kastark —
Curriculum Vitae

Katherine Stark - Curriculum Vitae

Specialist in Front End Development, UX, and Digital Marketing. Fluent in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Experience working in Agile development environments advocating for and providing user-centric, usable design.

Oxford graduate with over 15 years of practical and academic experience in marketing and eCommerce. Highly adaptable and a quick learner, with a wide range of skills and leadership experience.

Established game designer and developer, with a track record of successful game design and execution, publishing, and event organisation/refereeing.

Specialist Areas

  • Web Development — HTML, CSS, JavaScript
  • User Experience Design — UI design, IA design
  • eCommerce — platforms, analytics, multi-channel operations
  • Digital Marketing — PPC, SEM, branding
  • Copywriting — sales writing, reviews, SEO copy
  • Game Design — Browser games, LRP/interactive games

Employment

Game Developer

Jan 2018 - Ongoing

Self Employed

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Responsibilities

  • Designing and creating entertaining, accessible, ludonarratively harmonious webgames
  • Structuring and planning project scope and tasks
  • Creating artwork and writing ingame narrative and dialogue
  • Producing periodic content for patrons to appraise them of new projects and progress on existing ones

Achievements

  • Produced a number of award-winning webgames
  • Wasted approximately two and a half centuries of humanity's collective lifetime
  • Featured by GitHub, Ludokultur, Hacker News

Front End / UX Developer

Apr 2014 - Jan 2018

Passle Ltd.

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Responsibilities

  • Designing, developing, and maintaining the front end of the company's core real estate
  • Collaborating with other developers and designers on UI and UX design
  • Liaising with clients on product implementation and other technical issues
  • Troubleshooting and improving existing user flows and workflows
  • Tracking, reporting on, and providing insight into analytics data

Achievements

  • Substantially redesigned and rebuilt the core pages of the site from scratch following accessibility and SEO best practice
  • Designed, implemented and iteratively developed a JQuery plugin as an alternative vehicle to serve client content
  • Took the lead on a number of UX projects focusing on improving user retention, gamification, and core workflows
  • Advocated for updates to the company's design processes, leading to improved design consistency and a more user-focused approach
  • Advocated for and implemented improvements to internal administrative tools to support sales and client management staff

Technical Manager

Mar 2013 - Apr 2014

Kate's Clothing Ltd.

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Responsibilities

  • Developing and maintaining e-commerce websites
  • Implementing and maintaining various front- and back-end software solutions
  • Troubleshooting technical issues and training staff members in new software and hardware
  • Analytics monitoring and reporting
  • Developing, executing and optimising PPC and SEO campaigns

Achievements

  • Entirely revised the company's inventory management system to allow for multi-channel inventory management, boosting productivity
  • Transitioned various company properties to new content management systems for ease of maintenance
  • Consolidated the company's analytics strategy and reporting across the company's full list of web properties
  • Designed and deployed new internal and external websites
  • Developed and maintained profitable PPC campaigns from scratch

Digital Marketing Executive

Jan 2011 - Mar 2013

Hand Over Fist Ltd.

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Responsibilities

  • Developing and maintaining e-commerce websites
  • Writing copy and front-end code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
  • Analytics monitoring and reporting
  • Developing, executing and optimising PPC campaigns
  • Training new staff members in analytics and SEM fundamentals
  • User Experience design lead for development projects

Achievements

  • Took a central role in the initial design, development and release of a key website for a major network client, including co-ordination between organisations
  • Was responsible for user experience design, as part of a significant redesign of the company's core properties. Designed the site information architecture, led wireframing discussions, championed accessibility, and delivered technical and design specifications
  • Led analytics initiatives, and reported on data trends to guide both strategic decision making and development work
  • Was responsible for growing key accounts, contributing towards a sustained period of growth and success for the company

Armoursmith

Feb 2009 - Jan 2011

Self Employed

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Responsibilities

  • Create uniquely commissioned armour for clients
  • Adhere to exacting specifications, with an emphasis on high quality workmanship
  • Direct and manage workload, balancing time commitments for time-intensive work

Achievements

  • Created numerous pieces and developed unique designs
  • Developed custom construction techniques for use with new designs
  • Developed new skills and branched out into new areas of design, including decorative pieces

Team Leader

Dec 2009 - Apr 2010

Michells and Butlers plc

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Responsibilities

  • Leading shifts at a busy upmarket gastro pub, including customer service, food service, cleaning duties
  • Overseeing site security when managers were unavailable
  • Training team members in their roles
  • Taking deliveries, managing inventory, cashing up, and other accounting duties

Achievements

  • Promoted from team member position to Team Leader due to diligence and competence
  • Studied towards mangerial leadership roles and various trade qualifications
  • Marginally grew trade over the period despite general industry downturn

Manager

Nov 2008 - Feb 2009

The Old Angel Pub Co. Ltd.

