Curriculum Vitae

I am Jonathan Rothwell BSc., a software developer, writer, and public speaker. I am based in London in the United Kingdom.

Please use masculine pronouns (in English: he, him, his) when referring to me in the third person. (They, them, theirs are also OK.)

Profile

I am currently a Software Engineer at Zuhlke Engineering Ltd. in London.

My key interests are in ethical software design, accessible user experiences, and mobile apps.

I hold a BSc. with First Class Honours in Computer Science from Queen Mary, University of London.

I believe that software is just like any tool: it can be used and abused. I think it is our moral duty as technologists to engage our social conscience when designing and building software, and work towards an inclusive, kinder tech industry. One that doesn’t “change the world” for the sake of it.

Conference talks

I have presented several talks at technology conferences and meetups throughout Europe. Please see the Conference Talks page for more details.

  • So You Can Sleep At Night… ethics in software engineering (2017 et seq.) In a post-truth world where we entrust our identities to faceless advertising companies, how can we be ethical software developers? Co-written and presented with Steve Freeman.
  • Sausages, Antennagate and Brexit - an introduction to building accessible apps (2017 et seq.) An unconventional look at how we build apps to be accessible, using the social model of disability.

Articles

Skills

I’ve been programming on and off since age five. In addition to recent work on iOS mobile apps in Swift and a little Objective-C, and some limited experience with Android development, I have a good working knowledge of Kotlin, server-side Java, client-side JavaScript and the HTML5/CSS3 stack, and some rudimentary knowledge of Ruby, Python, and shell scripting.

I advocate for Test Driven Development (TDD), and believe particularly strongly in the value of unit testing complex logic, and running light but thorough integration tests at regular intervals. I am also interested in exploratory testing and user testing to detect defects with accessibility, and general problems with usability.

I am familiar with Agile development methodologies. As a consultant I have worked with, observed, and coached Scrum and Kanban teams, and have regularly run well-received retrospectives. In my first software job, one of my projects was developing a prototype Kanban board for web browsers.

I write a personal blog, and also write blog posts on occasion for the Zuhlke web site. I also contributed an article to a book compiled by Zuhlke colleagues in Switzerland. I have written and presented several well-received conference talks.

I can also speak and read French to GCSE level, can understand some basic German, and can read a little Dutch, Turkish, and Danish.

Career History

  • Software Engineer, Zuhlke Engineering Ltd. (July 2015—date) Designing and building well-engineered software solutions for demanding clients, and coaching them to improve their processes and development practices.

  • Teaching Assistant, Queen Mary, University of London (September 2014—March 2015) Part time demonstration/lab work for three undergraduate modules. This involved supervising labs, marking work, and mentoring students.

  • Associate Developer, ServiceNow (UK) (July 2013—June 2014) Application development for internal systems and features shipped to customers. Industrial placement as part of my degree.

Education

Queen Mary, University of London (2011—2015)

First Class Honours, BSc Computer Science (with Industrial Experience).

Woking College (2009—2011)

Details available on request.

Outside interests

I’ve been fascinated by space since childhood, and science fiction has been a lifelong passion. I am an occasional writer of science fiction stories, and am currently editing my third novel. I also enjoy analysing the themes and tropes that emerge and recur in sci-fi stories.

Outside this, you might find me reading, cycling, swimming, taking photographs, travelling by train, or playing around with electronic music and sound effects. I also spend some time campaigning for safer streets in and around London with the London Cycling Campaign.