YET
ANOTHER
josh
WEB+MOBILE APPLICATION ENGINEER
About
I’m a full-stack internet engineering generalist and entrepreneur with 25 years of professional experience building web applications. I’ve worked extensively at both small-scale startups (through two startup acquisitions) and at large-scale web properties. I also have substantial experience in mobile applications and in leading teams.
I’m currently a Sr. Staff Engineer at Mozilla, where I help build innovative application prototypes towards a healthier, human-first web. I’m also cofounder and CTO of Storium/StoriumEdu, a web-based, real-time, collaborative storytelling game that makes creative writing accesible and fun. I work out of my home in Sedona, AZ, and hike often in this stunning desert landscape.
I can be reached by email, feel free to reach out.
Technical Specialties
As a generalist, I have worked with many open source tools, languages, and frameworks over the years. Here I only list those in which I maintain active, specialized expertise on a daily basis:
- React.js & Node.js
- Ruby on Rails
- PostgreSQL
- Docker
- AWS & GCP
- Responsive design & CSS
- Automated testing & TDD
- Application architecture
- Application Security
- API design & integration
If a project requires other technologies, it is generally not a problem but should be addressed on a case-by-case basis. I may have already worked with them in the past, or can often ramp up unusually quickly. For example, I have shipped high-traffic applications built with tools such as: Objective-C (iOS native), PHP / Symfony, Perl / mod_perl, Angular.js, MySQL, and much more.
Additional Expertise
I also bring to any project the following skills and attitudes:
- Bridging communication across teams and concerns. For example: understanding and communicating requirements between the developer domain and product management, design, QA, customer service, operations, and other stakeholders. I tend to be valued for this skill above even my technical abilities, as it is often sorely needed within an organization.
- An uncompromising approach to application security, born of respect for user privacy and brand trust.
- Focusing on the success of the project holistically above all else, rejecting “not my problem” mentality. That said, I am willing to be very heads down when a project warrants it.
- An uncanny talent for surfacing hidden problems and important edge cases.
- Management experience, leading teams directly or playing a support role to managers and leads.
- Strong UX and design sensibilities.
Testimonials
Josh is passionate about the well-being of the product; and he cares. Working hard day and night to get things done, Josh has given me a fresh perspective about how an engineer should come to work everyday with a purpose. Josh is technically strong also, which is a nice plus. And I'd love to work with Josh for a long time into the future.
— Nam Nguyen, VP of Engineering, Facebook Platform
Josh is the most versatile, creative, and productive engineer I have had the good fortune to work with in my career. There is seemingly no technical challenge that he cannot overcome, and I am continually impressed by his talent for analyzing complex problems, understanding user needs, and rapidly mastering new technologies and tools. He approaches his work with the pride and dedication of a true craftsman, and it shows in the quality and elegance of the things he builds, as well as in his professionalism and reliability. With Josh on board I can rest easy in the knowledge that whatever we need, he’ll be able to build it, and it will just work.
— Stephen Hood, CEO of StoriumEdu
