A senior software engineer you rely on to:
Bring a product-first mindset
I won't just wait around for Jira tickets! I'm excited to collaborate with teammates and creators to design and build out the Creator Network—and to devise more ways to help creators make a living online.
Code across the stack
With expertise in Rails, JavaScript, and Tailwind, I'm just as comfortable building performant, logical, and tested back-ends as I am coding—and even designing—accessible UIs.
Stay curious
My career has been defined by change and adaptation—I've come a long way from my start as a teacher! I only have a little direct experience with machine learning and algorithms, but I'm pumped to learn for this next chapter.
More than making it "look pretty"
Front-end development is still my first love—I've been coding HTML and CSS since 2012, and still today, polishing UIs into their most performant, accessible selves is one of my favorite things.
I have extensive experience with React, and I've used it for everything from SalesForce integrations to programming robots. As a consultant, I've worked with more JavaScript frameworks than I'd care to mention, and I'm confident I can step into ConvertKit's /components directory on day one.
I use Tailwind for CSS almost exclusively—even this microsite is built with Tailwind—and I'm excited to see ConvertKit do the same.
I wrote a bit back in 2020 about why I think Tailwind is a great choice for teams »
All hooked up
I have eight years of experience in MVC frameworks, including Laravel, Django, and for the last three years, Ruby on Rails.
With the Rails apps at my current position, I manage full feature builds from back to front, and have undertaken deeper technical challenges like framework and language upgrades. I also take full advantage of newer Rails features like Turbo and Stimulus wherever possible to reduce code complexity and bundle sizes.
In the last few years, I've built apps that have sold over $1m/year in custom apparel, educated school-age kids about the dangers of misinformation online, and managed reservations for a James Beard award-winning restaurant.
What to build—and why to build
I believe that technologists can make uniquely excellent product strategists. By combining a deep understanding of what's technically possible and a willingness to dive into the work of others with respect and empathy, we can uncover potentially life-changing opportunities to improve.
At Unreasonable, I've uncovered several opportunities to improve the lives of the social-impact entrepreneurs we serve—I wrote about one such feature in my application—and succeeded in tilting the engineering team's culture towards a more iterative, feedback-driven working style. After launching a particularly collaborative project, our Chief Strategy Officer had this to say:
"... just wanted to say that I watched the [product demo] video and it's brilliant. It's well thought-out and just super smart and easy to use. I would love to dive into how you developed it when we [chat next] because whatever you did, we need to do more of."
— Wayne Matamoros, Chief Strategy Officer at Unreasonable
Cam wants to work at ConvertKit
The internet in 2023 is a bit of a strange place. The connected-world optimism of Web 2.0 has thoroughly shattered, and we're stuck in a holding pattern, waiting to see what comes next.
It's easy now to be cynical and assume what comes next will inevitably be worse than before. For me, ConvertKit offers an antidote to that cynicism: a small team in a bootstrapped company, unbeholden to investors or VCs, building tools for people who want to use the internet to teach, coach, inform, or entertain—creators who are doing a complex, challenging thing by putting their expertise and passion out into the world. I have a deep admiration for the work they do.
Moreover, every encounter I've had with the ConvertKit team has been so enjoyable. The Engineering team's blog is super smart and refreshing in its transparency. I'm an avid reader of Nathan Barry's newsletters, have been subscribed to CharliMarieTV for over a year (and appreciated the tips for applying to ConvertKit in her most vlog), and loved Amy Newell's talk on Somatics at last year's RailsConf.
Team has become the most important factor as I've advanced in my career. Working with folks you admire and who challenge you—while doing work that feels truly valuable—is a rare combination. But it feels like the norm at ConvertKit, and I'm excited to apply.