This document provides as an insight into my work history, work style and how to effectively communicate with me. The overarching theme is that I believe believe clear and kind communication is key, as it is essential for a productive and healthy team.

I am a versatile Software Engineer passionate about crafting high-quality, maintainable code with comprehensive test coverage. As a polyglot developer, I've successfully worked across multiple languages, technologies, and programming paradigms.

My values include inclusive collaboration, constructive feedback, and continuous learning.

I'm a strong advocate for remote work and asynchronous communication and have shared my knowledge through public speaking engagements. My engineering philosophy balances technical excellence with practical solutions, ensuring we deliver value while maintaining code quality and extensibility.

I am currently engaged full time with Rail Europe - is a platform that provides customers the option to book travel on a number of different rail operators without having to understand the routes and carriers. I worked on the customer facing website. Some career highlights include

• Led architectural design and front-end development team in platform modernisation initiative, expanding the Business-to-Business (B2B) backend to support new Business-to-Customer (B2C) capabilities while reducing system complexity and duplication. Tech Stack: Svelte, Sveltekit, Ruby, Rails, AWS (EC2, S3)
• Oversaw the B2C in a fully remote team working through all different timezones building features for their customer facing website, bringing in the majority of the company’s revenue during a pandemic. Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React, AWS (EC2, S3) Single handedly extended the website to support unlimited travel pass sales, the biggest new offering for the company since its inception. Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React
• Owned the mobile apps (iOS/Android) and the API they consumed Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React, Swift, Kotlin

Prior to joining Rail Europe, I worked at 8th Light, a software and web development consultancy that values continuous learning and crafting clean, durable, and elegant code. As a consultant, I worked on various clients and domains and have the following highlights:

• Joined an established remote team as tech lead, quickly ramped up on a new domain and technologies. Onboarded and mentored team members in Ukraine and Mexico, both remotely and face-to-face. Tech Stack: Python, Django, React, AWS (EC2, S3), ElasticSearch, Ansible
• Designed and led an initiative to build a private REST API in a large Django app to separate out admin routes from the public-facing API, creating a separate component for administrative tasks not suited to Django Admin. Tech Stack: Python, Django, Django REST, Pytest, React
• Built an Electron app deployed on public-facing self-service terminals. Tech Stack: JavaScript, React, Electron, Node, Mocha, Chai
• Gained proficiency in numerous other languages, including Ruby, Java, Clojure, and Rust.
• Led a diversity initiative in partnership with blackgirl.tech, which trained three interns from underrepresented groups with limited technical experience and helped them secure their first jobs as Software Developers.
• Mentored an apprentice, providing training and support during their first job in the tech industry, and acted as a professional development manager (line manager).

I primarily operate within the Mountain Time Zone (UTC-7), although I frequently travel and adjust my work schedule to align with my current location. I prefer to start and finish work early (ie. 7:30-15:30), starting my day with a gym session and promptly diving into work.

When traveling, I strive to maintain a similar routine, taking into account time zones and other obligations.

You can reach me through Slack, which I check at least once an hour even when doing focused work. I check my email twice a day (start and end of the day). If you need to reach me, it's best to send me a Slack message. I prefer not to receive phone calls or unexpected video calls, but I am always available for pre-planned video calls. I usually turn on my video during calls and appreciate if you do the same, but please don't feel obliged if you're not comfortable with it.

I believe that meetings should only be held if necessary, and their outcome can't be achieved through emails or written communication. In my experience, the same people tend to speak the most in meetings and usually the loudest person gets their way. I find with written communication, people are able to be more considered, and those who may not speak up as much in meetings can have their points heard.

I embrace feedback as a means of growth and improvement. I believe that all feedback is kind, and that feedback from those I respect is always intended to help me grow; this goes both ways, and I strive to share feedback as much as possible. I aim to provide constructive feedback, phrasing my feedback as questions where possible, and amplify my colleagues by sending public shoutouts. I always strive to deliver my feedback gently, and appreciate receiving it in this way as well.

• Website: www.pelensky.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pelensky/