GitHub: https://github.com/malimccalla LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malimccalla/
TL;DR: A product focussed developer on a mission to revolutionise industries.
Skills | Experience | Side Projects | Education | Interests
As a musician, I've been told that I think differently, in sounds and pictures rather than in words. Software development has always fascinated me, just like music it demands skills that combine logical problem-solving with creative thinking. In pursuit of a career founded on continuous self-improvement, I'm looking to join an ambitious team with a shared vision. After graduating from Europe's leading developer bootcamp in 2016 I now spend most of my time exploring new technologies and nesting callbacks chaining promises async/ awaiting.
Over 5 years of experience in developing digital products and services has taught me the importance of writing clean maintainable code. Following industry best practices comes naturally to me and I believe that the best code is easy to understand and easy to delete. With experience across the entire stack, I am comfortable in both frontend and backend positions. My current areas of interest include container orchestration tools such as Kubernetes and component-driven design tools such as Framer.
At the core of every successful project I have ever worked on lies good communication, a skill that I once feared but have come to master over time. I have successfully managed projects from the idea stage to production. The lifecycle of a product can be full of blockers, iterations, and pivots. I have acted as a clear and concise voice that helps to bridge the divide between engineering and commercial teams at companies.
A big part of what attracts me to the tech industry is that it presents new challenges in all shapes and sizes, including that of design. As the sole UX/UI designer of Tunebase, I applied my creative thinking in both a digital and non-digital environment allowing me to tackle these challenges from a different perspective. As a product-focused developer, my first concern is always the end-user. Not afraid to take chances, I know that in an ever-changing tech industry you need to be able to explore innovative and original ways to go about solving problems.
Thespie - Lead Engineer (September 2020 - Present)
Leading the engineering team at a fast-growing creative start-up my role includes expanding the companies digital offering, redefining our cloud infrastructure, hiring exceptional tech talent, and defining processes that allow the company to scale.
Technologies
- AWS/Elastic Beanstalk
- Docker
- React/Next.js
- Apollo GraphQL
- TypeScript
- HTML/CSS3
- PostgresSQL
Tunebase - Founder (June 2019 - Present)
As the founder and CEO of my own tech company, I have learnt what it takes to build and maintain a production-grade application. Navigating the startup world can be a rollercoaster, and I was forced to learn quickly, fail fast, and forever adapt.
Technologies
- React/Next.js
- Node/Express
- Apollo GraphQL
- Google Cloud
- Docker/Kubernetes
- TypeScript
- HTML/CSS3
- PostgresSQL
- Redis
- Jest/Cypress
- Stripe
- Sketch
JAAK - Software Engineer (Apr 2018 - Jun 2019)
In the ever-changing web development landscape, my role as an engineer at JAAK was forever evolving. Collaborating with the largest organisations in the music industry, I was a part of a team developing a blockchain-based solution for the registration, assignment and management of intellectual property rights.
Technologies
- Ethereum/Solidity
- React/Next.js
- Node/Express
- Apollo GraphQL
- AWS
- TypeScript
- HTML/CSS3
- Jest/Cypress
Trippin - Software Engineer (Sep 2017 - Apr 2018)
End-to-end delivery of an iOS app for a seed-stage startup: product discovery, implementation, project management & launch on the App Store—implemented in React Native + GraphQL and a Node.js + MongoDB backend using a type-safe event sourcing architecture.
Technologies
- React/React Native
- Node.js
- MongoDB
- CSS-in-JS
- GraphQL
- Flow
Warner Chappell Music (Dec 2010 - Dec 2015)
https://www.warnerchappell.com/
As a songwriter, I have worked with some of the best writers and producers in the industry. I have written songs with artists such as John Legend and worked with producer/writers behind some of the biggest artists of our time such as Amy Winehouse, Ed Sheeran, and Kanye West.
Warner Bros. Records (Dec 2010 - Dec 2015)
Throughout my time at Warner Brothers, I built up amazing relationships and achieved many great things. One of my proudest moments was being awarded a 2x platinum plaque by BPI for sales in excess of 600,000 for my song on the Chase and Status album 'No More Idols'.
Touring - Various artists (2013 - Present)
Touring around the world brought upon many unpredictable challenges to overcome. It brought out a determination in me to succeed in a very competitive industry. A skill that I now take into every new challenge I face. I became an expert time manager and learnt how to focus my time and energy with ruthless efficiency. My most recent work in this area has been singing around the world with Rudimental including our support of Ed Sheeran on his sold out stadium world tour.
| Project | Description | Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Shuttle | An Itinerary app for touring musicians. Having a keen interest in server-less technologies, I wanted to explore how I could utilise cloud computing and google's firebase to create an app which was both android and iOS compatible. | Mobile, React Native, Redux, Firebase |
| Codey Gonzalez | A speed type racer for keen coders. Participating in a 3 day hackathon myself and a team of 4 were tasked with creating an efficiency tool for developers. Channelling the full power of Javascript we were successful in creating a fun and user-friendly experience. Try it out on Heroku. | Ruby, JQuery, Postgres |
| Flare | An app for discovering amazing moments around you. With no prior knowledge of Swift or XCode, myself and a team of 5 built a fully functional social app. Following agile principles and best practices, we finish our MVP within just 8 days. You can watch a demo of the app Here, or even Download it on the app store! | iOS, Swift, Objective-C, Xcode |
Self Education (∞)
I'm a strong believer in self education and development. Constantly exploring new technologies and techniques keeps me forever learning and innovating. I have a drive to out learn everyone, always looking to develop my strengths and improve upon my weaknesses to further myself.
Makers Academy (Jul — Sep 2016)
- 12 week, full-time computer programming course based on the principles of software craftsmanship
- Focus on writing clean, test-driven code.
- Object-oriented design, abiding by SOLID principles
- Teamwork based on Agile development
British Academy Of New Music (2009 - 2011)
BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma (Equivalent to three A-Levels)
- A course that stretched me in all aspects of music performance, composition, engineering and production.
Highgate Woods Performing Arts College (2004 - 2009)
11 GCSEs all at A* - B
- Aerodynamics has always fascinated me and I am currently working towards my private pilots licence with 16 logged hours to date.
- In my spare time I have been writing a short comedy script portraying the modern day music industry.
- 🏓
disclaimer:
Sometimes I know things and sometimes I don't. I'm ok with that because at all times I work on moving the latter to the former (and if all else fails there's probably an npm package for it 📦).