Hi, I'm Nathan.

I've worked for …

… improving performance

• Wrote an analysis tool for Fujifilm's Drupal site, using CoffeeScript and PHP.
• The tool samples CPU, memory, and database use throughout the day.
• Identifies performance-sapping areas, and drills-down to individual functions and queries.

… building a dev env

• Used Vagrant and Puppet to setup a virtual machine version of the site. Invaluable for new contractors and remote workers.

And for the …

… as a technical lead

• We built the new version of route planner with Django, Bing, and PostGIS.
• Brought outsourced features in-house, saving on yearly licensing.
• Identified performance problems using Site Confidence, profiling tools and homebrew scripts. Improved page times by 10×.
• Shortlisted on websiteoftheyear.co.uk for 2011.

I built

… it's been well-received

• A late-availability listing site for bed and breakfasts in Wells-next-the-Sea.
• Designed and coded using Django, CoffeeScript, and LESS, via a basic in-house asset generator.
• Well-regarded by local accommodation owners.
• Currently expanding to other towns.

(Sneak preview of V2's new design)

Worked at …

… as a senior Django developer

• Focusing on long-term projects.
• Led a team to build the GPP CMS, enabling Aviva employees to build microsites for customers.
• Users create a new site, add content, change the colour scheme, send password-protected previews to the customer and publish live, without any technical intervention.
• The CMS can theme a site given a company's corporate colours — we built a feature to automatically pick the dominant colour from a logo, and re-colour the site. (read more)

And contracted for Perenco…

… building gas platform monitoring

• Designed and developed a gas platform monitoring webapp, for company-wide visibility.
• Makes strong use of Javascript, with a PHP/Oracle backend.
• Built a Dreamweaver extension to create new monitoring screens.