaw.com/Best Buy TradeIn
http://tradein.bestbuy.comEducation
Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems
Minnesota State University - Moorhead - Moorhead, MN
Certifications
Certified Ethical Hacker V7
EC-Council
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, Web API, Backbone.js, ActiveRecord, Sinon.JS, Chai, ODBC, React Redux, jQuery, Node.js
Tools
Microsoft Visual Studio, GitHub, Git, TFS, Karma, Bitbucket, Visual Studio 2012, MSTest, Visual Studio 2010, Castle Windsor, Visual Studio, IBM Security AppScan, NMap, Visual Studio 2015, Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), Visual SourceSafe, InstallShield, Microsoft Access, ISPF, JCL, Subversion (SVN), Notepad++, WebStorm
Languages
C#, JavaScript, TypeScript, XSLT, HTML5, XML, Visual Basic 6 (VB6), Java, Active Server Pages (ASP), HTML, VBScript, SQL, PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, COBOL, CICS, T-SQL (Transact-SQL), CSS
Frameworks
Jasmine, Windows PowerShell, NUnit, ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web API, .NET, ASP.NET, Angular, AngularJS, .NET 4, Jest, ASMX, NHibernate, ADO.NET, Express.js
Paradigms
Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Test-driven Development (TDD), Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), Agile Software Development, REST
Platforms
Windows Server, Windows, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Burp Suite, Kali Linux, Microsoft
Storage
Microsoft SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2000, IBM Db2
Other
Ajax, IIS, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), Visual Studio 2005, SOAP, Web Services, COM, DCOM, TSO, Internet Information Services (IIS)
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