Delivering the application the client needs, properly tested and documented.

I have started my career as a software engineer in June 2010 at Siemens PSE working with Java and related technologies. The main focus of our projects was to develop Web Services to be used in the Telecommunications industry.

In 2013 I had the chance to switch to working in Python. Thus I started working for 3Pillar Global and our client was PBS. We mainly used Django-related technologies and made use of AWS products (like S3 and SWF). During my time on this team I gained more experience in working with the client to develop and improve the business model and I also acquired a certain discipline in structuring a project, be it a small application or a larger ecosystem encompassing several components.

Because I wanted to delve more into software architecture, I switched to a project developed for NPR. The task was to maintain and improve a legacy system that kept track of the popularity of podcasts. The initial technology stack included: the Kohana PHP framework, MySQL, ElasticSearch, MongoDB. These were to be replaced with Python, Google BigQuery and Mode Analytics.

After 9 years of working as a software engineer, I decided to take a break start travelling the World, volunteering in fields that I was very little or not at all familiar with. I worked on a farm in Croatia and learnt more about horses on a farm and equestrian centre in Portugal.

Returning home because of the COVID pandemic, I worked for a company that developed an e-learning platform for information security. The technology stack was pretty much the same: Python & Django + RabbitMQ and Celery.

I wanted a change from this corporate type of work so I decided to try out being a freelancer for a change, teaching programming and Python and working on small projects that ideally involved technologies that I wasn't familiar with.

Work Terms

Hours of operation:
1) flexible, depending on the needs of the project and my schedule. But it is also up for discussion based on the needs of the client.
2) I will let you know when I will NOT be available at all.

Payment terms:
a) For new projects:
1) we can establish a fixed price based on the initial requirements, but they must be well defined. Work for additional requirements will be charged separately by the hour.
2) I would like an up-front payment of 15-20% of the established value. The rest can be done when you are satisfied with the work.
3) Additional requirements will usually be implemented AFTER the product is delivered and paid for.
b) For maintenance services: the payment may be done in monthly installments based on the amount of hours spent working for the project.

Preferred communication style:
1) anything related to requirements should be recorded in a version-controlled document
2) urgent matters must be discussed on Skype or WhatsApp, but any requirement changes must be written up in the above-mentioned document.
3) any other matters should be discussed via email. If it is not urgent, please do not contact me via Skype/WhatsApp. In case of emails, please do not expect an immediate response, but I will try to respond within 48h, provided I have not notified you of my absence (as mentioned in Hours of operation, point #2)