Nicol Russell, Developer in Zürich, Switzerland
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Nicol Russell

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Nicol is a full-stack software developer with seven years of experience using technologies like React, Node.js, TypeScript, Next.js, and Figma. She is a jack of all trades with a keen interest in software development, entrepreneurship, and product design. Nicol takes pride in building solutions that solve real business problems with great attention to detail and quality.

Portfolio

Voicio
React Native, Expo, TypeScript, Jest, NativeBase
Gotchoo Inc
React, TypeScript, Node.js, AWS Amplify, Material UI, AmplifyJS, Next.js...
AlphaNeuro, Inc.
React, Node.js, JavaScript, Next.js, Python

Experience

React - 4 yearsJavaScript - 4 yearsNext.js - 4 yearsFigma - 3 yearsTypeScript - 2 yearsPostgreSQL - 2 yearsNode.js - 2 yearsHeroku - 2 years

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

Heroku, React, Node.js, PostgreSQL, TypeScript, JavaScript, Next.js

The most amazing...

...thing I've built is a personal finance management application called FinWise (Finwiseapp.io).

Work Experience

Front-end React Native Developer and Product Designer

2022 - PRESENT
Voicio
  • Designed new features for the mobile application using Figma.
  • Developed core features in React Native and Expo to deliver an MVP.
  • Worked in a small team and fast-paced startup. Took responsibility for the design process and front-end development process.
Technologies: React Native, Expo, TypeScript, Jest, NativeBase

Full-stack React Developer

2022 - PRESENT
Gotchoo Inc
  • Developed an admin dashboard and system for managing gift fulfillment.
  • Wrote integration tests for monitoring the application performance.
  • Created core consumer-facing features for gift delivery and selection.
Technologies: React, TypeScript, Node.js, AWS Amplify, Material UI, AmplifyJS, Next.js, Puppeteer

Full-stack Developer

2024 - 2024
AlphaNeuro, Inc.
  • Developed the front-end codebase from scratch using Next.js.
  • Designed new features using Figma and implemented MVP.
  • Integrated the front-end codebase with a Python server, implementing CRUD endpoints.
Technologies: React, Node.js, JavaScript, Next.js, Python

React Front-end Developer

2022 - 2022
Avantgarde Finance Ltd
  • Developed a responsive web application using Next.js and Tailwind CSS.
  • Added animation to the website using Framer Motion and native Tailwind CSS.
  • Built out native responsive components using React.
  • Tested and deployed the web application on a deadline.
Technologies: React, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Formik, Framer

Full-stack React and Node.js Developer

2022 - 2022
Breaking New Consulting Inc
  • Designed an authenticated application that featured video streaming and PDF loading and displays on the user side and an admin dashboard on the management system.
  • Developed a full-stack application that allowed children across the globe to read books together over video calls with embedded PDFs in the application.
  • Oversaw the launch process and conducted testing and deployment for the application.
Technologies: React, Node.js, Video Chat, Video Streaming, Next.js, WebSockets, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Semantic UI, Jest, Zod, Express.js, Figma

Front-end Web Developer

2022 - 2022
Hype Labs Inc.
  • Developed a dashboard from scratch using Next.js and TypeScript for a mesh networking and crypto product.
  • Designed the architecture for the dashboard to support over 100000 transactions.
  • Worked with an end-to-end team to test the delivery and integration of the mesh network.
Technologies: JavaScript, Front-end, TypeScript, React, CI/CD Pipelines, APIs, Node.js, WebSockets, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Lodash, Next.js, Material UI, Recharts

Co-founder and CEO

2021 - 2022
TechUp School
  • Designed and developed the marketing pages for the TechUp School website.
  • Developed an MVP learning management system for sharing resources with students.
  • Performed product management tasks to drive product vision.
Technologies: React, TypeScript, Node.js, Python, Heroku, HTML, CSS, Next.js, Git, Web Consulting, Netlify, Semantic UI, Figma, Miro

Freelance Software Engineer

2021 - 2021
Mindjoy
  • Redesigned and developed Mindjoy's marketing website using Figma and React–previously Vue.js.
  • Implemented tracking using Mixpanel and set up dashboards to track weekly user engagement.
  • Created the new design and implemented a revised sign-up flow for Mindjoy's users.
Technologies: React, Vue, Go, Mixpanel, Docker, Git, GitHub

