Brian Skinner

  • Full-stack software engineer in JavaScript and Python

  • 16 years of experience with 7 years freelancing

  • Stanford graduate in mechanical engineering with CS minor

  • Product management background including scoping

Seeking: Freelance software engineering roles (part-time or full-time)

The bottom line: can handle complex projects with little direction, make decisions, and communicate well

Testimonial

"Brian’s combination of product and software engineering experience led to excellent results for our organization, with little work required by stakeholders. I was able to give him a business objective, like saving our accountants time from repetitive tasks, and with his product management background, Brian scoped projects to determine return on development investment. He then wrote excellent code with documentation on how to run and customize, as well as upstream data assumptions that could lead to issues if changed. It is rare to have someone require so little instruction or oversite on software projects. I look forward to working with Brian again."

- Matthew Schindel, CFO SnapDocs (Series D startup)

Projects

Tutoring Company Portal

• 22,000+ line production codebase with 5 completely different user roles to run all aspects of business
• React front-end and Python Flask Postgres back-end

Back-end

Python Flask + Postgress
• 83 internal API routes using flask_restful and SQLAlchemy
• Secured with signed JWT to verify user role
• Numerous external APIs used including Stripe, Close CRM, Mailgun, and Twilio

Google Calendar Sync
• Move or delete events from app using the Google Calendar API
• Used Python asyncio to efficiently monitor for changes to dozens of calendars

Front-end

• React with Bootstrap components (Reactstrap)
• Auth0 with Google login or email /password
• Scheduling focused with user timezones, moment date library, and datepickers

University of Texas Research Group Website

• Used NextJS to create new website from Miro wireframes
• All website data can be updated without the use of the IT department. They update json data which TypeScript will warn if misformatted.

Google Sheets to FFMPEG Video Production

• Ran FFMPEG on Heroku Node.js server to edit videos with custom API endpoints
• Used Google Sheets as front-end to review each step of video production
• Used Google cloud storage and transcription

Remotion React Video Creation

• Created daily MP4 file showcasing new Twitter followers
• Used an external API for Twitter data, Supabase database, and Remotion React library to make videos

Liftoff Coders League

• Solo developer on SaaS for coding competition style problems for middle school Python students
• Leveraged NodeJS / React boilerplate for logins and Stripe payments
• Integrated a code editor which the back-end submits to AWS Lambda to safely run the user's Python code
• Sophisticated problem ratings and levels to customize the user experience
• Outer space themed user interface using Tailwind

SnapDocs Data Automation

• Reported to CFO of Series D Startup on many projects using Google Apps Script
• Generated sales team bonus spreadsheets and employee compensation letters
• Accounting automations to streamline workflows saving 20+ hours per month
• Generated monthly executive briefing slide deck with slides and data for each customer

DVx Ventures Backed Prototype

• Assisted a stealth team launch a prototype in the family and household management space
• Researched the best tools that would allow the simulation of an AI experience
• Integrated Zapier, Slack, Google Calendar, Google Mail, and OpenPhone

Text + Email Communication Tool

• Created private communication channels between multiple people
• Used their preferred contact method without revealing their contact information
• Used Python Flask back-end with Twilio and Mailgun APIs

React Native Environmental App

• React Native with Expo mobile app
• Firebase back-end with user authentication
• Gamified carbon offsets with travel pictures and feed
• Used in iOS TestFlight, never launched to app store

Leadership

Hired 400+ College-Aged CS Tutors

• Vetted their technical skills, communication abilities, and professionalism
• The majority were Brian's direct reports, with a maximum of 50 at a time across 12 years

Managed Summer Interns

• Have had a dozen summer interns collaborate on software projects
• Provided technical specs and on-boarding to the codebase
• Used Git, completed code reviews, pushed to production

Division 1 Athlete

• Former member of the Stanford Men's Volleyball team

Kids Coding Educator

• Patience and strong technical communication skills from working with 9 to 17 year-olds
• Taught algorithms for USACO competitive programming
• Started and ran Silicon Valley's largest non-profit kids coding club