John Whiles

I am a product-minded software engineer with 7 years of experience working at high-growth companies. I prefer to work across the full stack and deliver features end-to-end. I built the micro SaaS app Coachtracker and write regularly on my personal website.

I have extensive professional experience writing TypeScript, Node.js and React. I’ve also worked in Ruby, Go, and Haskell. On the infrastructure side I’ve worked with AWS, Docker, and Terraform. I enjoy learning new languages and tools, and am happy to consider opportunities using different technology stacks.

Professional Experience

    Roost

    CTO

    September 2023 - December 2023

    • TypeScript
    • Node.js
    • Remix
    • As part of the founding team was accepted onto Techstar’s London 2023 cohort.
    • Was responsible for the initial technical direction of the company.
    • Built MVPs of potential Roost products including services to help house sharers live harmoniously, and tools for identifying property investment opportunities.
    • Worked closely with the CEO and COO to define the company’s strategy and direction.

    Contentful

    Senior Software Engineer

    March 2020 - September 2023

    • TypeScript
    • Node.js
    • React
    • Go
    • PostgreSQL
    • Ruby on Rails
    • Managed Contentful’s fleet of PostgreSQL databases which support 30% of Fortune 500 companies.
      • Lead a project to perform major version upgrades across the entire fleet of hundreds of databases with zero downtime for customers.
      • Maintained a custom Kubernetes operator, which ensured databases and supporting infrastructure were always in the correct state.
    • Was a key member of Contentful’s App Framework team.
      • Built a hosting solution for Contentful Apps, enabling users to easily run their own code inside the Contentful web app.
      • Built a system that allowed users to share their Apps with other organisations. This was a key feature to support enterprise users and open source App developers.
      • Maintained Contentful's app marketplace, including Custom apps for third-party services, such as Shopify, Mailgun, Cloudinary and others.
    • Rebuilt the front-end technical interview, reducing the amount of time engineers spent in each interview by 40%.
    • Helped junior engineers on-board successfully into the Company by providing mentorship and guidance.

    Soundcloud

    Frontend Engineer

    June 2019 - March 2020

    • JavaScript
    • Backbone.js
    • Worked on Soundcloud’s music publishing product, allowing users to publish their music to other platforms.
    • Implemented a system that allowed users to tag each other in comments.
    • Improved page load times on an internal admin tool by multiple orders of magnitude, which made it possible for a moderation team to achieve their goals.

    Habito

    Senior Software Engineer

    July 2018 - June 2019

    • Haskell
    • PureScript
    • React
    • Built a design system which ensured accessibility and consistency across the entire product.
    • Implemented the dynamic mortgage interview, which is the core of Habito’s user journey.
    • As part of a two-person team, restyled Habito’s entire website in one month.

    Trainline

    Senior Software Engineer

    January 2018 - July 2018

    • TypeScript
    • React
    • Node.js
    • Moved one of The Trainline’s busiest services from C# to Node.js, improving performance and maintainability.
    • Improved The Trainline’s internal design system.

    Just Giving

    Senior Software Engineer

    March 2017 - January 2018

    • TypeScript
    • React
    • Built a rich UI for a new financial reporting service.
    • Built a component library for the design system.
    • Led a TypeScript migration, ensuring that builds continued to work, and helping the engineering team learn TypeScript.

Education

    Founders and Coders

    2016 - 2017

    Student developer

    Royal Holloway, University of London

    2010 - 2013

    BA Politics with Philosophy (2:1)