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About Me

James King

I'm James King, a Chief Technical Officer and AI-Augmented Software Engineer based in Redditch, UK. I leverage AI daily to build production features safely, with proven experience delivering high-compliance systems processing millions in payments.

I write AI skills and guidelines to improve development workflows and am a passionate advocate of test automation and best practices in software development.

Skills

AI-Augmented Development

  • OpenCode (with Claude & Ollama models)
  • AI Pair Programming
  • Safety Review Process
  • Writing AI Skills and Guidelines
  • Prompt Engineering

Backend

  • Laravel
  • PHP
  • Symfony
  • Node.js
  • JSON REST APIs
  • GraphQL

Frontend

  • JavaScript
  • React
  • AlpineJS
  • TailwindCSS
  • CSS

Cloud & Infrastructure

  • AWS
  • DigitalOcean
  • Hetzner
  • 20i
  • Cloudflare R2
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • Terraform
  • Ansible

Database

  • MySQL
  • MariaDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • KeyDB
  • Valkey

Tools & Practices

  • GitHub Actions
  • Linux
  • Server Administration
  • WordPress
  • WooCommerce
  • Test-driven Development
  • Pest
  • PHPUnit

Leadership

  • Technical Leadership
  • Architecture Decisions
  • Code Review
  • Mentorship
  • Stakeholder Management
  • WCAG AA Accessibility

Experience

Chief Technical Officer

Varsuite Media Group Ltd
Nov 2024 - Present
  • Took over development from an outsourced team who were not delivering; secured and stabilized insecure WordPress and Laravel client sites
  • Migrated 100+ websites from multiple hosting platforms (primarily AWS) to 20i Reseller hosting, reducing hosting costs by ~70% and improving reliability
  • Introduced development standards: coding conventions, code review process, and client issue reporting workflows
  • Established new site onboarding process for clients joining the agency
  • Led technical delivery across all production websites, ensuring 99.99% uptime
  • AI-Augmented: Introduced AI tools to speed up development safely, writing team guidelines for AI-assisted coding

PHP Developer

Wider Plan Ltd
Mar 2018 - Nov 2024
  • Developed features for Wider Plan salary sacrifice system and Gov.UK services
  • Collaborated within an 8-developer team delivering government services under strict compliance and WCAG AA accessibility constraints
  • Converted CI/CD pipeline from legacy Jenkins to GitHub Actions with custom runner VMs
  • Active code reviewer via GitHub PRs, ensuring high code quality and test coverage
  • Maintained large Symfony codebase supporting payment systems processing millions
  • Devised automated tests in PHPUnit: Acceptance, Feature and Unit testing

Senior Developer

Just Checking Ltd
May 2015 - Mar 2018
  • Promoted from Web Application Developer to Senior Developer (November 2016)
  • Mentored Junior Developers who went on to become Senior Developers
  • Delivered full-stack features end-to-end for prototype projects and main application
  • Created development tooling for a legacy platform
  • Migrated from Microsoft SQL Server to PostgreSQL and Windows Server to Ubuntu

Temporary Web Developer

Real Point Design Ltd

May 2014 - Oct 2014
  • Delivered full-stack features end-to-end for Laravel systems
  • Worked on projects including a major BBC project
  • Established coding standards and way of working with Laravel
  • CentOS system administration for cloud servers

Junior Web Developer

Trakware Solutions Ltd

May 2013 - May 2014
  • Industrial placement during University
  • Set up open source on GitHub for in-house JavaScript framework
  • Managed AWS cloud services
  • Delivered full-stack features and bug fixes

Side Projects

Varsuite Core Ltd

Chief Technical Officer

Dec 2024 - Present

Multi-tenant SaaS platform for agency site management, supporting 80+ websites

  • Architected and built multi-tenant SaaS platform in Laravel 11
  • Pioneered scalable Kubernetes cluster using infrastructure-as-code, achieving zero-downtime deployments
  • Implemented CI/CD pipelines in GitHub Actions with automated testing using Pest
  • Authored coding standards and code review practices (PSR12, Rector)
  • Delivered full billing integration with Paddle, training other team members
  • AI-Augmented: Use OpenCode with Claude & Ollama daily for code generation, safety-reviewed before production
https://www.vs-core.com

Momentum Studio Ltd

Owner / Founder

Apr 2018 - Dec 2024

Digital agency founded while working freelance in evenings and weekends

  • Founded and ran own digital agency, handling all aspects from sales and marketing to technical delivery
  • Delivered end-to-end projects using Laravel, WordPress, WooCommerce, cPanel, Linux and Shopify
  • Developed own coding standards and CI/CD pipelines
  • Created custom tooling to aid Linux system administration
  • Registered Shopify Partner
  • Managed all client communication, project delivery, and billing

Education

BSc (Hons) Web Programming

2011 - 2015

Staffordshire University, Stafford

4-year course including 1-year industrial placement. Final year project won GradEx for the web category.

Achievements

  • GradEx 2015 Winner (Web Category) - Final year project won web category
  • Posters in Parliament 2016 - Presented final year project in London to industry leaders and MPs