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Jonathan Sterling, Full-stack Developer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Jonathan Sterling

Full-stack Developer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Member since April 9, 2017
Jonathan is a software engineer with over a decade of commercial experience. He's currently the head of technology and product at an organization where he serves as Group CTO. Jonathan holds board positions at an HFT company and a B2B SaaS company, both of which he co-founded and grew to 9-figure profitability before fully handing over the day-to-day responsibilities of his teams.
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Portfolio

Experience

Location

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Sublime Text 3, Slack, Git, IntelliJ, Ubuntu

The most amazing...

...thing was joining an org as the group CTO, building a new team, and stabilizing the core product—doubling the annual revenue to $1+ billion within six months.

Employment

  • CTO

    2019 - PRESENT
    A Global Tech Company
    • Stabilized and grew the product offering and doubled the number of countries the products are offered in, doubling revenues to >$1B within 6 months.
    • Oversaw the company's technology and product departments, managing a team of directors, and hundreds of employees.
    • Hired 60+ employees across half-a-dozen countries.
    • Integrated with numerous third-party payment providers, SMS providers, data feeds, and analytics tools.
    • Enforced best practices for all of the company's security concerns.
    Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS, SQL, Oracle, Vue.js, Spring Boot, Java

  • Co-founder | Board Member

    2019 - PRESENT
    A Global B2B SaaS Company
    • Wrote the entire back-end codebase from scratch.
    • Managed a team of developers to create an MVP.
    • Directed the product decisions.
    • Hired world-class talent to take over day-to-day work.
    • Closed B2B sales in global markets.
    Technologies: React, Spring Boot, Java

  • Co-founder | CTO

    2018 - PRESENT
    An HFT Company
    • Built the company with my co-founder from nothing to more than $1 million of profit in less than six months.
    • Ensured the orderly running of the company's technology.
    • Participated in high-level business strategy discussions.
    • Managed teams of software developers and operations staff.
    • Traveled to conferences around the world to represent the company, closing numerous 6-digit and 7-digit B2B deals.
    • Managed client relationships.
    Technologies: Blockchain, Financial Information Exchange (FIX) Protocol, WebSockets, REST, PostgreSQL, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Pandas, Python

  • Senior Software Engineer

    2017 - 2018
    An HFT Company
    • Managed a team of four developers—ensuring that deadlines are met for the business's priorities.
    • Developed high-frequency-trading (HFT) solutions for the cryptocurrency market (primarily with Java 8).
    • Created custom trading algorithms for novel/cutting-edge financial instruments.
    • Integrated with various cryptocurrency exchanges' APIs in order to perform algorithmic trading.
    • Implemented advanced, cross-exchange arbitrage systems.
    Technologies: Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Node.js, Financial Information Exchange (FIX) Protocol, Java

  • Freelance Software Engineer

    2017 - 2018
    JS Software Solutions, Ltd.
    • Developed full-stack web applications for clients with various technologies; including Java (Spring Boot) and JavaScript (Node.js and React).
    • Configured and managed the environments and deployment pipelines of high-traffic, load-balanced, autoscaling websites, and APIs; primarily with AWS and Jenkins.
    • Consulted with startups on architecture and how to implement robust software development life cycles with Agile best practices.
    • Created various websites and mobile applications to generate passive income while also learning new technologies and programming paradigms.
    Technologies: JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Android, React, Node.js, Java

  • Java Developer

    2017 - 2017
    William Hill
    • Developed Java (Spring) web applications used in betting terminals across thousands of William Hill stores.
    • Modified and debugged Node.js and React codebases.
    • Utilized TDD, pair programming, continuous integration (CI), and other best practices in an Agile work environment.
    • Configured intercommunicating microservices to decouple responsibilities and allow for horizontal scaling.
    • Integrated with various external services including OpenBet and BetFair.
    Technologies: React, Node.js, Spring, Java

  • Java Developer

    2016 - 2017
    Sky
    • Utilized the Java Spring framework to develop web applications and APIs that are hit millions of times per day.
    • Deployed software and managed environments with Amazon Web Services (EB, EC2, RDS, S3, and so on).
    • Experimented in a wide range of languages including Node.js, React, and AngularJS.
    • Maintained and contributed to internal open source projects.
    • Promoted continuous integration (CI), continuous delivery (CD), test-driven development (TDD), pair programming, code reviews, and general best practices in an Agile environment.
    • Managed the full lifecycle of software used by millions of customers—from requirements capturing and estimation through to long-term maintenance and support.
    Technologies: Jenkins, Amazon Web Services (AWS), React, Node.js, Spring, Java

  • Software Developer

    2014 - 2015
    Jagex Games Studio
    • Designed, developed, modified, tested, and deployed Spring MVC and Spring Boot Java web applications used by millions of users. Examples include a bespoke account management system and a player stats system.
    • Deployed remotely game server builds via a Unix terminal.
    • Analyzed and modified Bash and Python scripts for deployment and maintenance tasks.
    • Developed PHP plugins for websites.
    • Created automated Selenium regression tests that implemented the Page Object design pattern.
    • Utilized agile/scrum, Annotations, Generics, Git VCS, HTML, HTTP servlets and containers, Java EE, JBoss, JDBC, JSON, JUnit, OOA/D, Maven, REST, SQL, Subversion (SVN) VCS, and Unix/Bash scripting.
    Technologies: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Selenium, PHP, Python, Bash, WordPress, Jenkins, AWS, AngularJS, Java, Spring

