This document provides as an insight into my work history, work style and how to effectively communicate with me. The overarching theme is that I believe believe clear and kind communication is key, as it is essential for a productive and healthy team.

I am a passionate and experienced Software Engineer with a strong focus on writing quality, fully tested, and extensible code. I am a pragmatist who understands when and how to apply these principles in real-world scenarios. I value inclusivity, feedback, communication, and continual growth.

As a polyglot engineer, I have worked with a variety of different languages, technologies, and paradigms, allowing me to quickly pick up new tools and technologies as needed.

I enjoy working remotely and communicating asynchronously, and offer my services on a contract basis through my company, Pelensky Technology Inc.

I currently work at Rail Europe, a platform that provides customers the option to book travel on various rail operators without having to book through the operators directly. As a Principal Software Engineer, I work on the customer-facing website and have the following highlights:

• Oversee the B2C (customer-facing website) in a fully remote team working through all different timezones building features for the website. Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React, AWS (EC2, S3)
• Single-handedly extended the website to support travel pass sales, the company's biggest new offering since its inception. Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React
• Own the mobile apps (iOS/Android) and the API they consume. Tech Stack: Ruby, Rails, React, Swift, Kotlin

Prior to joining Rail Europe, I worked at 8th Light, a software and web development consultancy that values continuous learning and crafting clean, durable, and elegant code. As a consultant, I worked on various clients and domains and have the following highlights:

• Joined an established remote team as tech lead, quickly ramped up on a new domain and technologies. Onboarded and mentored team members in Ukraine and Mexico, both remotely and face-to-face. Tech Stack: Python, Django, React, AWS (EC2, S3), ElasticSearch, Ansible
• Designed and led an initiative to build a private REST API in a large Django app to separate out admin routes from the public-facing API, creating a separate component for administrative tasks not suited to Django Admin. Tech Stack: Python, Django, Django REST, Pytest, React
• Built an Electron app deployed on public-facing self-service terminals. Tech Stack: JavaScript, React, Electron, Node, Mocha, Chai
• Gained proficiency in numerous other languages, including Ruby, Java, Clojure, and Rust.
• Led a diversity initiative in partnership with blackgirl.tech, which trained three interns from underrepresented groups with limited technical experience and helped them secure their first jobs as Software Developers.
• Mentored an apprentice, providing training and support during their first job in the tech industry, and acted as a professional development manager (line manager).

I primarily operate within the Mountain Time Zone (UTC-7), although I frequently travel and adjust my work schedule to align with my current location. I prefer to start and finish work early (ie. 7:30-15:30), starting my day with a gym session and promptly diving into work.

When traveling, I strive to maintain a similar routine, taking into account time zones and other obligations.

When in person I enjoy socializing with my colleagues, especially over lunch. Slack is my preferred mode of communication and I have it on at all times, but with notifications disabled.

You can reach me through Slack, which I check at least once an hour even when doing focused work. I only check my email twice a day (start and end of the day). If you need to reach me, it's best to send me a Slack message. I prefer not to receive phone calls or unexpected video calls, but I am always available for pre-planned video calls. I usually turn on my video during calls and appreciate if you do the same, but please don't feel obliged if you're not comfortable with it.

I believe that meetings should only be held if necessary, and their outcome can't be achieved through emails or Slack conversations. If I am not required to attend a meeting, please let me know. If I am invited to a meeting, I would appreciate an agenda in advance, and I try to avoid recurring status update meetings.

I embrace feedback as a means of growth and improvement. I believe that all feedback is kind, and that feedback from those I respect is always intended to help me grow; this goes both ways, and I strive to share feedback as much as possible. I aim to provide constructive feedback, phrasing my feedback as questions where possible, and amplify my colleagues by sending public shoutouts. I always strive to deliver my feedback gently, and appreciate receiving it in this way as well.

I am continuously working on personal growth and strive to avoid:

• Using exclusive language (ie. calling a group of people 'guys')
• Interrupting others even when I am excited about a topic
• Negative self-talk
• Overextending myself If you notice me engaging in any of these behaviors, I would appreciate you bringing it to my attention.

• Website: www.pelensky.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pelensky/