Phillip Rees - Software Engineer & Product Designer

My career in fast-moving startups has given me an all-hands-on deck approach to product. I’m part of a growing team working toward my goal of becoming an engineering lead where I can use my understanding of user experience, my love of development best practices, and my experience working with diverse teams to take on new technical challenges.

How I like to work

I value clear communication, creative problem-solving, empathic leadership, and productive teamwork.

I'm deeply passionate about the web and have grown my skills in software development through a combination of self-directed learning, collaboration with colleagues, and hands-on experience in real-world scenarios. While I thrive on fast-paced efforts like greenfield projects and prototypes, I also enjoy working on and improving established sites to resolve problematic issues and bugs.

Specialising in front-end development and the customer-facing user experience, I have worked with varied and diverse teams on every part of the product lifecycle. I’ve been in the board room advising non-technical decision makers when product requirements have been ideated, have led working groups to plan and prototype new functionality and services, have co-ordinated in-person and remotely with analysts, designers, and developers to guide the delivery of full-stack, data-rich apps, and have brought projects to life by leaning into the knowledge of my teammates and peers.

I am always seeking to learn new things, experiment with new ways of working, and to help others learn. I enjoy putting together documentation, guides, and collected insights wherever possible, and am often taking notes and sketching diagrams during meetings and conversations to aid my knowledge-gathering process and to share with the team later. I enjoy hosting meetings, presenting on behalf of my team, and bringing people together to solve problems and co-ordinate work.

Alongside my hands-on engineering contributions, I love building lasting relationships with my peers, discussing design improvements and functionalities, reviewing code and design prototypes, and establishing best practices to help onboard new team members. I take pride in helping my team-mates succeed, and always make the effort to ensure their work is visible and their voices are heard.