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Ross Olson

Digital Producer in
Vancouver, Washington.

About Me

There are an infinite number of experiences that a person can have in their lifetime. While I explore mine, I want to help others have good experiences whenever and wherever they connect with me and my work.

While new technologies and platforms are created every day, there is one piece of hardware that has only changed a bit in the last thousand years. Homo Sapien, that hairless ape, is banging new rocks together, starting new fires. Driving each one of them is a set of needs and desires. Where those needs and wants can be satisfied though digital tools, I want to be there.

I've been working with bits and bytes though much of the commercial development of the Internet. Booms and busts, agencies and clients, keynotes presenter and support staff. I enjoy the flexibility, the range of opportunities, the spectrum of solutions that can be delivered over these screens and networks.

If you're looking for a specialist in a technology, look elsewhere. If you're looking for a specialist in Homo Digitalis, a supporter of universal access and a spark maker, let's connect.

Recent Work History

October 2021 - April 2024

Coach, Software Engineering

Kaiser Permanente / kp.org

Provide engineering support for 1000 KP Digital employees. Develop and deployed live, pre-recorded, and written materials in support of high-quality code delivery. Improvement of Developer Experience of engineers thru multiple channels including workshops, dojos, brown bags, 1:1 coaching, and 1:squad coaching. Audiences include on-shore, off-shore, and hybrid teams. Assist DevOps teams in generating and publishing KP-specific support tool implementations. Advocate and champion pillars of engineering excellence including pair/team programming, clean code, and secure code.

October 2020 - April 2021

Software Engineering Manager

Lithia Motors / Driveway.com

Direct management of two teams of 9 engineers and coordinating their associated teammates. The teams built React frontends connecting with Kotlin backends on Azure services. I conducted or oversaw the sprint ceremonies and sprint planning. I hired team members, and managed their continuous career growth in order to retain them. Special projects included a peer-to-peer recognition program with planning, copywriting, graphics package, and execution. All aspects was conducted entirely remotely using Azure DevOps, MS Teams, and Office365 apps.

January 2019 - May 2020

Senior Software Engineer

Nike (Global Technology/Nike Direct Engineering)

Web development providing a unique product data management tool, designed to increase consumer’s access to each season’s products. The tool is a ‘tent-pole’ application in the Triple Double Offense program. Reliably delivered end-user value on a 2-week cadence. Focused on UX / UI aspects, while providing mentorship to other team members. Founded and joined initiatives to improve accessibility of internal tools and to promote shared code libraries to improve project delivery speed, code quality and security.

July 2018 - January 2019

Lead Software Engineer

CloudBolt Software

Front-end web development delivering a cloud management appliance with Web and API interfaces, using a Python/Django backend. Reliably delivered end-user value on a 2-week cadence. Directed UX/ UI efforts along with other leadership staff, co-ordinating with Sales and Marketing departments. Began UX Center of Excellence team.

July 2017 - July 2018

Senior Front-end Web Developer

DAT Land Transport Services

Front-end web development for multiple teams and contexts. As a senior developer I supported a variety of legacy and greenfield projects, all of which are the premiere tools in the trucking industry. The projects were delivered with Angular 2.0+ or pure JavaScript libraries in responsive layouts and configurations. Back-end data culled from a variety of legacy and Node-backed APIs. Consistently praise for the clarity of code and documentation produced.

  • TruckersEdge — On-demand loadboard service
  • OnTime — Realtime truck load tracking software
  • Single sign-on via Auth0 services

August 2015 - July 2017

User Experience Developer

Nike (Consumer Direct Technology)

Front-end web development for multiple successful projects. Working in a true Agile environment, my team delivered advanced web applications, on time and under-budget. The projects were delivered with React and Redux JavaScript libraries in highly responsive layouts and configurations. Data was pulled from Node-based microservice APIs hosted through AWS. Special recognition was received for efforts in helping employees document their activities and learning in a sharable library of knowledge.

  • Nike+ Digital Sports and Membership
  • Nike.com ecommerce checkout
  • Internal data visualization tools

April 2013 - August 2015

Technical Consultant

Independent

Providing a wide variety of skills in support of web design and development agencies including Turtledove Clemens (turtledove.com), Opus Events, Copious Creative, We Got That, OpenSourcery, as well as Bay Area Refrigeration (BARefrigeration.com). I reviewed platforms and tools, and developed short- and long-term plans to improve the development and deployment environments while maintaining ongoing e-commerce and communication operations. I provided custom development to support highly specialized tools using a wide variety of technologies.