Full-stack Software Engineer

2019 - 2021
OfferZen
  • Improved the model_view Ruby Gem used for model composable serialization—rubygems.org/gems/model_view.
  • Implemented Elasticsearch and GraphQL into the core platform's candidate search engine.
  • Mentored software engineers and helped them onboard into the product team.
  • Participated in the product team's social committee, responsible for ensuring the team was happy moving into a remote-first working environment.
Technologies: GraphQL, React, Ruby on Rails (RoR), MongoDB, Notion, Figma, Elasticsearch, React Apollo, Redux, Miro, Jest, JavaScript, Mongoid, Web UI Design, RSpec, Git, GitHub

Back-end Software Engineer

2019 - 2019
Allan Gray
  • Implemented features on the core internal transactions system that enabled clients to record their FICA–Financial Intelligence Centre Act–information.
  • Mentored and upskilled a junior software engineer in the team.
  • Dockerized the team's codebase and helped improve our CI/CD processes.
Technologies: Scala, GitLab, jQuery, Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Compose, Git, GitLab CI/CD, Jira, SQL

Full-stack Software Engineer

2016 - 2018
Jumo
  • Developed core platform's back-end and front-end features using Ruby on Rails.
  • Provided on-call support on a rotational basis which included weekly bug fixing duty.
  • Helped hire over 20 software engineers by performing technical interviews as part of the engineering recruiting initiative.
  • Worked with the development team to architect and build a new micro-service using Python and React.
Technologies: Python, Ruby on Rails (RoR), React, Flask, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Docker, Amazon EC2, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Heroku, PagerDuty, RSpec, Docker Compose, Flask-RESTful, Git, SQL

Software Developer Intern

2015 - 2016
Praekelt
  • Created an unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) application using JavaScript that allows users to query statistical data for a chosen location in South Africa.
  • Tracked and fixed bugs reported on the Trello Kanban board.
  • Worked with two other interns to ship and demonstrate our intern projects after six weeks.
Technologies: Python, Django, JavaScript, Node.js, JSON, State Machines, Open Source, USSD Technology, Git, GitHub

Indelo

Indelo is a software development and design agency I co-founded to help individuals and companies solve business problems through software. I was the lead front-end developer and project manager for most of the clients I worked with.

Some of the work I completed involved the following:
• Designing and building a video eventing platform, sendit.media, using Vue.js and Tailwind
• Software development for an edtech solution using Ruby on Rails
• Building various landing pages for small businesses

EasyEscrow

EasyEscrow is an online escrow service built to help South African consumers eliminate fraud. I was one of two full-stack software developers on the project. My contributions included designing and developing the marketing pages and doing development work on the API. The project was built using React, Node.js, and PostgreSQL and is currently hosted on Heroku.

Bel Ombre Cottages

https://www.belombrecottages.co.za/
I built a static website for a bed and breakfast in Cape Town, South Africa. The website was built using React.js, Netlify, Semantic UI, and CSS.
The website is a simple static website used to generate income for a small estate.

FinWise

http://finwiseapp.io
FinWise is a personal finance management application that helps people manage their money better. I built the marketing pages and various features across the stack, including creating designs using Figma.

Build With Nicol | Portfolio Website

http://buildwithnicol.com
I created a portfolio website that showcases some of my best work and gives clients an idea of my skills. I designed the website using Figma and developed it using Next.js and TypeScript.
2013 - 2016

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Business Computing

University of Cape Town - Cape Town, South Africa

MARCH 2022 - PRESENT

Product Management 101

Udemy

NOVEMBER 2020 - PRESENT

Basics of GraphQL with Ruby on Rails

Udemy

Libraries/APIs

React, Mongoid, Formik, Node.js, Vue, Flask-RESTful, AWS Amplify, jQuery, Lodash, Recharts, Zod, AmplifyJS, Puppeteer

Tools

Figma, Git, Miro, GitLab, RSpec, Docker Compose, Expo, Notion, React Apollo, GitHub, GitLab CI/CD, Jira

Languages

GraphQL, Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, HTML5, TypeScript, SQL, Go, Scala

Frameworks

Ruby on Rails (RoR), Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Express.js, React Native, Redux, Jest, Django, Flask, Material UI

Paradigms

Web UI Design, Unit Testing

Platforms

Heroku, Netlify, PagerDuty, Docker, Amazon EC2, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Mixpanel, Kubernetes, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Storage

PostgreSQL, JSON, MySQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), MongoDB, Elasticsearch, PostgreSQL 10

Other

Semantic UI, Front-end Development, Front-end, Full-stack, Full-stack Development, Product Management, Web Consulting, NativeBase, Gatsby, State Machines, Open Source, USSD Technology, CI/CD Pipelines, APIs, WebSockets, Video Chat, Video Streaming, Framer

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