Nicholas Leask

About Nicholas Leask

Software Engineer experience specializing in React.js, Node.js, JavaScript and TypeScript. Skilled in developing innovative software solutions and leading cross-functional teams. Passionate about creating efficient and scalable applications, I have a proven track record of successfully delivering projects.At Asurion, I played an integral role in integrating an acquired company into our existing codebase by developing APIs. This required strong communication and collaboration skills across cross-functional teams to ensure a smooth transition.Previously at Nebula Academy, I have led the development of a learning software application, managing both software engineers and software engineering instructors. This experience has honed my project management skills and allowed me to foster a collaborative work environment.Proficient in JavaScript, TypeScript, React.js, and Node.js, and more I have a solid foundation in coding best practices, software design patterns, and agile methodologies. I thrive in fast-paced environments and am known for my proactive approach to mentoring and assisting others.Passionate about driving innovation and delivering exceptional software solutions, I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to a dynamic team and make a positive impact. Let\'s connect and explore how we can collaborate to solve complex challenges in the software engineering field.

Experience

1. Senior Software Engineer

   Charity Navigator

   Oct 2023 — Present

   Architected and implemented resilient and performant front-end solutions for a platform which serves millions of users annually, ensuring high availability and a seamless user experience during peak traffic.• Developed React/Next.js portal features across three applications, with modular components and standardized engineering patterns, improving performance, resiliency, and conversion rates by 30%.• Engineered role-aware GraphQL endpoints in NestJS/TypeScript requiring OAuth authentication, which enforced strict data consistency and eliminated previously identified access control vulnerabilities.• Built and launched a chat-style React/Next.js interface for an AI-powered charity search, successfully handling complex asynchronous states to create a seamless user experience.• Architected a robust file handling workflow in Next.js for ratings submissions, decreasing average submission processing time by 60% and reducing friction for both internal and external users.• Spearheaded the modernization of the main portal application by migrating a legacy Razzle framework to Next.js, unifying dependencies and stabilizing the CI/CD pipeline via GitHub Actions, and serving cached data via Stellate reducing build failures to near zero while maintaining 99.99% uptime annually.• Improved UX and routing in React/Next.js + GraphQL: reduced load times, fixed endless loading conditions, standardized all loading screens, delivered responsive accessibility fixes, and more.• Refactored the core API to serve as the single source of truth in NestJS/TypeScript, implementing EIN validation that standardized calls to the DB and reduced redundant database calls by an estimated 50%.• Improved E2E testing and log tracing to improve up time and support peak traffic windows.

Education

• Stony Brook University

  Bachelor of Science, Business Administration and Management, General

• Galvanize

  Certification, Web/Multimedia Management and Webmaster

• Stony Brook University

  Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Studies

• Galvanize

  Vocational, Computer Software Engineering / Web Development

  2018 — 2018

• Stony Brook University

  Bachelor’s Degree, Business Management & Environmental Studies

Skills

• Leadership
• Public Speaking
• Project Management
• Management
• Powerpoint
• Research
• Microsoft Word
• Customer Service
• Microsoft Office