Greg life
Sometimes the chance comes along to be part of something truly special. With a cheeky smile and a huge passion for the industry, I offer a willingness and dedication to eat up all there is to learn. I want to be empowered by the best workers at the best workplace, which of course, is Canva. This personalised portfolio is my love letter to you. Peek behind the curtain hereon my GitHub 👀
My contribution
With three years of Software Engineering under my belt, plus a past life spent as a Graphic Designer, I can walk the turmultuous line between engineering and design.
I kicked off my career as a full-stack developer traversing both ends of the technology spectrum and I believe this has hugely improved my scope of technical understanding. Knowledge of how the front and back end interact with each other is of course key to defining your structural and architectural needs. But my heart is truly with the front end as it allows me to express my creative side and build beautiful, articulate software.
Greg's values
One of the many reasons I'm so keen on Canva is how well the company values align with mine. I've found it hugely motivating learning about how Canva stands behind this code of ethics and demonstrates them in everything they do.
Be a Good Human
I guess I'll let you be the judge of whether I'm a good human, but compassion, thoughtfulness and acceptance are principles I feel very strongly about. The world is a melting pot of different experiences, and I believe when we're comfortable to bring our life experiences to work, it only makes for a stronger and more effective team.
Be a Force for Good
My healthy dose of respect for the people and places around me ignites a desire to leave things better than I found them. I admire all that the Canva Foundation is trying to achieve, the simple but groundbreaking 2-step plan and the commitment to Pledge 1%. I would love to have more opportunities to volunteer, and Canva's Force For Good leave would allow me to execute on this value to a much greater degree.
Set Crazy Big Goals
You can see this one in action right on this page, applying for Canva! Life gets stale when you don't see it with a big blue sky open above you. Setting out on this goal has already been a great introspective exercise, but it also intersects with a few other goals of mine.
Empower Others
I've found this value to have a real hamster wheel effect on development. I cherish people who not only take the time to listen, but also to teach and set their team up for their own successes. The more I learn about my craft the more I realise how much I have to learn. Still, I love sharing my knowledge and leading more junior devs, especially as I find teaching to be one of the best ways to solidify my expertise.
Pursue Excellence
Having two older brothers instilled a healthy sense of competition in me from as far back as I can remember. I think this plays a big part in my pursuit of excellence. I enjoy learning, honing the knowledge I pick up and hold a great sense of pride in my achievements (however big or small).
Make Complex Things Simple
Over the course of my career this value has evolved into somewhat of a North Star for me. It's quite easy to over-engineer something that only needed a light touch, so it's important to take time at the beginning of a project to assess the most efficient path from A to B - I find this so valuable to achieving the best possible final product.
A place for
projects
eQ8 | Full-Stack Engineer
Eq8 is a strategic workforce planning SaaS platform. I had a great experience working at eQ8, the team there are a fun bunch of people and we were never short of a good time. The platform's back end was built using C# and the .NET framework, with Azure Functions utilized for serverless computing, gRPC used for API communication, and both SQL and noSQL databases. The front end was built using C# Razor pages, but we were in the process of transitioning our front end to use React with Typescript.
Refactor of old Demand Configuration
- Built out new designs in React/Typescript with Zustand, from C# Razor pages
- EQ8 was quite fast-paced, so the designs for the page were evolving as we were building it out. I assisted in feedback of these designs as well as building them
- Helped build out gRPC APIs for CRUD operations on driver associations
Global Supply Upload
- Allowed for clients to upload a global supply, giving them the power to create subsets of this data for different plans
- Built out greenfields designs for the page that allowed users to split the global dataset using filters
- Assisted on the design and creation of APIs to segment and store data in the back end
Faethm | Full-Stack Engineer
Faethm was a workforce analytics and strategic workforce planning SaaS platform (lots of HR tech I know 😅). Once again I was surrounded by fantastic people, especially the design team. We had a great working relationship (see Karin's testimonial below). The back end was built with Node JS, with AWS Lamdas for serverless computing, gRPC (with some GraphQL) used for APIs and both SQL and noSQL databases.
In-house Identity to Auth0
- Implemented an 'invite-only' model instead of a standard sign-up process, where user accounts were created upon invitation and automatically deleted after 12 months of inactivity
- User profile was set globally with a name and email. Roles were specific to each organisation
- Created a set of APIs for our front end login & user management app to use auth0
SWP - Supply & Demand Model
- Navigate users through a multi-page form to explain what the impact of different technologies would be on their role in the workforce
- Implemented a graph to indicate the need to increase/decrease the number of individuals in a particular role
- 3 sections (pages): description of their scenario, selection of technologies adopted and selection of workforce impact (retirement or attrition)
- REST APIs based on resource
#GregLife
Working with Greg made me feel like we were the Dynamic Duo of the design and engineering world.
When it comes to front-end development, Greg's skills are off the charts. He effortlessly brings my design ideas to life with a touch of humor that made every day at work an enjoyable experience. His exceptional communication skills foster a productive collaboration between design and engineering.
Be hired?
Don't take too long to think it over!
Hopefully I've sold you on the Greg Life and piqued your interest enough to warrant getting in touch. Reach me below, I'm always keen for a chat.