  • Mobile Application Developer

    2013 - 2014
    Apps4Industry, Ltd.
    • Developed bespoke iOS and Android apps for SMEs.
    • Created and managed the company's website.
    • Produced marketing material, e.g., videos, ads, and so on.
    • Converted wireframes to fully operational applications.
    • Gathered requirements from customers.
    Technologies: CSS, HTML, Objective-C, Java

  • Director

    2012 - 2013
    First Class Creative, Ltd.
    • Developed WordPress websites for clients around the world.
    • Managed servers for SMEs (Apache/Nginx configuration, DNS setup, SFTP creation, and more).
    • Created desktop applications for letting agencies.
    • Managed social media for student-related businesses (bars, clubs, student sublets, and more).
    Technologies: WordPress, CSS, HTML, Apache, Nginx, Spring, Java

  • Web Developer

    2008 - 2012
    Freelance
    • Deployed websites for SMEs.
    • Managed web servers.
    • Designed web pages.
    • Modified legacy websites.
    • Advised SMEs on technology choices and hosting solutions.
    Technologies: JavaScript, CSS, HTML

Experience

  • AlgBet (Development)

    AlgBet is an algorithmic betting platform for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. I developed it using Spring Boot, basic HTML, and CSS. The back-end consists of two microservices—one for scraping data from various websites, and another for parsing that data into meaningful team ratings. The back-end services and front-end were deployed on AWS, although the site shut down after Valve banned the use of their APIs for betting software.

  • Block N Load (Development)

    At Jagex Games Studio, I worked in a team of four developers to produce Blocknload.com. It is a mixture of WordPress, AngularJS, and some back-end Spring Boot services. The same back-end services are also used by the Block N Load game client and servers. I developed the back-end services on my own and helped out with the front-end from time to time. I was also responsible for the deployment pipelines for the back-end services, as well as the Block N Load game servers.

  • Sky Pages (Development)
    https://www.sky.com

    At Sky, I was a core contributor to the internal Sky Pages platform which contains the majority of the web applications on Sky.com. I was responsible for improving the platform's speed, reliability, and maintainability. I also reviewed other developers' code and helped my colleagues to integrate their code with the platform. After working on the project for one month, I saved Sky an estimated $100,000/year in saved development time by converting a large Ruby integration test suite to JavaScript with WebDriver and Karma.

  • US Elections API (Development)
    http://election.news.sky.com/us-election

    At Sky, I was the lead back-end developer on a system that was used to input US election data and send it to Sky News International live on air. The back-end API was also utilized by the Sky News website and Sky Q set-top boxes. The service is hosted on AWS, and I set up all of the environments and deployment pipelines. The service is written in Java (Spring) and utilizes a PostgreSQL database.

  • League Reporting (Development)

    I developed a league reporting web application for Huddersfield's football (soccer) referees and league officials. Referees send in reports regarding teams' spectators, assistants, changing facilities, and more after each game, and the application generates stats for league officials. The link is to a replicated version with mock data. You can login to test the system with the email "[email protected]" and the password "tester".

  • Exploring the Bear Case of the Cryptocurrency Bubble (Publication)
    https://www.toptal.com/finance/fintech/cryptocurrency-bubble
    The arguments for a cryptocurrency revolution can tend to sway toward appearing more like get-rich-quick schemes than balanced debates. The regulatory risk overhang, constant scams, and technological immaturity of the movement mean that long-term success is far from certain. In this article, Jonathan Sterling addresses the other side of the argument: the bear case for a crypto future. He shines a light on the problems blighting cryptocurrencies and some remedies for them, drawing upon comparisons with historic bubbles, some centuries old.

Skills

  • Languages

    Java, JavaScript, Python, Bash, Objective-C, SQL, HTML, CSS, PHP

  • Frameworks

    Spring Boot, Mockito, JUnit, Spring JDBC, Spring ORM, Hibernate, Selenium, Redux, Spring, AngularJS

  • Libraries/APIs

    REST APIs, JMS, WebDriver, Spring REST, Stripe, Stripe API, Selenium WebDriver, React, Node.js, Pandas, Vue.js, React Router, React Redux

  • Paradigms

    REST, Agile, Continuous Integration (CI), SOA, Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), Continuous Deployment, Microservices, Scrum, Kanban, Financial Information Exchange (FIX) Protocol

  • Platforms

    Amazon Web Services (AWS), Nexus, Ubuntu, Linux, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, AWS EC2, WordPress, Blockchain, Oracle, Android, JBoss

  • Tools

    Gradle, Apache Tomcat, Git, AWS CloudWatch, Amazon SQS, Maven, Jenkins, IntelliJ, Slack, Sublime Text 3, Karma, Webpack, Babel, Webpack 2, Nginx, Vagrant, Apache

  • Storage

    MySQL, Spring Data, PostgreSQL, AWS S3, MongoDB, AWS RDS

  • Other

    Full-stack, Single-page Applications (SPA), Selenium Automation, Selenium Page Object, AWS, WebSockets, Ajax, Bash Scripting, CloudFoundry, Cloudflare, FIX Protocol

  • Industry Expertise

    Cryptocurrency

Education

  • Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Computing Science
    2012 - 2016
    Huddersfield University - Huddersfield, UK

Certifications

  • Blockchain Specialization
    APRIL 2018 - PRESENT
    Toptal

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