  • Front-end design with Zeplin, Photoshop, HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript
  • Project and Program management dealing with budgets, contracted resources, and remote teams
  • Design, layout and SEO efforts for branding and UI design improvements
  • Python, PHP coding with MySQL databases to maintain and extend websites
  • Implementation of continuous integration environments
  • CDN, hosting and LAN configuration
  • Improved system documentation
  • Video editing with After Effects and DVD mastering

October 2005 - April 2013

Web UX Design Director & Web Team Manager

Planar Systems

Responsible for all public web and internet communications for an international corporation with $300 million/year revenue. Management of primary planar.com web site along with a dozen satellite sites. Initiated and managed a complete overhaul and transition of out-of-date tools and architecture to a new standards-compliant modern code base with localization, advanced server technology and infrastructure with Akamai CDN. Responsible for project schedules, budgets, and employee evaluation and management. Tools included Windows/IIS/MS SQL production environment; HTML/CSS/JavaScript with ASP, PHP and Python; project management and documentation with MS Office suite; Photoshop and Illustrator for design projects, Final Cut Pro and Motion for video projects. Provided direct support to brand overhaul in 2007.

As Web Team Manager I managed employees and contractors in a variety of projects including the redevelopment of web sites; the design and development of 14 sub-brand specific sites (in 5 languages); implementation of marketing automation tools (Marketo, Eloqua, custom); deployment of SEO and PPC efforts using Google AdWords, Google Analytics and WebTrends; and creation of a Salesforce-backed partner portal with Python. I built an e-commerce site to support our customer service group and provided guidance and training on use of SharePoint.

As Web UX Design Director I scoped and directed the technical systems that supported our internally hosted sites, including the use of proxy servers and Akamai content acceleration services. I maintained a legacy CMS and fortified it against potential breakage while exploring new platforms. I reviewed security reports and implemented intrusion prevention procedures.

1993-2005

Prior Experience

Complete resume

Skills

Truly full stack is way more than a web browser and a web server.

TBA

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TBA

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Launch

Visual Portfolio

Accessibility Community of Practice

Branding

Bringing together a diverse sett of professionals to work on the missing pieces of our accessibility puzzle. The logo combines the Jumpman logo with the disabled access signage.

Artemis

Branding

When an internal tool was renamed, a new logo was needed. The icon was chiefly going to be seen as a favicon in the user's browsers. This icon provides the visual identity and distinct reminder of the tool's name.

UI Interaction Diagram

UX/UI Design

I created a custom UI element that blended existing UI (chips) into a series that could enforce the data model in a visual manner.

Project Architecture

Product Management

Balancing the needs of users with the capabilities of an internal tool is a ongoing challenge. With proper documentation that can be shared to both users and developers, everyone can get on the same page and push for the same finish line.

VisLAB Data Visualization

Product Management

This is the only remaining image of a skunkworks project to bring a revolution in data visualization to Nike.

Distancing (Monospaced Typeface)

Design

A font inspired by social distancing, a practice that saw a sudden rise in popularity in 2020.

Various Logos

Branding

A series of logos for related internal apps.

Sole Stickers

Design

Participating in the flagship internal culture at Nike

Planar Systems Branding

Design

Planar Systems's branding was completely overhauled while I was managing the digital and web team.

Case Studies

Case Study: Data Visualization Development for Nike

I supported the Advanced Reporting and Information Architecture (ARIA) group within Nike’s Product Engine Support (PES) department. By integrating Tableau's desktop-based software with JavaScript and visualization libraries like D3, our team opened up new visualization capabilities for Product Line Manufacturing and a variety of product management and accounting teams.

Author image Manager or Report Various Company

Next-Generation Content Management for Opus Events

I developed a site construction toolbox for the rapid creation of the dozens of sites that are delivered monthly. The project reduced task times by 50% to 90%. The tools facilitated collaboration between developers and used a well-commented framework that was easily maintained and customized. JavaScript was used as an automation tool to accelerate the development process at an ever-increasing rate of productivity. The system also reduced on-boarding training times from 6 months to 3 weeks.

Author image Manager or Report Various Company

Get In Touch

ross@rossolson.com

I'm happy to connect, listen and help. Let's build a world with amazing experiences. Email Me.

Call Me

+1 503-729-8569

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