João Almeida Santos

Full-Stack Developer
Former Medical Doctor

About Me

I started programming for a personal project back in 2020. What began as a hobby grew into a passion that ultimately led me to shift careers after 11 years in Medicine.

Today, as a full-stack developer, I collaborate effectively with both teammates and clients, thanks to my tactful communication style and fluency in 5 languages.

I enjoy working in challenging and evolving environments, on projects that improve the user experience and that have a meaningful impact on our world.

Experience

Nov 2024 - present

Full-Stack Developer @ Observador

  • • Created a backoffice to allow customer service to manage clients' data
  • • Performed a major dependency upgrade (PHP, node.js and npm packages)
  • • Collaborated with external clients for content syndication, building endpoints and RSS feeds
  • • Improved our DX:
  • • Streamlined our Bitbucket CI/CD pipeline with YAML anchors
  • • Removed the build files from the repo, building on the pipeline
  • • Added pre-commit hooks to format and linter our code
  • TypeScript
  • PHP
  • Go
  • WordPress

Sep 2023 - Nov 2024

Full-Stack Developer @ Vita

  • • Migrated the web app, from WordPress and Vue.js to React and React Native
  • • Enforced minimal technical debt through rigorous code standards, code reviews, and automated testing
  • TypeScript
  • PHP
  • React.js
  • React Native
  • Node.js
  • WordPress

Sep 2022 - Sep 2023

Full-Stack Developer @ haelsi

  • • Cut down response times, by optimising SQL queries
  • • Improved business intelligence for the commercial team, by developing endpoints for KPI extraction
  • • Created a staging environment, by containerizing the app with Docker Compose
  • • Created tests for every new feature (QUnit and PHPUnit)
  • • Automated routine tasks with Python scripts
  • JavaScript
  • PHP
  • Python
  • Ember.js
  • Laravel

Jan 2022 - Jun 2022

Software Engineer Intern @ Critical TechWorks

  • • Developed the frontend (HMI) of the BMW’s cars’ infotainment
  • • Added new features, with corresponding Unit Tests
  • C++
  • Qt

Jun 2020 - Dec 2021

Graduate Student Researcher @ Universidade de Lisboa

  • • Studied the clustering of fast-food restaurants around schools
  • • Analysed geospatial data
  • Python
  • R

Mar 2018 - Jul 2021

Medical Doctor @ ARSLVT & AP-HP

  • • Worked in the ER department of the largest hospital in the country
  • • Attended clerkships in Paris (>1y) and Uppsala