Who I am

Greetings! I'm Charlie Jackson, a professional software developer and comedian, based in London, UK. I’ve been building websites, mobile apps, backend services and internet of things products professionally since 2013. Both for very small start-ups that I’ve helped grow exponentially then get acquired and for much larger companies with their own teams and existing technologies.

My expertise lies in JavaScript, React, and React Native, although my skill set spans across a wide range of technologies. My clientele includes diverse sectors like hospitality, web3, healthcare, B2B, Ministry of Defence, police services, and the entertainment industry, working in scenarios where accessibility, life-saving tech, code coverage, maintenance, and development speed are paramount.

Charlie Jackson with lights
Charlie Jackson profile picture

Technologies I’ve worked with

JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.js, PHP, Python, CSS, HTML, Java, Swift, React, React Native, Next.js, Gatsby, Redux, Redux Toolkit, Redux-Persist, Express.js, GraphQL, Apollo, React Navigation, Lottie, Tailwind, SASS, Styled Components, CSS-in-JS, Expo, Apple App Store, Google Play Store, lazy loading, React Suspense, ChatGPT API, Google Apps Script, Playwright, Jest, Cypress, Puppeteer, Cucumber.js, Webdriver.io, Appium, Mocha, Chai, Browserstack, SQL, Postgres, MySQL, BigQuery, NoSQL, Firebase, Firebase Realtime Database, Firestore, Firebase Object Storage, REST, WebSockets, Socket.IO, Postman, Vite, Webpack, Gulp, Git, Yarn, Lerna, Google Cloud Platform, GCP, AWS, Firebase, Heroku, Vercel, Digital Ocean, Sentry, LogRocket, Hotjar, Google Analytics, Docker, CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Fastlane, ESLint, Prettier

Key Skills

JavaScript, TypeScript, Node.JS, React, React Native

These are the core technologies I use to build websites, mobile apps and backend services. I have been working with these professionally since 2013 and for some time personally before that as well. These are technologies I know incredibly well.

Entrepreneurship

I have spent most of my career running or working with start-ups as well as having an MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from UCL. Most notably I joined WalkUp when we were 6 people and helped grow us exponentially and get acquired by Dojo. I have a lot of experience in making start-ups work and the challenges faced building tech products under heavy restrictions.

Principle Engineer

Since 2018 I have been working as a lead/principle engineer. Building/hiring teams of permanent employees and contractors as well as mentoring more junior developers. This has involved engaging with stake holders and making critical infrastructure and development decisions.

Code Quality

Maintaining superior code quality is a cornerstone of my work ethic. I have been instrumental in establishing 100% code coverage environments and have also thrived in swift-moving start-ups where strategic compromises are essential. Even when navigating through such compromises for pace or budget, I staunchly uphold top-notch standards for the pivotal elements of the projects I handle.

Maintainability

As a freelance developer and someone who has over 100 open source projects, writing clear and documented code that can be easily picked up by other developers is very important to me. I have spent a lot of time teaching and understanding what it’s like to be learning a new technology or code base and reflect that in the way I write code.

Comedian

Away from code, I’m a professional comedy teacher and performer. My journey involves performing and teaching improvised and clown comedy across London, and even integrating comedy with tech in the form of React-based acts at various conferences and tech events. This comedic perspective adds a unique twist to my tech engagements, making a partnership with me more than your typical developer-client experience.

Why me?

  • I am an expert in building web and mobile apps with JavaScript, React and React Native

  • I have extensive start-up experience in companies that have failed horribly, done okay and some which have done exceptionally well

  • I engage very well with stake holders and non technical folk

  • I am a professional improv and clown comedian - it makes programming way more fun, ask anyone I’ve worked with 🤡

  • I will not bullshit you and I raise concerns very early and loudly

  • Having run my own start-ups and been involved in many more I am very sensitive to scope, timelines and budget

  • I only work with companies when I care about what we’re building

How I work

  • I’m open to all opportunities, get in touch to see where I am at the moment.

  • This can depend on your requirements, I’ve had many clients where they only require 3 or 4 days a week, and some where they require more commitment. Both have worked well. I work within usual working hours for London, UK unless I am travelling.

  • My usual workspace is my home office in London, UK. However, I'm open to visiting client's offices in and around London when necessary. For clients located further away, I'm willing to make occasional on-site visits.

  • I will always be in touch multiple times on every day I am working for you. The method depends on your usual methods of communication, whether this is Slack, email or other tools. I tend to start the day with a message detailing what I will be working on and ending the day with a message about the progress.

  • I highly recommend an issue tracking tool such as Jira or even Trello if you have nothing. These kind of tools help us to track all the work we’ve agreed on, any bugs that arise and when tasks start to take longer than expected.

    Code will use version control such as Git and usually hosted on Github/ BitBucket with client access to it at all times.

  • I work at a Lead/Principal Engineer level based in London, UK, and my rates reflect this expertise. As my pricing is periodically updated, please contact me for the most up-to-date rates.

    I typically charge on a per-day basis, based on a 7-hour workday. For smaller projects or tasks, I’m happy to offer hourly billing. Invoices are issued either at project completion or at the start of each month for ongoing work.

  • In most projects I undertake, there's a good chance I'll come across a technology (be it a library or service) that's new to me. This is quite typical and generally not a cause for concern as I adapt and learn swiftly. If a project calls for a programming language that I'm not as proficient in, rest assured, I'll voice any potential issues prior to initiating our collaboration.

  • The duration of a project varies. A straightforward website could be up and running in a few weeks, while simple mobile apps may take 1 to 3 months. Most fresh web or mobile apps that I've worked on typically have a customer-ready first release in 2 to 4 months. Larger-scale projects, however, may require a longer time frame.

  • I am happy to work by myself, with your team or to hire a team on your behalf. I have done all of these approaches before and they all work for me.