Jonathan Sterling, Developer in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Jonathan Sterling

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Full-stack Developer

Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Toptal Member Since
May 2, 2017

Jonathan is a software engineer with over a decade of commercial experience. He's currently the head of technology and product at a multi-billion-dollar global conglomerate where he serves as Group CTO. Jonathan holds board positions at an HFT company and a B2B SaaS company, which he co-founded and grew to profitability before fully handing over the day-to-day responsibilities to staff.

JavaREST APIsSpring BootAmazon Web Services (AWS)AgileFull-stackJUnitMySQLUbuntuLinuxService-oriented Architecture (SOA)GitPostgreSQLAmazon EC2Continuous Deployment

Portfolio

A Global Tech Company
Amazon Web Services (AWS), SQL, Oracle, Vue, Spring Boot, Java
A Global B2B SaaS Company
React, Spring Boot, Java
An HFT Company
Blockchain, FIX Protocol, WebSockets, REST, PostgreSQL...

Experience

Java - 7 yearsFull-stack - 6 yearsAmazon Web Services (AWS) - 5 yearsSpring Boot - 5 yearsPython - 3 yearsNode.js - 2 yearsReact - 1 year

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Sublime Text 3, Slack, Git, IntelliJ, Ubuntu

The most amazing...

...was being the group CTO, building a new team, and stabilizing the core product, doubling the annual revenue to $1+ billion within six months.

Work Experience

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), SQL, Oracle, Vue, 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, 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, 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, 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

AlgBet

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

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

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

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

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 "a@a.com" and the password "tester".
Image of Exploring the Bear Case of the Cryptocurrency Bubble publication
Publication

Exploring the Bear Case of the Cryptocurrency Bubble

https://www.toptal.com/finance/fintech/cryptocurrency-bubble

Languages

Java, JavaScript, Python, Bash, Objective-C, SQL, Bash Script, 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, React Router, React Redux

Paradigms

REST, Agile, Continuous Integration (CI), Service-oriented Architecture (SOA), Continuous Deployment, Microservices, Scrum, Kanban

Platforms

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

Tools

Gradle, Apache Tomcat, Git, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Apache Maven, Jenkins, IntelliJ, Slack, Sublime Text 3, Karma, Webpack, Babel, Webpack 2, NGINX, Vagrant, Apache

Storage

MySQL, Spring Data, PostgreSQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), MongoDB

Other

Full-stack, Single-page Applications (SPA), Selenium Page Object, Cryptocurrency, WebSockets, Ajax, Cloud Foundry, Cloudflare, FIX Protocol

2012 - 2016

Bachelor of Science Degree with Honors in Computing Science

Huddersfield University - Huddersfield, UK

APRIL 2018 - PRESENT

Blockchain Specialization

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