About

Hello, I'm Sam 👋 a full-stack developer from South Wales, UK.

My passion for technology was ignited during my childhood, with hours spent playing video games like Tekken 3 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. These early experiences sparked a curiosity in me that eventually led to my love for programming.

Before I transitioned into the world of tech, I worked as a primary school teacher. During the pandemic, I decided to teach myself to code, and that decision completely changed my career path. What I love most about development is the satisfaction of tackling and solving complex, real-world problems.

Below, you can find a list of my relevant skills, employment history, and education.

Skills

Frontend

Backend

Design

Testing

Misc

Employment history

Gibe Digital

Junior Developer (Sep 2024 - Present)

In this role, I am responsible for the maintenance and enhancement of a range of .NET/Umbraco sites. I work on developing bespoke functionality and building custom components within Umbraco to meet specific client requirements.

Additionally, I ensure that all sites are optimized for performance and scalability, and collaborate closely with frontend teams to deliver cohesive, high-quality user experiences. This position has involved working on complex, tailored solutions, which has strengthened my problem-solving skills and ability to adapt in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Spindogs

Frontend Developer (Oct 2021 - Aug 2024)

This role started as a graduate frontend developer, progressing to junior and then middleweight developer. I was responsible for building visual and interactive site elements, ensuring WCAG accessibility compliance, delivering accessibility audits, providing client training, and conducting research to enhance the frontend development process.

Working in a fast-paced agency environment, I developed strong skills in managing multiple projects, adapting to shifting priorities, and delivering high-quality work under tight deadlines.

Education

Umbraco

MVC and Visual Studio (May 2024)

Umbraco Fundamentals (May 2024)

MVC and Visual Studio

Gained expertise in working with Umbraco within Visual Studio, applying MVC patterns and best practices to develop advanced ASP.NET MVC applications. Proficient in leveraging Umbraco’s support for advanced routing, models, controllers, and views to build scalable, high-performance web applications.

Umbraco Fundamentals - Pass

Completed a comprehensive course on Umbraco Fundamentals, gaining a solid understanding of the platform’s core features. Developed skills in creating document types, templates, and navigation, while learning best practices for website architecture and design. Acquired hands-on experience in utilizing Umbraco’s built-in tools for managing content, media, and forms, and applying these to build functional, scalable websites.

Code Institute

Level 5 Diploma in Web Application Development (Oct 2021 - Oct 2022)

Grade - Merit

A full-stack web development course, with a focus on project-building, spanning multiple languages and frameworks, including:
• Front-end: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, React
• Back-end: Python (Flask/Django), MongoDB, PostgreSQL
• Testing: Jest
• Misc: Git, GitHub, Heroku

About Me