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Responsibilities

  • Overseeing day-to-day trade in a niche town-centre pub, including site maintenance, and financial accounting
  • Liaising with local residents, police, regulatory and licensing authorities
  • Taking deliveries, managing inventory, cashing up, and site security
  • Leading customer service, often dealing with challenging and confrontational situations, while maintaining a friendly and helpful atmosphere
  • Training team members in their roles

Achievements

  • Promoted from team member position, to Assistant Manager, to Manager
  • Re-established a failed pub, and rebuilt a steady clientele
  • Achieved Cask Marque certification for exceptionally kept ales
  • Introduced profitable new product lines to fill previously untapped niches
  • Oversaw a growth in revenue of 50% over the period, built a regular customer base and widened irregular trade

Head of Production

Jan 2006 - Mar 2008

Oxide Radio

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Responsibilities

  • Overseeing a production team of 8, ensuring the smooth day-to-day operation of the station and the broadcast of its scheduled programming
  • Maintaining the station's broadcasting equipment
  • DJing and producing a number of regularly scheduled radio programmes, and oversee the production of one-off special shows
  • (As Head of Training, held concurrently) Training the station's DJs and producers in the necessary skills for their roles

Achievements

  • Contributed towards the largest growth in listener figures in the station's history, doubling unique listeners
  • Created standard procedures for production and broadcast to ensure quality standards
  • Won a unique station award for Outstanding Contribution
  • DJed multiple promotional charity events, each lasting 24 hours straight
  • Was lead presenter during shows garnering station record listener peaks

Education

University of Oxford

2005 - 2008

B.A. (Hons) Economics & Management
Second class honours, upper division (2.i)

Course modules: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Economics of Industry, Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, Organizational Behaviour and Analysis, Strategic Management, Technology and Operations Management, Marketing

Torquay Grammar School

1998 - 2005

A-Levels: Maths (Grade: A); Economics (A); Business Studies (A); Philosophy and Ethics (B); General Studies (B)

GCSEs: 11 at grade A*/A

Projects

CivClicker

Role: Designer / developer (project lead)

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A HTML/CSS/JS webgame, one of the seminal games in the incremental games genre and boasting a combined playtime of well over two centuries.

Designed and built the game from scratch, self-teaching the necessary JavaScript to implement the features required. Used a highly iterative development process to consistently incorporate player feedback into the design and provide iterative feature additions and upgrades. Set the standard for many design features and mechanics in the genre.

Marketed the game and engaged in community development for the genre as a whole, creating tutorials and handling followup questions from new developers, providing support and feedback, and advocating for / promoting other developers.

Hand Over Fist Ltd. Site Redesign

Role: User Experience Designer

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A major redesign of the company's core web estate, alongside a major transition of the estate's CMS and data to Drupal.

Responsible for delivering user experience specifications for the project, leading wireframing, and informing design decisions through applying user experience expertise and collecting data. Primary responsibility for content and design of Orange and EE properties.

Generation - OURPGSoc Society Game

Role: Campaign Organiser (project lead)

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A serialised freeform LRP game for 50 players, involving a significant volume of adjudication and content creation. Produced initial game design and concept, before recruiting a team to help develop the game. Successfully pitched the game to the society, led design meetings, and delivered the game ahead of schedule.

Led a team of 6 to evaluate and adjudicate the outcome of players' actions. In addition, players were provided with individualised responses to actions performed in-game. As Campaign Organiser took primary responsibility for the successful running of the game, dealing with player concerns, administrative tasks, and the promotion of the game to new members of the society.

24DIO Radio Marathons

Role: Lead Presenter (project lead)

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For promotional and charitable purposes, organised and participated in several marathon radio broadcasts, broadcasting live for 24 straight hours each time. Organised the participation of the station's presenters in co-presenter guest slots, organised interviews and live music performances, and organised event promotion.

Drove station record listener figures, successfully raised the station's profile, and showcased much of the station's best work. Due to the initial success of the project, organised and participated in two further 24DIO events.

Other Skills

Other Qualifications

  • EDI Level 2 National Certificate for Personal License Holders
  • ABRSM Theory of Music (Grade 5), Piano (Grade 3)

Awards

  • JS13k 2020 - 28th place; Judge Shoutout
  • JS13k 2019 - 11th place; 2nd place Web Monetization
  • JS13k 2018 - 2nd place; Community Awards
  • JS13k 2017 - 21st place; Community Awards; Social Special Award
  • Outstanding Contribution (Oxide Radio Awards 2007)

Last updated: November 2020