Rafe Colton

: rafecolton.com
: rafecolton
: /in/rafecolton

Summary

Positive and optimistic, with 10 years of professional experience writing custom software across the entire stack. Operating with a bias towards action and a grounded, empathetic demeanor. You can find me in a growing engineering team that values mentorship, collaboration, learning, and courage.

Technical Skills

Most Proficient / Current Stack

  • Frontend: React, jQuery, HTML, SCSS
  • Backend PHP, C++
  • Database: SQLite, MySQL, Bedrock
  • Infra Services: Elasticsearch, Rsyslog, Kibana, Icinga1/Nagios4, Collectd, Nginx, Systemd
  • Dev / Infra Tools: SaltStack, fabric, Python3, Terraform, Bash, Ubuntu, Vim, Git, GitHub
  • AWS Services: EC2, S3, IAM, CloudFront, Route 53
  • Hardware: Lenovo SR950, Lenovo SR530

Other Noteworthy

WordPress, Go (Golang), Docker, Ansible

Other Noteworthy (Less Recent)

PostgreSQL, Redis, Ruby, Rbenv, Rspec, Sinatra, Rails, Chef, RabbitMQ, SmartOS, Joyent/SDC, Redux

Work Experience

Expensify: Site Reliability EngineerJan 2020–PresentPortland, OR

Currently working on infrastructure at Expensify.

Himalayan Institute: Web Development ManagerOct 2015–Dec 2019 (4 years, 2 months)Honesdale, PA

  • Built the web team and the entire web presence from scratch. Conducted hiring activities for web, marketing, A/V, and graphic design, and established best practices, working methodologies, and yearly roadmaps.
  • Responsible for conceptualizing, planning, coordinating, and executing all web products, including two full WordPress sites, two mini-sites (same domain, different branding), a Shopify site, an internal documentation website, and a $150k/yr membership program. Primary stack included WordPress (PHP) and React/Redux.
  • Acquired $7k/yr in grants on AWS and Azure and built custom monitoring and integrations platform, leveraging Go (Golang), Ansible, Terraform, Icinga2, and Docker.

Apple: Software EngineerMar 2015–Sep 2015 (7 months)Cupertino, CA

Maintained software platform that managed infrastructure deployment and automation for Maps. Developed full-stack using Rails, Sinatra, AngularJS, PostgreSQL, and Redis.

ModCloth: Software Engineer Oct 2012–Dec 2014 (2 years, 3 months)Pittsburgh, PA / San Francisco, CA

Served on multiple teams, providing deployment tools, infrastructure automation for Ubuntu and SmartOS, and back-end services. Installed, configured, and operated persistance and communication layer, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, Memcached, and RabbitMQ. Primary languages included Go (Golang) and Ruby, with scripting in Bash. Used Chef, Ansible, and Docker for provisioning, configuration management, and containerization.

Kemists: Software Engineer Jun 2012–Sep 2012 (4 months)Pittsburgh, PA

Full-stack development in Ruby on Rails & JavaScript; iOS 5 development using Objective-C, Cordova, & JavaScript

Fireman Creative: Web Development Intern Dec 2011–Apr 2012 (5 months)Pittsburgh, PA

Full-stack development for small business customers using WordPress, PHP, LESS, jQuery, and MySQL

Apple Store, Shadyside: ExpertMay 2018–May 2011 (3 years)Pittsburgh, PA

Lead sales, facilitated daily operations, mentored new-hires, assisted in new store openings & other special events

Talks & Publications
Education

Bachelor of Science, Computer Science with Honors, University of Pittsburgh, Summa Cum Laude (2012)
Bachelor of Arts, Politics & Philosophy, University of Pittsburgh, Cum Laude (2010)