Juan Camilo Castañeda Mendez

💼 Work Experience

Senior Frontend Developer

9North, Remote – (Sep 2022 - Present)

• As a Senior Frontend Developer at 9North, I perform a variety of tasks to ensure the success of our clients' online campaigns. One of my key responsibilities is creating lightboxes for donation campaigns, which requires a keen eye for detail and an understanding of user behavior. I also use Google GTM to control the visibility and tracking of these lightboxes, ensuring that they are seen by the right people at the right time.
• In addition to my work with lightboxes, I also build complex landing pages from designs created in Photoshop. This requires a high degree of technical skill and creativity, as I must balance the visual appeal of the page with its functionality and load times.
• Another area of my expertise is enhancing the functionality of multiple WordPress websites by adding JavaScript and CSS. This allows me to customize the user experience and create dynamic, engaging websites that meet the needs of our clients.
• I also use JavaScript, HTML, and CSS to extend the functionality of closed platforms, improving their UI designs and user experience. This requires a deep understanding of the underlying technologies and the ability to work within a complex technical environment.
• Finally, I pride myself on my ability to deliver high performance, completing large backlogs of tasks during high-demand seasons for customers. This requires a strong work ethic and a dedication to meeting deadlines and exceeding expectations.

Software Engineer

Torre Labs, Remote – (Oct 2020 - Aug 2022)

• As a Software Engineer at Torre Labs, I developed multiple microservices using various programming languages and frameworks, such as Node.js, Django, Scala, and the Play framework, to handle high-volume traffic. These microservices were essential in maintaining a smooth user experience, even during peak traffic periods.
• Additionally, I created high-performance and SEO-optimized front-ends using Nuxt and Vue.js. These front-ends were not only visually appealing, but also helped to improve the website's overall search engine ranking, resulting in more organic traffic.
• To improve the website's awareness channels, I built a custom Python database visualization library that provided valuable insights and data. By retrieving this information, we were able to identify the most effective awareness channels and focus our efforts accordingly.
• To increase the number of users acquired through organic traffic, I implemented virality and SEO functionalities, such as referral systems and auto-generated category pages. These functionalities significantly improved our website's organic traffic and user acquisition.
• To simplify the authentication architecture, I created a middleware microservice that streamlined the authentication process, making it more efficient and user-friendly.
• Finally, I migrated subdomain microservices to a single domain by implementing a custom reverse proxy using Nginx. This migration helped to improve the website's overall performance and made it easier to maintain.

Software Developer

Hablame SA ESP, Bogotá, Colombia – (Aug 2020 - Oct 2020)

• As a Software Developer at Hablame SA ESP, I developed a custom end-to-end framework for microservice testing using JavaScript and Node.js. The framework was designed to ensure the reliability and scalability of the software, as well as handle high volumes of traffic and data.
• Additionally, I built multiple high-volume microservices using Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and JavaScript. These microservices were optimized for performance and incorporated best practices to handle high volumes of traffic and data.
• To further improve the reliability and security of the microservices, I implemented architectural changes to prevent fraud in an SMS delivery gateway microservice. These changes were crucial in ensuring the security and integrity of the microservice, as well as preventing unauthorized access and fraudulent activity.

Software Developer

Comtor, Bogotá, Colombia – (Nov 2019 - Aug 2020)

• As a Software Developer at Comtor, my responsibilities included creating and maintaining CRMs and data processing software for telecommunication companies using Java and Spring Boot. I designed and implemented efficient systems capable of handling high volumes of data and traffic, while ensuring software reliability and scalability.
• Additionally, I played a crucial role in maintaining high-performance mobile apps written in Java and Flutter. I also introduced new technologies to the current stack, including Vue.js, React, and Flutter, to improve performance and productivity. I created interfaces for custom CRMs using plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as high-performance front-ends using React and Vue.js.

Software Developer

Comtor, Bogotá, Colombia – (Nov 2019 - Aug 2020)

• As a Software Developer at Comtor, my responsibilities included creating and maintaining CRMs and data processing software for telecommunication companies using Java and Spring Boot. I designed and implemented efficient systems capable of handling high volumes of data and traffic, while ensuring software reliability and scalability.
• Additionally, I played a crucial role in maintaining high-performance mobile apps written in Java and Flutter. I also introduced new technologies to the current stack, including Vue.js, React, and Flutter, to improve performance and productivity. I created interfaces for custom CRMs using plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as high-performance front-ends using React and Vue.js.

Skills

Javascript/Typescript

I've been working with Javascript/Typescript for over 4 years now and it is my "native" programming language. I've used it extensively for front-end development with React and Vue, as well as for back-end development for building APIs using Node, Express, and Prisma. Additionally, I have used it for testing automation with Jest, which has enabled me to write robust and reliable unit tests for my projects. My experience and familiarity with this language have allowed me to become proficient and productive with it, making it my go-to choice for most of my projects.

Rust

I've recently begun to learn Rust and I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience so far. While it has been challenging, I find it to be a good challenge, one that keeps me engaged and motivated to continue learning. While I'm not yet proficient in the language, I've already had the opportunity to work on some features and fixes on my own, which has helped me to better understand the language and its features. Overall, I'm excited to continue learning Rust and see where it takes me in my journey as a software engineer.

Java/Scala

So, in my work, I've been using Java and Scala to build some pretty cool microservices. These languages have some seriously solid capabilities and powerful frameworks like Spring and Akka to build distributed systems. I've used their strengths in object-oriented and functional programming and strong typing to make sure the code's reliable and easy to maintain. In the end, Java and Scala are totally invaluable when it comes to building scalable microservices that can handle tons of traffic and data with some serious high performance.

Python

Python has been my jam for both data science and microservices at work. It's got some killer libraries like Pandas, NumPy, and Scikit-Learn that make it a breeze to handle massive data sets. Plus, Python's all-around awesomeness as a programming language makes it perfect for building microservices. I've used frameworks like Flask and Django to create web apps that can handle a ton of traffic and easily mix 'n' match with other systems.

Languages

Spanish 🇪🇸 🇨🇴

Native speaker

English 🇺🇸

Proficient speaker

Articles and Talks

• Who are the winners of the GameJam Uniandes?

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Systems and Computing Engineering
2017 - 2020 (unfinished)
University of the andes  - Bogotá, Colombia.