JavaScript
Steven O'Ehley
Front End Engineer at Black Swan Data
Cape Town
Summary
My career journey is driven by a deep passion for behavioral economics and its practical applications in technology. I'm fascinated by how apps and SaaS platforms can leverage behavioral insights to enhance user engagement, build sustainable trust mechanisms, and implement effective nudges – particularly in health applications where these elements can significantly improve user outcomes.
This interest took root during my economics training, where I focused my thesis on mechanism design for digital platforms and trust sustainability. My career path then led through retail and into data analytics and consulting, where I taught myself to code. As a consultant, I led workstreams focused on data composition and quality, developing notebooks and tools to empower other analysts in their work.
Today, as a front-end engineer, I work at the intersection of behavioral science and technology. This unique background allows me to approach UI development with both technical expertise and a deep understanding of user behavior and incentives. I bring a strong work ethic, enthusiasm for collaboration, and a commitment to adding value wherever I go. My diverse experience, combined with my eagerness to contribute meaningfully to team success, makes me a valuable asset to any organization looking to build impactful digital solutions.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
6
6
years of post-secondary education
5
5
Certifications
Work History
Associate Software Engineer
Black Swan Data
Cape Town
06.2023 - Current
- As part of the customer team at Black Swan, I focus on building and enhancing the UI for our customer-facing SaaS applications
- My role involves close collaboration with backend developers, designers, and product managers to create intuitive, high-performance user interfaces
- By implementing well-tested solutions, I help ensure that our applications deliver a seamless and engaging experience to our users
- Led testing and QA initiatives for a new product sold to large US clients, establishing comprehensive component tests for all custom components through Cypress.
- Helped in leading a major refactoring effort on a core product, that significantly improved application performance, resulting in reduced load times and wait states
- Successfully resolved performance bottlenecks by strategically migrating away from useEffect hooks, implementing more efficient state management patterns and optimizing component lifecycle handling
Analytics Consultant II
Black Swan Data
Cape Town
03.2023 - 06.2023
- Analytics Consultant II skilled in utilizing analytics and automation to optimize processes and tooling
- Improved processes and tooling helped reduce new dataset build times by 50% and significantly reduce costs
- Lead all work related to Dataset Compositions at Black Swan Data
- Conducted in house Python, SQL and Databricks training to other analysts and consultants
- Built out automated Databricks notebook solutions to calculate metrics for all datasets as well as automate language translations on foreign language datasets
- Improved, maintained, and communicated these metrics to the broader business to better determine dataset structure, quality, and customer usage
Analytics Consultant
Black Swan Data
Cape Town
11.2022 - 03.2023
- Analytics Consultant within the Datasets Team at Black Swan Data, focused on improving tooling and processes
- Large focus on measuring and improving dataset quality and compositions
- One of my most fulfilling projects involved automating language translations for the team using Python and the DeepTranslator Package - this has now become a full work stream which I later lead before moving to the engineering team
- I automated our dataset composition metrics for all live datasets after our data QA system went down, eliminated pressures off of engineering team and my solutions became the new standard within the team
- Solutions contributed in helping team reduce new build times by 50% as well as greatly reduce costs and reliance on contractors
Insights Consultant
Black Swan Data
Cape Town
04.2022 - 11.2022
- Working as an Insights Consultant at Black Swan Data
- Focusing on insights in the beer and cider markets in the UK, the US and CA
- Conducting desk research and collating insights as well as maintaining our data sets for the beer and cider category
Research Analyst
Euromonitor International
Cape Town
08.2021 - 04.2022
- Able to network and build out a 2x increase of industry contacts in the apparel, cosmetics and skincare sectors
- Helped improve forecasts and forecast accuracies of all reports in fashion and cosmetics
- Strategic market research and industry insights in beauty and fashion for the South African market
- In addition to my research I was also featured in Business Insider, Le Monde and others sharing my knowledge on the industries for which I was responsible
Sales Operations Analyst
Duroplastic Technologies
Cape Town
01.2021 - 07.2021
- Responsibilities include helping to manage and oversee the procurement and production team
- Helped reduce out of stock errors, helped plan and identify buffer stock requirements on key product lines
- Help to inform business decisions by providing analytical insights using Python, to support operations, procurement and sales teams
Designate Planner
Truworths
Cape Town
11.2019 - 12.2020
Trainee Planner
Truworths
Cape Town
01.2018 - 10.2019
Economics Tutor
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch
01.2017 - 12.2017
Education
Data Engineering Course - Data Engineering
ExploreAI Academy
Cape Town, South Africa 07.2022 - 06.2023
BCom Honours - Economic Sciences
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch 01.2017 - 12.2017
BCom - Economic Sciences
Stellenbosch University
Stellenbosch 01.2013 - 12.2016
Skills
Communication
undefinedCertification
Programming for Data Science Nanodegree - Udacity
Software
TypeScript
Python
Reactjs
SQL
Nextjs
Timeline
Associate Software Engineer
Black Swan Data
06.2023 - Current
Analytics Consultant II
Black Swan Data
03.2023 - 06.2023
Analytics Consultant
Black Swan Data
11.2022 - 03.2023
Data Engineering Course - Data Engineering
ExploreAI Academy
07.2022 - 06.2023
Insights Consultant
Black Swan Data
04.2022 - 11.2022
Research Analyst
Euromonitor International
08.2021 - 04.2022
Sales Operations Analyst
Duroplastic Technologies
01.2021 - 07.2021
Designate Planner
Truworths
11.2019 - 12.2020
Trainee Planner
Truworths
01.2018 - 10.2019
BCom Honours - Economic Sciences
Stellenbosch University
01.2017 - 12.2017
Economics Tutor
Stellenbosch University
01.2017 - 12.2017
BCom - Economic Sciences
Stellenbosch University
01.2013 - 12.2016
Programming for Data Science Nanodegree - Udacity
Front End Developer Career Path - Scrimba
(WQU) Applied Data Science I: Scientific Computing & Python (with honors)
(WQU) Applied Data Science II: Machine Learning & Statistical Analysis (with honors)
Data Science Bootcamp - HyperionDev
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