Peter Smith
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
For over 15 years, Peter has been working across a broad range of web technologies to build products that are intuitive, fast, responsive and secure. His experience means he can easily pick up new coding environments and his passion for the medium helps him work with other teams to plan, manage, and implement ambitious creative projects on time.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
JavaScript, Symfony, PHP, Laravel, WordPress
The most amazing...
...project I've built is an AI chatbot for Jamie Oliver on the Facebook Messenger platform.
Work Experience
Full-stack Web Developer
Analyst Hub (via Toptal)
- Completed this project to a very tight deadline to create a WordPress site with highly customized signup and tracking systems in place. The site is used to publish important financial market news so security and speed are crucial.
- Customized implementation of the "ultimate member" registration plugin.
- Created several custom plugins for tracking registrations and post views.
- Developed a custom theme and deployed the website in a short timeframe.
PHP Developer
Deloitte
- Served as the lead PHP developer working on updating, refactoring, and documenting a PHP portal that auditors use for collating secure client data worldwide.
- Updated a custom PHP framework to introduce modern tools like Docker, NPM, Composer, PHPUnit, and Doctrine Migrations.
- Replaced outdated mcrypt security library with open_ssl including signing and encrypting token data with keys and certificates.
- Performed code and security audits including implementing coding standards and creating a thorough documentation library.
Full-stack Web Developer
Jamie Oliver
- Developed a Facebook Messenger AI chatbot which can suggest recipes based on emojis powered by a Node/Express app.
- Fully rebuilt a single sign-in system integrating Salesforce Marketing Cloud and Blaize identity management application through a Laravel rest API.
- Created a new video destination which aggregates content from YouTube and JW.
- Managed the GDPR compliance process including consent audit tracking.
- Developed a custom reusable meal-planning hub built around a single-page web app and IDAM integration.
- Used Solr search to index content which powers interfaces across the site from the search page to chatbots and content hubs.
- Rationalized a lot of legacy projects and bringing content together into a single highly customized WordPress CMS.
Full-stack Web Developer
Nimbletank
- Led a team creating a tool for Santander which car dealerships could embed on their website to allow customers to request quotes for financial products.
- Built a Restful API and admin portal in Symfony.
- Created a pure JavaScript front-end widget which connects to the API using JSON.
- Used a Redis database for caching queries and tracking usage.
- Led a team of three developers and offering guidance on architecture.
Full-stack Web Developer
1000heads
- Built a marketing tool for Carphone Warehouse that allows customers to create and share gifs and videos.
- Created a lightweight framework-less PHP app and JavaScript widget.
- Dynamically composed animated gifs based on user input using ImageMagick.
- Converted gifs to video suitable for sharing to Facebook and Twitter using FFmpeg.
Full stack web developer
Digi Nut
- Built the full site of a Laravel project for aggregating social feeds and displaying them on a range of devices from mobile to large display screens for Ogilvy & Mather.
- Implemented improvements to a multi-site Wordpress build for global anti-bullying charity “Ditch The Label” including bbPress customization.
- Completed improvements to a global WordPress site for s3connectedhealth.com.
Full-stack Web Developer
BAFTA
- Collaborated with a team of developers to build a tool that allows users to securely upload, store, transcode and distribute video online.
- Closely integrated with AWS services including EC2, S3, Cloudfront, Cognito, API Gateway, Glacier, RDS, and more.
- Built Rest API with Symfony.
Full-stack Web Developer
Jamie Oliver
- Created a recipe matching tool that integrates with the Pinterest API and Solr search.
- Created a newsletter sign up with Salesforce integration.
- Built a responsive front-end and optimized WordPress for high-traffic.
- Cached using Varnish, Elasticache, W3TC, and an application firewall.
Full-stack Web Developer
LoopUp
- Built a multi-language WordPress site for this rapidly expanding global teleconferencing firm.
- Set up Varnish, APC, and W3TC for high traffic server performance.
