Paul Castle

A dedicated and keen professional with over 17 years of experience in the full development lifecycle of web projects.

Backed by strong industry proficiency in front-end development, including the deployment and maintenance of a large variety of web-based applications, and advanced command of an array of development tools and languages.

Highly motivated to nurture professional growth, and to engage with coworkers and clients to generate the best technical and creative solutions.

Skills

Strong communication and problem solving skills, with the ability to clearly convey concepts and ideas and interpret requirements.
Highly proficient in Javascript and Typescript development.
Committed to writing and maintaining code that is performant, scalable, modular, and to a high standard of quality. Utilises linters, formatters and quality gate tools to aid in maintaining quality and consistency throughout project codebases.
Experienced in the use of versioning tools (primarily Git) to collaborate on projects with small and large teams.
Experienced in working in agile environments with a number of teams of varying sizes, both in one-off projects and CI/CD products.
High degree of experience in developing and maintaining unit tests using Karma, Jasmine and Jest.
Proficient in the use of several web application and component frameworks, notably Angular, React and LitJS, in addition to the related builder tools for deploying these projects, such as Webkit, rollup.js and Babel.
Highly experienced in developing frontend web applications that focus on API interaction, in addition to developing headless micro services such as webhooks.
A solid knowledge of Docker, having developed projects that are specifically built for containerization.
Skilled in the development of custom web-components.
Knowledgeable in the development of Chrome extensions.
Strong user interface design and protoyping skills, with particular proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and XD, rooted in a strong desire to optimize software for the best user experience possible.
Developing applications and integrations that are cross-browser and cross-device compatible, with an in-depth knowledge of browser feature support and proficiency with console development debugging tools.
Highly experienced in state management tools (notably NgRx), as well as utilizing asynchronous stream development with RxJS.

Experience

Arria NLG

Frontend & UI/UX Engineer (2018 - present)

Currently working with the technology team to develop software that uses bleeding-edge technology to create natural language text that describes and explains diverse data sets.

Results:

Works primarily in the integrations team to develop and support the deployment of Arria language services into custom host environments.
Tech lead for the frontend suite of components for a development SDK library, intended for consumption by third-party developers.
Assists product owners in translating business requirements into technical solutions, and assists other developers in contributing to software architecture design.
Engages in peer reviews and rigerous unit testing to ensure a high quality of code.
Provides technical & aftercare support to third-party developers, as well as assisting support teams with troubleshooting and debugging.
Coordinates with colleagues both locally and globally, assisting with designing, prototyping, workload planning and implementation of software solutions.
Acts as the touch point for remote developers on several projects.
Lends assistance to fellow developers as a focal point mentor.

Internet Strategies UK Ltd

Web developer (2014 - 2018)

Served as a key member of the development team, liaised with clients to interpret their requirements and participated in the full life cycle of new projects in addition to the maintenance and tuning of existing projects.

Results:

Hands on development of all web projects from genesis to delivery for clients within a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, charities, hospitality, sports and commerce.
Developed projects based around a variety of CMS systems, including the construction of API software, plugins and templates.
Developed a custom PHP/SASS/JS boilerplate framework for internal use. This framework provides a quick and efficient starting point for new projects as well as a set of lightweight and common tools.
Implemented a preprocessing build system for SASS and JS, and mentored the team in its utilization.
Provided technical & aftercare support to clients and end users in person, over the phone and via remote desktop.
Implemented an internal wiki documentation system that allows the team to track projects and document project-specific procedures.
Self directed research and experimentation of emerging web development technologies, and initiating team discussion resulting in the adoption of software and practices beneficial to the company.

mindResin

Freelance web design & development (2005 – 2014)

Self-founded venture that provided web design and development services to individuals and SME as an independent contractor.

Results:

Provided designs and illustrations for print and web, including logo development.
Designed and developed over 25 Norwegian municipal websites for a recurring client. Three of these sites (Ringsaker, Askim and Marker kommune) were awarded the highest possible rating of 6 stars by DIFI (The agency for public management and eGovernment) for quality in its official 2013 review. Only 33 out of 658 total municipal sites achieved a perfect 6 score. (Link)
My portfolio of work was featured in the design magazine ‘Zillion Designs’, as one of the top 25 portfolios to follow in 2014. (Link)

Education

University College of Creative Arts, Maidstone (2004 – 2007) BA (Hons) Illustration

Uxbridge College, Middlesex (2003 – 2004) BTEC National Diploma in Art Foundation

Uxbridge College, Middlesex (2000 – 2002) BTEC National Diploma in I.T. Applications

Uxbridge High School, Middlesex (1996 – 1999) 7 A-C GCSE’s

Interests & Hobbies

I have a keen interest in 3D printing technology. This interest has encouraged me to learn 3D modelling skills in both parametric design and digital sculpting software. I enjoy printing decorative and functional models that others have made, as well as sharing my own designs.

I enjoy spending time working on and with my homelab setup, with which I am frequently working on hobby coding projects and deployment of self-hosted services. Such projects can be found on my Github profile.

I also have a background in, and a fondness for illustration and art. I often engage in painting, printmaking and illustration workshops in my free time. Influences from these creative outlets often manifest in my work.