Isaac Rowntree - Engineering Manager

Isaac Rowntree

Coder. Dancer. Performer. Trombonist. Guitarist. Singer. Rock Climber. Tap Dancer. Surfer. Coffee Snob. Motorcyclist. Cyclist. Tumbler. Tennis Player. Tough Mudder (5x). Kite Surfer. Photographer. Videographer. Spartan Race (5x).

Contact Me GitHub Twitter

Experience

Head of Tech - CamperMate

July 2020 - Present
  • Leading a fully remote engineering team across multiple time zones
  • Building AI-powered vector search and RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) tools for various websites
  • Implementing serverless architecture using PlanetScale, Typesense, React, TypeScript, React Native
  • Leveraging Cloudflare ecosystem including Workers, AI, KV, and D1 for edge computing solutions
  • Utilizing AI development tools like Windsurf and Cursor to enhance team productivity
  • Developing native mobile applications with React Native and TypeScript

Software Engineer with Redbubble

March 2016 - June 2020
  • Fulfilment, Visual Merchandising and Supply Chain Team
  • Frontend Platform Team
  • Product API Platform Team
  • Membership Frontend Team
  • Commercial Frontend Team

Owner and Director of Zack Design

May 2002 - 2016

Teacher at Swinburne TAFE and Gordon TAFE

2009 - 2011 (2 years)

VET Multimedia, Business, Finance, OH&S - 1on1 Disability - Adult Short Courses (Office Skills)

Senior Developer, Digital and Analytical Analyst, and Tech Lead at Ray White Group

Jan 2012 - Mar 2015 (approx 4 years including additional time as subcontractor)
  • Senior Developer Ray White Office, Agent, and Retail Sites
  • Tech Lead Loan Market Broker, Intranet, and Retail Sites
  • Digital Analysis and SEO (from 2.5% to 5% lead conversion)
  • Tech Lead Ray White Intranet (Whiteboard)
  • Tech Lead Living Here sites
  • Lead Architect Migration to AWS
  • SCRUM Master (+ JIRA)
  • Email Signature app saving the company $15,000/year

Education

  • Bachelor of Applied Science (Information Technology)
  • Certificate IV - Training and Assessment
  • BentoBox
  • Professional Development courses including: AWS, UX, Agile, Salesforce

Extra-curricular

  • Deeply passionate about photography and videography, capturing moments through both still images and dynamic videos
  • Completed 5 Spartan Races, embracing the challenge of conquering obstacles on brutal terrain
  • Worked and volunteered three summers in Sweden as an A) Event Manager, B) Bar staff at a dance event 2012, 2013, 2015
  • A firm believer in the 'healthy body/healthy mind' lifestyle
  • Volunteered one year 2014 as an English coach for international students
  • Trombone player for over 20 years, dancer for 9 (see videos below for my choreography)
  • Into strength training and fitness - including Stronglifts, parkour, and circus tumbling/gymnastics/aerials
  • Often love to go for long bike rides anywhere between 40 and 100km long with coworkers and friends on weekends and before work
  • Enjoy overcoming obstacles and rejecting plateaus in all areas of life. Enjoy Tough Mudder et al. as a result.
  • Inveterate traveler and collector of geeky gadgets
  • Reader of books. At the moment I highly recommend anything by John C. Wright.
  • Drank way too much coffee, went cold turkey. Possibly my greatest accomplishment to date

Skills & Expertise

Leadership & Management

Remote Team Leadership Engineering Culture Change Management Agile/Scrum Mentoring Cross-functional Collaboration Stakeholder Management Replatforming

Software Development

TypeScript React React Native JavaScript NextJS Node.js Python PHP REST APIs

Cloud & Serverless

Cloudflare Workers Cloudflare KV Cloudflare D1 Cloudflare AI Vercel Netlify AWS Amplify Firebase Railway

AI & Advanced Technologies

Vector Search RAG Systems AI Development LLM Integration Prompt Engineering Cursor Windsurf AI Image Generation AI Translation

Data & Databases

PlanetScale Typesense Neon SQLite Prisma Kysely Supabase Mixpanel Google Analytics

DevOps & Security

CI/CD Jest Vitest React Testing Library Datadog Rollbar Statsig Doppler Auth0 Cognito Penetration Testing

Reference

...Although Isaac's job title was Senior Developer, in his time with the company Isaac performed many roles outside of that role. He was instrumental in all facets of Digital Development and Digital Marketing.

Isaac performed as lead architect on many projects; migration to AWS, lead generation (Salesforce), Intranet builds plus numerous more. Isaac also was the lead in all SEO implementations including being an Analytics Analyst.

Isaac always performed all tasks with a passion and commitment to making a difference, displaying values that not only enhanced the development team, but the greater company as well.

I have no hesitation in recommending Isaac for any IT/development position and if the chance arises I would happily re-employ him as I truly consider him to be a valuable asset to any team...

Scott Morgan, Head of Digital Development Ray White

Videos