- Developed custom plugins including extending W3TC and creating an addon for ACF.
Full-stack Web Developer
Beermerchants.com & Beavertown Brewery
- Added new features to an existing Magento site and extended as a hub for Beavertown Brewery.
- Set up a “Beer Club” subscription service.
- Contributed to performance enhancements and bug fixing.
- Built a Beavertown hub which could be branded separately but run off the same Magento store.
Full-stack Web Developer
Jamie Oliver
- Built front and back end of WordPress hubs including Christmas, Drinks Tube, Videos, Photo Galleries, Food Revolution Day, and more.
- Migrated legacy CMS to WordPress for recipe management across the business.
- Integrated with YouTube, Change.org, and other social media channels.
Full-stack Web Developer
Bite Global
- Developed a B2B site promoting the agency’s social engagement strategy through a questionnaire. Front-end responsive build optimized for mobile and tablet devices.
Full-stack Web Developer
McGarry Bowen
- Updated an admin console for managing a YouTube page for Omega watches. Built in CodeIgniter, this interface queries the YouTube data API and allows editors to arrange videos on a custom YouTube widget using an intuitive custom drag-and-drop javascript component.
Full-stack Web Developer
Small Back Room
- Developed a WordPress project for HKR Architects. Responsive design with a custom JavaScript UI for image galleries, slideshows, and video display.
Full-stack Web Developer
Kaplan International
- Worked on several large-scale WordPress implementations including language layers, CDN load balancing, and mirror sites.
- Implemented third party responsive designs from partner universities with Bootstrap which are compatible across browsers and devices including IE8.
Full-stack Web Developer
BD Network
- Created a video-DJ component for a cross-platform app as part of a Coke campaign for Relentless Energy.
- Created HTML5 canvas animations using native JavaScript.
- Integrated with a Cordova PhoneGap project.
- Synchronized animations to live audio data and optimized for performance.
Full-stack Web Developer
VCCP
- Built WordPress site for Three Barrels Brandy including CSS animations and age gate verification.
- Developed a custom theme and plugin.
- Optimized WordPress for security, data optimization, and cache management.
Full-stack Web Developer
Dare
- Implemented security recommendations from a penetration test report on a Facebook integration site for Barclaycard.
Full-stack Web Developer
Salterbaxter
- Contributed to end-to-end development of a tool for producing company sustainability reports.
- Generated interactive graphs using PHP GD library and JavaScript.
- Dynamically created PDF reports on the fly.
Full-stack Web Developer
Waggener Edstrom
- Built a marketing site for Siemens engineers in the CodeIgniter framework.
- Created JavaScript-powered puzzles that users compete against the clock.
Full-stack Web Developer
Creative Head
- Built a magazine-type site which links editorial content with a product directory and UK-wide salon listings for a leading publisher in hair fashion.
- Completed extensive WordPress customization including ACF and Pods plugins.
Full-stack Web Developer
Outlandish
- Extended a training management tool for the BBC.
- Created several complex systems for registration and management of workplace pension plans for Now:Pensions.
- Built platforms on WordPress, Symfony2, and custom MVC frameworks.
Full-stack Web Developer
BD Network
- Created a cross-platform social networking hub for Uniqlo HeatTech promotion.
- Completed an HTML5 front-end build for major Diet Coke promotion.
- Contributed to Flash touchscreen projects and Drupal CMS work for Nintendo in preparation for the launch of Wii U.
Full-stack Web Developer
AIMIA
- Used responsive design practices to build a white label brand loyalty site which is easy to customize and can tailor views for desktop and mobile devices.
Full-stack Web Developer
9XB Ltd
- Acted as the lead developer for Hi-Tec across their range of worldwide eCommerce and marketing sites.
- Developed custom CMS sites using Zend Framework.
Full-stack Web Developer
William Hill
- Developed and maintained William Hill’s casino, gaming, and betting sites during their greatest period of online expansion.
