Jez McKean

I’m a web developer with 20+ years
of full-stack industry experience.

I’ve worked with a wide range of companies; a two-person start-up, small web agencies, growing scale-ups, and a large national utility supplier.

Happy mentoring junior colleagues, working across departments, collaborating with mixed teams, and delivering innovative solutions which push boundaries and exceed expectations.

LinkedIn – GitHub – Google Docs CV – PDF CV – DOCX CV

Professional Skills

Recent Employment

Clevernet

Full Stack Engineer

Remote Working, April 2024 – to date

Gener8

Senior Frontend Engineer

Remote Working, Jun 2022 – February 2024

Completely rebuilt the users’ web experience; website and web-app.
Overhauled Chrome extensions, bringing them in-line with new branding and UX levels.
Worked with TS/JS, SCSS, etc. in ReactJS (NextJS) projects.
Collaborated with Backend API developers to build new features and improve performance.
Some legacy-project maintenance for in-house tools.

Skills used include:  JavaScript (as TypeScript), advanced SCSS, React.js, Next.js.

Grip Events

Senior Web Developer

Remote Working, Jul 2021 – Jun 2022

Learnt TypeScript to work with Angular (11+) for new and existing features of the end-user and in-house admin experience. Worked with the design team on UX matters. Enabled automated testing.

Skills used include: JavaScript (as TypeScript) & Angular (11+).

Utilita Energy

Principal Web Developer

Chandler’s Ford & Remote Working, Jun 2018 – Jul 2021

Built a JavaScript (specifically Vue.js/Nuxt.js) Progressive Web App (PWA) along with its associated Laravel-based API backend to replace the dated web ‘customer portal’ with a leading-edge version with improved performance, superior UX and increased modularity.

• Added payments totalling several million pounds per day to the API and the hybrid app.
• Increased the app’s user base to 275,000 customers.
• Won the Best App prize in the uSwitch Energy Awards 2020.
• Won the 2020 Southern Tech 100 ‘Best Use of Technology’ prize from The Business Magazine.

Mentored and assisted the whole web team of 6 across the many varied projects supporting the business and its customers. Selected the tech stack for numerous projects.

Senior Web Developer

Chandler’s Ford, May 2017 – Jun 2018

Led the development of a VueJS/Cordova hybrid app and an Alexa skill (NodeJS) for customers.

Jointly led development of various MVC Laravel website / web-tool projects.

Extensive SCSS and JavaScript development.

Grew the web development team from 4 to 12 members.

Profound Works

Senior Full-stack Developer

Winchester, Jun 2015 – May 2017

Built hybrid mobile apps using AngularJS & SCSS for PhoneGap/Cordova.

Specified custom PHP developments.

Built and maintained WordPress sites; selected, configured and designed & created WordPress plugins.

Trained and mentored junior developers.

Remarkable Content

Head Web Developer

Winchester, April 2013 – Jun 2015

Led various Concrete5 CMS builds, theme & add-on development, WordPress builds and maintenance, including plugin creation, selection & configuration. Site administration, client support and training.

In-house CMS setup, theming and administration. Stand-alone static site creation (primarily front-end CSS/JS builds).  

Debian/Centos server administration. Apache & PHP configuration. MySQL admin.

Jira and Confluence installation and administration. Domain name purchase and DNS administration.

Powder Blue

Senior Web Developer

Winchester, Aug 2008 – April 2013

Built complex yet usable business systems (covering staff tasks, rotas, CRM etc) both from scratch and building on existing code.

Created and maintained holiday booking (accommodation, flights, activities, equipment hire, etc) websites, most of which had 2-way interaction with third-party systems and APIs.

Provided maintenance and support for various legacy systems.
Trained new staff, provided management of junior staff.

Developed internal systems.

Provided client relations and support.

Full Employment History

Education

University of Liverpool, BSc (Hons) in Computer Information Systems.

Shiplake College, near Henley-on-Thames, 3 A-Levels in IT, Maths and CDT.

St Edward’s School, Oxford, 10 GCSEs in English, English Literature, Maths, CDT, French, German, Latin, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Other Qualifications

Foundation Certificate in DevOps from DevOpsGroup (2020).

BCS Foundation Certificate in Agile from BCS (2020).

Professional Diploma in UX Design from UX Design Institute (2019).

Selected Interests

UX: of all things – not just screen/technology-centric.

Future of energy: especially its generation (e.g. tidal and solar power) and storage (e.g. powerwalls, microgrids).

Technology: 3D printing, Internet of Things; LoRa; Electric Vehicles; Home Automation.