/CV

📑 Professional skills, education, experience

Ruth Baker

I want to use technology to positively impact the lives of users, and work with fantastic people to achieve our goals & maintain great software.

I've been a developer for over three years in FinTech. I'm a coding coach having been involved with codebar, Exercism, and my own coding club, which I find rewarding but also use to cement my knowledge by learning from others. After leaving my last job, I've been a volunteer web developer for Singing for Breathing RLH, providing an interactive songbook and an accessible low-carbon website, and, I've helped inform their policies to be more inclusive and welcoming. I keep a tech blog, contribute to Open Source, and attend tech events and learning sessions.

   🏅 2023 GitHub x Dev Hackathon Runner Up
   🏅 2019 Awarded Makers fellowship

I'm open to job offers! I hope to work directly with technology and be a driver of digital innovation. I'd love to work somewhere that,

  • Invests in the growth of developers and technology
  • Fosters openness and diversity
  • Writes quality code that's fun and interesting to maintain

Blog | Website | LinkedIn | GitHub

Professional Experience

Springer Nature, London

Associate Frontend Developer NOVEMBER 2023 - PRESENT

Alfa Financial Software, London

Software Engineer SEPTEMBER 2021 - MARCH 2023
Junior Software Engineer OCTOBER 2020 - SEPTEMBER 2021

  • I worked on client features and system improvements, delivered full-stack application software from domain to the user with release notes, e.g. displaying event history data from the db
  • Refactored and modularised sections of a well-established codebase
  • Used GDPR knowledge to develop changes to how personal data for businesses was handled
  • Gave guidance on decisions impacting users as a UI Community rep
  • Developed tools and ground-work for environmental accounting and internal improvements as a Environmental Impact Community rep
  • Wrote code with useful tests and reviewed pull requests and code changes, primarily in Java
  • Performed failure triage within my team’s area
  • Worked on a system availability project, as well as in the Cash, Search, Data Obfuscation and, Fixing areas of the code
  • Gave presentations on my work to wider teams and company-wide lightning talks on Unicode emoji, and decision ethics

Makers / Alfa Financial Software, London

Junior Software Engineer (Makers Fellow) SEPTEMBER 2019 - SEPTEMBER 2020

  • Contractor for Makers, working as a Junior for Alfa

Springer Nature, London

Project Coordinator JUNE 2018 - FEBRUARY 2019

  • I wrote user instructions in HTML for the online peer-review system
  • Established permissions requirements for a major user role
  • Liaised with developers on the feasibility of using publishing-data analysis to streamline and automate editorial work
  • Investigated issues with content, identified their causes and, optimised our processes as a result
  • Project managed GDPR strategy for non-compliant journals
🪗 Expand to see older work experience from 2009 to 2018 ...

BMC (BioMed Central), London

Editorial Operations Manager MAY 2017 - JUNE 2018
Senior Editorial Operations Coordinator APRIL 2013 - MAY 2017
Editorial Operations Coordinator JANUARY 2013 - APRIL 2013

  • Performed user testing of new features on the online system
  • Reworked system release notes in digest format for non-technical users
  • Used a triage-process to reduce backlog which lowered internal queries 90% over thirteen months and, peer-review time by 13%
  • Documented scripts for automatic system configurations in the browser
  • Managed a great team

Springer Healthcare, London

Print Production Coordinator OCTOBER 2009 - JANUARY 2013

  • Acted as quality control for digital and print products in proofing and production
  • Kept track of products & costs in the pipeline with designers and editors, using advanced Excel

Current Medicine Group Ltd, London

Office Administrator AUGUST 2009 - OCTOBER 2009
Office Assistant JUNE 2008 - AUGUST 2009

  • Made the office a great environment to work in!

Training and Education

Makers Academy, London
Fellow Alum, Computer Programming MAY 2019 - AUGUST 2019

  • Here I developed my coding knowledge, explored best-practises, & learned industry-standard software engineering methods, including: Agile, XP, pairing, BDD, TDD, and CI/CD.

University of West London (London College of Music and Media) 2003 - 2005

  • I earned a Music Technology Certificate of lifelong learning
  • Modules studied included Audio Technology, Programming, and Video Engineering
🪗 Expand to see sixth form and school education ...

St. Angela's and St. Bonaventure's Sixth Form Centre, London 2001 - 2003

  • A Levels in Music Technology and Physics
  • AS Levels in Psychology and General Studies

St. Angela's Ursuline School, London 1996 - 2000

  • Eleven GCSEs A-C
  • WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) award
Course name Course provider Year
Introduction to Web Accessibility
Accessibility UX		 W3Cx WAI0.1x
EdX		 2024
Accessibility Training for Developers (Advanced)
Accessibility UX Semantic HTML ARIA		 Hassell Inclusion
HSBC		 2023
Green Software for Practitioners
Science Technology UX Energy efficiency Sustainability		 The Linux Foundation
Green Software Foundation		 2023
Introduction to UX and Accessible Design
UX Web Development Semantic HTML Accessibility		 UAL Creative Computing Institute
FutureLearn		 2021
Create Accessible Interfaces
UX Web Development Semantic HTML Accessibility		 UAL Creative Computing Institute
FutureLearn		 2021
SHOC Software Design Principles
Design Modularisation Refactoring Java		 Codemanship 2021
Java Programming 1 & 2
Java Programming Testing		 Test Automation University 2021
Selenium WebDriver
Java Programming Test Automation		 Test Automation University 2021
🪗 Expand to see training from 1999 to 2020 ...
Course name Course provider Year
SQL Intermediate
Java Programming SQL UX		 Alfa 2020
User Experience
Java Programming SQL UX		 Alfa 2020
Demystifying Computation
Computer Science		 Raspberry Pi Foundation
FutureLearn		 2019
Digital Skills: User Experience
UX Accessibility		 Accenture
FutureLearn		 2019
Digital Skills: Analytics
UX Data Analysis		 Accenture
FutureLearn		 2019
Java Programming
Java Programming SQL UX		 Alfa 2019
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving Strategy		 Linda.com 2018
Strategic Thinking
Problem Solving Strategy		 Linda.com 2018
Project Management
Problem Solving Strategy Project Management		 Linda.com 2018
Programming for Everybody
Python Programming		 University of Michigan
Coursera		 2015
SQL Introduction
SQL		 Acuity Training Ltd 2013
Mentoring
Mentor Coaching Communication		 Dance United 2013
Computer-Aided Design And Manufacturing
CAD/CAM		 WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) 1999

Other Interests

🎵 I am a participant of a community group called Singing for Breathing, which uses music to benefit people with breathlessness. I have fundraised for them, organised a talk with their founders for Clean Air Day, and I have collaborated with them on an open-source website and online song book.

🐝 I'm a nature lover and citizen scientist. I've volunteered as a BeeWalker for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust since 2017, collecting bumblebee abundance data for the iRecord database and conservation research. In my local community I have been providing insight and feedback regarding a major park development, and bee-friendly land maintenance.

💃 I taught dance in the late 90s, and I continue to be a dance enthusiast. I volunteered as a Transcriber for Rambert Voices in 2016/17; as a Mentor with Dance United in 2013/14; a Performer for the Olympic Ceremonies in 2012; and raised funds for Singing for Breathing with an Around the World Dance Marathon in 2023.

🏹 I am a member of Archery GB, and although I'm quite new to the sport, I am proud to have been placed top in the Kent Archery League 2023 tournament at my club, and to have become classified as Archer, 2nd Class.