Kevin Jones

Front-end

I am an expert in writing web interfaces using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, but I have recently fallen in love with CoffeeScript, Haml and Sass. I am also particularly interested in creating interfaces that utilize new features in modern browsers without sacrificing usability and functionality in other browsers.

Back-end

My primary server-side strength is as a Perl developer, but I am always eager to learn new languages. I am very comfortable using several flavours of unix and am also very competent with relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL.

Personal

I am easygoing and enjoy working with people, both in person and remotely. I have plenty of experience pair-programming and enjoy the obvious benefits of working together on problems, but I am also comfortable working on projects solo. I believe I am approachable and always welcome constructive criticism. I enjoy helping colleagues learn new skills, and likewise, I am also eager to absorb new information and skills from them. Finally, although I may appear quiet in large groups, I am excellent at communicating and working with my peers.

Development Methodologies

I have been a member of teams that have used a wide variety of agile development methodologies. At Sophos, I was introduced to agile in the form of scrum and later Industrial XP. At Socialtext, we were faced with the added challenge of adapting agile development practices (particularly Kanban) to a distributed development structure.

Socialtext Inc. March 2007 - Present

Senior Software Developer

• Served as the principal UI developer, creating a rich social collaboration platform for enterprise customers.

• Built the Socialtext Dashboard as an OpenSocial container, allowing third parties to develop powerful UI integrations using open APIs.

• Worked remotely from my home in Vancouver, BC (as well as from Argentina, Japan, Austria, etc) with a distributed development team of highly talented individuals.
• Overcame the challenges of building modern user interfaces for companies standardized on older versions of Internet Explorer.

Sophos Inc. October 2004 - March 2007

Software Developer

• Member of an XP team that developed a gateway Email Security Appliance that filters emails based on spam, viruses and other content policies.

• Organically developed a framework for creating reports which notify administrators of mail traffic through the appliance. The framework I developed was also used to create reports in another Sophos product, PureMessage.

• Developed a system which indexes mail logs and then gives administrators the ability to search quickly over the past 30 days in order to discover why a message was rejected, quarantined, dropped, etc.

Recollect (Formerly VanTrash) 2009 - Present

I am enthusiastic about the Open Data movement and its ability to empower citizens. Along with two friends, I co-founded the web site VanTrash.ca in 2009, which used data from the City of Vancouver’s Open Data Catalogue to provide a notification service that helps citizens remember when to take the garbage and recycling out. Our app won the People’s Choice award in the Apps 4 Climate Action contest in 2010. We have since renamed the service Recollect.net and have expanded to more than 20 municipalities across Canada.

Simon Fraser University 2010 - Present (Part-time)

Linguistics

British Columbia Institute of Technology 2002 - 2004

Diploma of Technology with Honours Standing
Computer Systems Technology (Data Communications Option)