Josh Hemsley

Senior Ruby Developer

Experienced full-stack developer with 6+ years of commercial experience, specializing in Ruby on Rails, React, and AWS infrastructure. Passionate about building scalable solutions and mentoring the next generation of developers.

Josh Hemsley
West Sussex, UK

About Me

I'm a passionate Senior Ruby Developer with extensive experience in building robust, scalable web applications. My journey from recruitment to software development has given me unique insights into both business needs and technical solutions. I specialize in Ruby on Rails, React, and AWS infrastructure, with a strong focus on mentoring junior developers and delivering projects from concept to launch.

Ruby & Rails

Expert-level Ruby development with Rails framework

Frontend Development

React, TypeScript, and modern JavaScript frameworks

AWS & DevOps

Cloud infrastructure, microservices, and deployment

Team Leadership

Mentoring, sprint management, and team coordination

Experience

Senior Developer

Groundsure

April 2024 - Present

Leading Ruby development for systems handling £35m+ annual revenue. Managing weekly sprints, mentoring junior developers, and architecting new microservices. Responsible for AWS infrastructure serving 3,000+ daily reports to conveyancers and solicitors.

Developer

Groundsure

September 2021 - March 2024

Full-stack development on environmental data platforms. Worked on Ruby backend systems, React frontends, and AWS infrastructure. Participated in major system upgrades including Ruby 3.1.0 migration and database transitions from MSSQL to PostgreSQL.

Ruby Developer

BreatheHR

May 2019 - September 2021

Full-stack developer in a team of 7, taking projects from concept to delivery. Built new products including Breathe Rota and adapted the platform for international markets. Worked with Rails APIs serving React frontends and mobile applications.

Coding Bootcamp Graduate

Makers Academy

2019

Intensive 16-week software development bootcamp focusing on Ruby, Rails, JavaScript, and software craftsmanship principles including TDD, pair programming, and agile methodologies.

Notable Projects

Commercial Product Redesign

Built an entirely new design system for existing platform over 4 months. Worked directly with Product Managers and Designers to implement real-time changes, creating a system designed for effortless rollout to other products.

AWS Cost Optimization

Identified and implemented cost-saving measures by consolidating EC2 instances, migrating to ECS and Lambda, and optimizing S3 storage classes. Resulted in significant infrastructure cost reductions.

Automation Intelligence

Developed systems to reduce human intervention in report generation. Worked directly with VP of Operations to drive efficiency improvements, ensuring only reports requiring human review receive manual attention.

ClimateIndex™

Implemented new report section from scratch with complex business logic. Used TDD best practices to ensure extensibility and maintainability for future changes.

Highways Product

Built entirely new product from concept to market launch. Worked directly with Product Director throughout development cycle, delivering full-featured product on schedule.

Breathe Australia

Collaborated with senior developers to adapt Breathe HR platform for Australian market. Handled localization, compliance requirements, and market-specific features while maintaining code quality and performance.