- Developed Flash applications including streaming video players which must run alongside a live-betting console.
- Wrote PHP modules and plugins to extend ExpressionEngine.
- Incorporated 3rd party services using PHP SOAP/REST protocols.
Full-stack Web Developer
Newcastle City Council
- Led and managed a team of four developers to design and build a custom e-learning platform for one of the largest secondary schools in the country.
Experience
A Fully Flexible WordPress Page Template
By defining a set of layout modules, I was able to provide editors with a tool they could use to pick-n-mix content modules, arrange them in any order and easily manage all types of content.
The designer created a layout that uses just a few colors in different ways to create a palette that feels unique.
The editor can select the colors to use in each page and the layout responds accordingly, giving the editor great control over look-and-feel but without allowing them the opting to create something that doesn’t fit well with the designer’s original vision.
Any new functionality that needs to be added to a page should be built in a re-usable way. By sticking strictly to this motto of multi-use it helps keep a common UX and visual language and maximize the tools available.
One module, in particular, allows editors to create columns of images, videos, text, ads and feature content. I use CSS flexbox layouts to create a grid view that responds beautifully and gives an almost unlimited choice of layouts for editorial content.
Signup and Identity Management
This full re-build of the signup and login system required a broad range of skills including building a custom REST API, integrating with Salesforce and an IDAM platform and integrating reporting and audit trail logging.
Creating a beautiful and engaging user experience is the first step to enticing users to sign up. Ensuring they have an easy route to update their preferences and unsubscribe is also really important.
We tested several designs and user flows which we continue to tweak with A/B tests to ensure maximum conversion.
This was all accomplished alongside the introduction of the GDPR which meant especially strict adherence to legal processes.
Video Management and Encoding in the Cloud
The services are closely linked to Amazon’s suite of cloud computing products including S3, Cloudfront, SQS, Glacier, and EC2.
The services are scalable, secure, and reliable with great API interfaces allowing us to access them via PHP and JavaScript.
The front end of the site is built in Backbone which allows us to create a completely static codebase which can be distributed via S3. The JavaScript interacts with the data via a custom API build in Symfony.
Since this service is aimed at media professionals, we need to offer them as much control as possible over the transcoding settings. A powerful UX was developed that allows all the major encoding properties to be customized. Users can also create “hot folders” which will encode any videos uploaded to a defined set of formats.
Videos can be played in the file manager using an HTML5 video player, and they can also be distributed and embedded in third-party websites via some embed code which will provide various encoded versions of the file for different bandwidth requirements.
Messenger Bot
We used rapid prototyping to prove the concept, then we were able to quickly build this out into a deployable product within a matter of weeks.
Since the UX is already in place within the Messenger environment it meant we could concentrate on the content and produce a really fun tool that people seem to love interacting with.
I built a fairly simple node API which listens out for requests from Facebook and parses relevant responses.
This is deployed into an auto-scaling group within AWS so that we can be confident that it will deal with any traffic spikes.
In order for the conversation to feel natural we populated the bot with a bunch of pre-defined responses for certain inputs then anything else would query our database for recipes that might be a good match. There were several funny responses dropped in there as Easter eggs to keep people interested too.
Skills
Languages
PHP, PHP 7, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, CSS, HTML
Frameworks
Express.js, PhoneGap, Zend Framework, Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, ImageMagick, Facemark API, YouTube API, jQuery, FFmpeg, Backbone.js, Handlebars, Twitter API
Tools
Solr, Amazon ElastiCache, Varnish, Flash, Photoshop CC, Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), Adobe Photoshop
Paradigms
Agile
Platforms
Magento, YouTube, Drupal, WordPress, Messenger Bots, Amazon EC2
Storage
Redis, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Amazon DynamoDB
Other
PDF, Facebook, ExpressionEngine, Encryption
Education
Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics
University of Leeds - Leeds, England
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