Alex Counsell
Technical Skills Profile | Software Developer & Digital Platform Architect
[email protected] · github.com/firecall · Adelaide, SA 5000 · Australia
Professional Summary
A senior marketing technology professional with extensive hands-on software development capability across full-stack web, mobile (iOS and Android), cloud infrastructure, and AI-integrated platforms. Proficient in Ruby on Rails, Python/Django, JavaScript/React and modern DevOps tooling.
Demonstrated track record delivering production-grade platforms for clients across veterinary, healthcare, SaaS and hospitality sectors — from architecture and development through to deployment and ongoing operations.
Programming Languages & Frameworks
Ruby / Rails
Ruby on Rails 4.2 through 8.1 — extensive production experience across 12+ repositories. Solid understanding of ActiveRecord, ActiveJob, Hotwire (Turbo + Stimulus), Propshaft, asset pipeline, Puma, Kamal deployment.
Python / Django
Django 2.2 with Django REST Framework, Graphene (GraphQL), Celery, Channels (WebSockets), django-storages (S3), Gunicorn, Uvicorn, asyncio via aiohttp.
JavaScript / React
React with Redux Toolkit, Apollo Client (GraphQL), Material UI / MUI, Formik, i18next, Tanstack Table, Sentry, Axios. ES6+, Hotwire Stimulus, Bootstrap.
Swift (iOS)
Native iOS app development — PetCheck 24/7 iOS app (production deployment).
Kotlin / Java (Android)
Native Android app development — PetCheck 24/7 Android app (production deployment).
HTML / CSS / SCSS
Advanced semantic HTML5, responsive CSS, SCSS/Sass, Tailwind CSS, PostCSS, Bootstrap.
PHP
Supporting CMS and web development work across client sites.
Shell / Bash
Scripting, deployment automation, Docker entrypoints, server maintenance.
Databases, Infrastructure & DevOps
Databases
MySQL (primary — mysql2 / mysqlclient drivers), Redis (caching, queues, Action Cable), AWS SQS (Celery broker).
Cloud / Hosting
AWS (EC2, S3, SQS, Boto3/Botocore — architected cost reduction from AU$70k to under AU$5k/month for Medechat). Docker, Dockerfile authoring, CapRover, Kamal (Rails deployment). Heroku/Procfile-based deployments.
Background Jobs
Solid Queue, Solid Cache, Solid Cable (Rails 8). Celery with SQS broker (Django). Redis-backed queues.
WebSockets / Real-time
Django Channels with channels-redis. Rails Action Cable. GraphQL subscriptions via django-channels-graphql-ws.
Search & Analytics
Sentry (error tracking and performance monitoring — both React and Rails). New Relic APM. Ahoy.js (analytics).
Deployment & CI
Docker, Kamal, CapRover, shell-based deployment scripts. Rubocop / ESLint code quality tooling.
Storage / CDN
AWS S3 via django-storages and Active Storage. Cloudinary (image management — cloudinary-core, attachinary).
APIs, Integrations & Third-Party Services
Communications
Twilio (voice/SMS — PetCheck 24/7 call platform). SendGrid / django-sendgrid-v5 (transactional email). ClickSend.
Payments
Stripe (stripe gem + stripe Python library). Pinax-Stripe (custom fork integration).
AI / ML
OpenTok (video). AI and ML integrations for voice data analytics and governance-aware sensitive data handling. LBA AI Edition (Rails 8.1 + AI tooling — active June 2026).
GraphQL
graphene-django, graphql-jwt, graphql-ws (React), Apollo Client. Full schema design and resolver implementation.
Authentication
Devise (Rails). django-graphql-jwt, djangorestframework-simplejwt, django-magiclink (passwordless auth), PyJWT.
PDF / Reporting
ReportLab, xhtml2pdf, PyPDF2 (Python). Puppeteer (JavaScript headless PDF generation).
Data Visualisation
D3.js (dashboards and data visualisation).
Internationalisation
i18next + i18next-browser-languagedetector (React). arabic-reshaper, python-bidi (RTL language support).
Mission Control
mission_control-jobs (Rails job monitoring UI).
