Rebecca Murphey

Experience

  • Front-end Architecture Consultant

    Rebecca Murphey Consulting, Durham, N.C.

    July 2008 – present

    Front-end architecture consulting with a focus on efficient, maintainable, high-performance front-end solutions. Work with clients to assess front-end needs, specifically: creating thoughtful templating systems integrated with server-side code to promote rapid development and eliminate repetition; authoring JavaScript applications that prioritize extensibility and reuse; crafting semantic HTML and cross-browser-compatible CSS that promotes consistency across a site; and championing front-end practices that increase page performance and enhance the user experience. Extensive experience with the jQuery library; strong knowledge of the Dojo toolkit.

  • Front-end Engineer

    DailyStrength.org, Santa Cruz, Calif. (working remotely from Durham, N.C.)

    February 2008 – July 2008

    Front-end lead at health-oriented social networking site. Assisted in developing modular architecture to separate business logic from content and presentation. Worked closely with with senior PHP developer on rapid rollout of new features. Participated in short-timeline overhaul of existing features to utilize new framework and standardize presentation. Refreshed and standardized design of disparate existing features to truly leverage cascading style sheets and semantic markup. Created guidelines and implemented rollup tools to reduce per-page HTTP requests. Audited site elements to help standardize UI across the site and decrease CSS overhead. Authored reusable JavaScript widgets to increase opportunities for in-page interactions. Rewrote existing JavaScript (YUI and non-library) to standardize on jQuery library. Created jQuery plugins to encapsulate and abstract common JavaScript needs.

  • Front-end Developer

    webslingerz, Carrboro, N.C.

    August 2006 – February 2008

    Implemented user interfaces and XHR (AJAX) data transport using jQuery library. Developed templates and frameworks to facilitate standards-based designs. Transitioned new client work to standards-based layouts while maintaining support for legacy content and markup. Educated clients and coworkers on the benefits of embracing web standards and progressive enhancement. Introduced new technologies that enhanced the company’s revenue stream through increased efficiency and new service offerings. Researched, deployed, and maintained customized open-source project management tool to manage client work. Designed svn-based system to centralize and standardize storage and versioning of client files. Developed and customized PHP/MySQL applications related to client blogging efforts.

  • Systems Analyst / Production Artist

    Koroberi, Inc., Chapel Hill, N.C.

    June 2003 – July 2006

    Developed and implemented systems to facilitate web and print production. Consulted on estimation, planning and production of web, print and multimedia projects. Analyzed new and ongoing projects for opportunities to improve processes through new technology and automation. Established design guidelines and enforced brand compliance. Created web pages and templates based on supplied designs. Optimized print documents for consistency, repeatability and automation. Educated web team on CSS and HTML standards.

  • Production Artist

    TIPS Technical Publishing, Carrboro, N.C.

    October 2002 – June 2003

    Produced technical books and manuals based on client-provided content and style guide. Created stylesheets to ensure proper formatting and pagination across multiple chapters and titles. Incorporated requested changes and reviewed completed documents to ensure consistency.

  • Assistant News Desk Editor

    Star-Gazette, Elmira, N.Y.

    January 2001 – July 2001

    Helped lead nine-member news desk, drafting and enforcing design and style standards, handling scheduling and monitoring efficiency. Managed news desk during breaking news events, including the 2000 election and a local bomb scare. Instituted and monitored copy editing standards and developed new page flow guidelines to enforce deadlines. Authored and implemented Perl tool to automate publication of stories to online edition.

  • Copy Editor / Page Designer

    Star-Gazette, Elmira, N.Y.

    September 1996 – December 2000

    Transitioned from intern to vital member of a nine-member design and copy desk. Responsible for meeting nightly and weekly deadlines and adapting quickly to breaking news.

Skills

Extensive experience with jQuery, HTML, and CSS. Strong knowledge of Dojo toolkit. Regular use of Unix command line, Apache, svn, and git. Fundamental knowledge of core JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3.