Summary

In a nutshell, I build websites.

I can tackle all tasks of web development, from server configuration and back-end programming in a variety of languages and frameworks, to front-end and UI design using modern technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3, information architecture, usability testing, and more. I love design, and although I’m more of a coder than a graphic designer, I can make Photoshop do what it was designed to do, as well as understand basic design concepts, and I’m always looking to learn more. I obsess about details, and I get slightly annoyed when things don’t align properly or look slightly off. I’m a quick learner & autodidact, and whatever I don’t understand, I can figure it out on my own.

Experience

1. Freelance – Caracas, Venezuela
   Web developer, designer & consultant, 2001-Present

   I’ve been a web developer, designer and consultant since 2001, participating in numerous projects for clients in diverse sectors, mainly developing simple, elegant websites in valid, semantic HTML and using languages and frameworks such as Django, Google App Engine, Ruby on Rails, and PHP.

2. Piictu, Inc. – Caracas, Venezuela
   Front-end Engineer, December 2010-June 2011

   My initial web development work for Piictu included designing and developing the teaser pages for the applications, based on the materials and mockups provided by the founders, so that users could sign up to be notified of the service’s launch while the rest of the application was being developed. These pages were built in Ruby on Rails and powered by Prefinery, using their API to handle the registration of the users’ email addresses and invitation codes.

   My work also included the design and development of the UI of the Piictu web app, and design of the social features of the product. For that, I collaborated with designer Robin Raszka, who provided the static HTML templates, CSS, images, and other design elements, while I wrote the JavaScript and Rails views and controllers that powered the app, using the models written by Edgar González and the back-end team.

   In addition to my work as front-end developer, I supported many other tasks in the company, such as social media & PR, by jointly running the Piictu blog and Twitter account (including designing and building the Tumblr theme of the blog), and reaching out to bloggers and journalists to generate press for the product (such as the Piictu articles at Beautiful Pixels and The Unofficial Apple Weblog); customer support via Twitter, email, and Piictu's UserVoice account; and anything else that was required, like recruiting beta testers, sending email newsletters using Campaign Monitor, and advisory on product design, social features, copyright policy, data portability, and more.

3. DailyMe, Inc. – Caracas, Venezuela
   Web developer, March 2009-February 2011

   I took part in the development of the new version of DailyMe. My main responsibility was the development of the community features of DailyMe, a social network that allows users to post and share interesting news clippings, from DailyMe or external sites, with other DailyMe users or with external contacts, and to follow the stories shared by other users. I contributed my experience in social media and social networks to help improve the design, user interface and user experience of this community.

   In addition to that, I assisted in the design of the DailyMe API that supports the entire system, and built several sections of the website, including the SERPs, category pages, focus pages, and part of the authentication system.

   As of October 2009, I’m serving as specialist in the areas of search engine optimization, traffic analytics and social media, with the goal of increasing exposure and traffic to the site. During my first six months in this position, traffic to the site increased by over 325%, thanks in part to the use of social networks like Tumblr and Twitter to promote our content. DailyMe’s Tumblr blog has been described by the staff of Tumblr as “exemplary.”

4. Estudios y Proyectos DITECH, S.A. – Caracas, Venezuela
   Systems Engineer, January 2007-May 2008

   I was hired as a systems engineer for the role of “EPnetmaster” of Technip’s procurement web application, EPC-Business, in charge of the administration of the system. This included the administration of the system’s users; helping the company’s suppliers to register and prequalify in the system; creating and setting up projects, RFQs and bidder lists; and other support tasks. During my first month using the system I discovered a huge cross-site scripting vulnerability, demonstrated to my superiors how it could be exploited to steal a user’s login and password, and worked with the development team in France to help close the vulnerability.

   Additionally, I worked as a procurement engineer supporting the purchase and expediting of equipment for EPC projects in the venezuelan oil industry, such as the HNAY (Naphta Hydrotreatment Plant-Amuay, Paraguaná Refining Complex) and CCO (Western Cryogenic Complex) projects.

Education

1. Universidad Metropolitana – Caracas, Venezuela
   Systems Engineer, October 2000-November 2006

2. U.E. Colegio San Luis – Caracas, Venezuela
   Bachiller en Ciencias, October 1988-July 1999

Training Courses

1. IBM Megatraining – Caracas, Venezuela
   IBM, February 2009

2. Havard Negotiation Model Workshop – Caracas, Venezuela
   Cambridge International Consulting, LLC, October 2007

3. JADE (Juniors de Alto Desempeño) – Caracas, Venezuela
   Estudios y Proyectos DITECH, S.A., February 2007

Skills

• Solid knowledge of W3C standards, including HTML, CSS, valid, semantic code, and microformats.
• Knowledge of the particularities of the most important web browsers and techniques to maximize cross-browser compatibility.
• Principles of web usability and accessibility testing.
• Principles of SEO.
• Development of web applications in Ruby on Rails, Django, Google App Engine, CakePHP and ASP.NET MVC.
• Knowledge of JavaScript, and frameworks such as Prototype, script.aculo.us and jQuery.
• Design of applications with UML.
• Design and development of RESTful applications.
• Test-driven development, with agile methodologies.
• Experience with version control systems, specifically SVN and Git.
• Experience with RDBMS such as MySQL, Oracle, SQLite.
• Knowledge of graphic design and experience using design tools such as Photoshop, and Illustrator.
• Full operational command of the english language, with a band score of 8.0 in the International English Language Testing System.