Who am I?
A quick learning, nerdy and resourceful professional Full Stack Engineer, with a keen interest in solving complex issues with less complex, easily maintainable and well documented solutions. My love for technology runs deep, from automation & factory style games to a self-hosted security camera, pi-hole and Discord bots.
I've been a Web Developer & Software Engineer for around 10 years now and I still love it the same I did when I first started. Every day I try to learn something now and every day I challenge myself.
Skills:
Core Software Engineering
- Primary Language: Modern & Legacy PHP (5.6 – 8.x) - 10 Years
- Architecture & Patterns: OOP, DDD, SOLID Principles, GraphQL
- Code Quality & Refactoring: PHPStan, PHPCS, Rector, Advanced Debugging
- Secondary / Prior Tech: Python, C#, Bash, JavaScript/TypeScript, Prior Laravel & Symfony
DevOps & Infrastructure
- Containerization & Config: Docker & Compose, Ansible (Provisioning & Commissioning)
- Cloud & Platform: Unix/Linux admin, AWS (EC2, Route 53), GCP, Azure, Cloudflare
- Monitoring & Operations: Nagios, Networking, Security (SSL/TLS Certificates, Cryptography)
Databases & Environment
- Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MSSQL, SQLite, Firestore
- Version Control & CI: Git (GitHub, Bitbucket, GitLab)
- AI & Workflow Automation: GitHub Copilot, Claude, Gemini, Prompt Engineering
Career History:
Senior PHP Developer (Nov 2023 - Present)
- Legacy Modernization: Upgraded core applications and internal dependencies from PHP 5.4 up to 7.2+, modernizing legacy syntax and fixing deprecated code paths.
- Database Refactoring: Replaced legacy database libraries with modern PDO/ORM patterns across major systems with zero downtime or service interruption.
- Testing & Code Quality: Upgraded internal testing suites to boost code coverage, using PHPStan and static analysis to catch bugs and enforce stricter coding standards before release.
- Feature Development: Built and maintained customer-facing platform features while keeping application logic clean and maintainable.
Software Engineer (Nov 2021 - Nov 2023)
- Monolith & Testing: Improved the reliability and maintainability of a large proprietary monolith through targeted code cleanups and writing unit tests.
- Architecture: Introduced Domain-Driven Design (DDD) practices in a PHP 8.1 microservices environment.
- DevOps & Internal Tools: Built tools to automate repetitive developer tasks, including Google Cloud server connection scripts and conventional commit checks.
- Code Standards & Process: Enforced strict code quality standards across the team (using PHPStan/PHPCS), making reviews tighter and preventing messy patterns from creeping back in.
- Quality & Process: Worked closely with quality engineers to streamline their testing processes and helped standardize code quality across the team.
Web Developer & Web Developer Apprentice (2016 - 2021)
- PHP Modernization & Maintenance: Led the migration of several legacy web applications from PHP 5.6 to 7.2/7.4, resolving complex performance bottlenecks and maintaining system stability.
- DevOps & Infrastructure: Acted as team DevOps specialist, authoring Ansible Playbooks and roles to automate builds, upgrades, and server maintenance, while mentoring team members on DevOps tooling.
- Cloud & Platform Migrations: Executed infrastructure migrations from Azure Classic to Azure RM and managed AWS (EC2/R53) resources to enhance system security, uptime, and cost efficiency.
- Monitoring & Automation: Greatly expanded Nagios/system monitoring coverage, reduced technical debt, and automated proprietary email pipelines in collaboration with cross-functional teams.
Qualifications:
Diplomas
- Level 3 & 4 Diploma for ICT-Systems and Principles for IT Professionals
- Level 3 & 4 Diploma in ICT Professional Competence