Repository Overview — Active Projects
| Repository | Stack | Description |
|---|---|---|
| vetcheck-247-form | Rails 8.1, Redis, Solid Queue, Twilio, Puppeteer | VetCheck 24/7 call log platform — 60+ users, 100,000+ annual service interactions across AU and UK |
| vcs-admin | Rails 8.0, MySQL, Redis, Solid Cache | Vet Complaints Support admin system |
| petcheck247-iOS | Swift | PetCheck 24/7 native iOS application (production) |
| petcheck247-Android | Kotlin / Java | PetCheck 24/7 native Android application (production) |
| petcheck-247-twilio | Rails, Twilio | Twilio voice/SMS integration layer for PetCheck 24/7 |
| vm-admin | Rails 7.2, Bootstrap, D3.js, Cloudinary | VHIVE platform admin — multi-tenant SaaS |
| vm-website | Rails, JavaScript, PHP, SCSS | VHIVE public marketing website |
| mc-client | React, Redux Toolkit, Apollo, MUI, GraphQL | Medechat frontend — telehealth SaaS platform |
| mc-server | Django 2.2, GraphQL, Celery/SQS, AWS, Stripe, OpenTok | Medechat backend — AWS cost reduction from $70k to under $5k/month |
| mc-worker | Python, Celery, Docker | Medechat background worker service |
| lba_ai | Rails 8.1, Tailwind, AI integrations | LBA AI Edition — AI-enhanced platform (active development, June 2026) |
| lba-8 | Rails, SCSS, Docker | LBA platform v8 — current production version |
| lba-members | Rails 4.2, Devise, Cloudinary, CoffeeScript | LBA members portal |
| alex_counsell | Rails, Haml, Docker | Personal/professional Rails application |
| petcheck-247-web | HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP | PetCheck 24/7 public website |
| dandenong-ranges-vet | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SCSS | Veterinary clinic website |
| vh-website | CSS, JavaScript, HTML | VHIVE marketing website |
| space-agency-quiz | JavaScript, HTML, CSS | Interactive JavaScript quiz application |
| backup | Ruby, Docker, Shell | Automated backup infrastructure |
Key Platforms Delivered
VetCheck 24/7 — Call Log & Case Management Platform
- Cloud-based multi-tenant platform serving 60+ veterinary professionals across Australia and the UK.
- Handles over 100,000 calls and service interactions annually.
- Full-stack development: Rails 8.1 back-end, Twilio telephony integration, Solid Queue background jobs, Redis, MySQL.
- Native mobile apps for iOS (Swift) and Android (Kotlin).
- Puppeteer-based PDF generation for clinical reports.
Medechat — Telehealth SaaS Platform
- React/Apollo front-end with Django/GraphQL back-end microservices architecture.
- Celery workers with AWS SQS for async task processing.
- Reduced AWS hosting costs from AU$70,000 to under AU$5,000 per month through architectural restructuring.
- Stripe payment integration, OpenTok video, SendGrid transactional email.
- Full GraphQL API with JWT authentication, WebSocket subscriptions, and REST fallbacks.
VHIVE (v.hive) — Multi-Tenant B2B SaaS Platform
- Multi-tenant SaaS product for B2B clients across multiple industry verticals.
- Rails 7.2 with D3.js dashboards, Cloudinary media management, Bootstrap UI.
- Separate admin, client-facing and public website repositories maintained in parallel.
LBA Platform
- Long-running Rails platform from version 4.2 through to current Rails 8.1 + AI integrations.
- Member portal, admin system and AI-enhanced edition under active development.
Development Practices & Methodology
Version Control
Git — all projects managed across GitHub organisations (firecall, Collective-Marketing). 24 active repositories.
Code Quality
Rubocop, Rubocop-Performance, ESLint (Standard config) enforced across Rails and JavaScript projects.
Security
Brakeman static analysis (Rails). django-cors-headers, CIDR-allowlisting, cryptography libraries, SSL/TLS via Twisted.
Testing
pytest (Python), django-nose, Faker for test data generation.
Architecture
Microservices (Medechat: client + server + worker). Monolithic Rails (VetCheck, VHIVE, LBA). Docker containerisation throughout.
Documentation
drf_yasg (OpenAPI/Swagger auto-generation for Django REST APIs).
Technical skills profile generated from GitHub repository analysis | June 2026