Gelo Cruz

October 29, 2024

Overview

A custom WordPress site for Filipino solo artist Gelo Cruz. The layout puts media front and centre — releases, performances, and press coverage — with Swiper-powered sliders doing the heavy lifting for the carousels. Tailwind keeps the brand tight and the design responsive across the sizes an artist site actually gets shared at, from phone to projector.

Technologies

WordPress

PHP

Tailwind CSS

Swiper.js

WordPress — Custom theme
PHP — Theme logic and dynamic content integration
Tailwind CSS — Styling
Swiper.js — Responsive media sliders for releases, shows, and press

Professional Summary

Full-stack web developer with 10+ years of experience building responsive, scalable websites and applications across agency, in-house product, and freelance environments. Proven track record shipping end-to-end solutions across modern JavaScript stacks (Remix, Next.js, React, Vue), PHP-based CMSes (WordPress, Silverstripe, Shopify), and Node.js back-ends. Equally comfortable leading small delivery teams, owning systems administration, and collaborating with product and design stakeholders to ship production code on deadline.

Core Skills

Front-end: HTML, CSS, SCSS, TailwindCSS, Bootstrap, Vanilla JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Vue.js, Next.js, Remix.run, React Router

Back-end: PHP, Laravel, C#, .NET, Node.js, MySQL, GraphQL, Hygraph, PocketBase, Supabase, Cloudflare Workers

CMS & E-commerce: WordPress, Silverstripe, Shopify (Liquid)

DevOps & Tools: cPanel, WHM, phpMyAdmin, Docker, DDEV, GitHub Actions, Cloudflare, Google Cloud Platform, Vercel, Growthbook, Google Analytics, SEO, MS Office 365

AI & Automation: Claude, Claude Code, Anthropic API, Codex, OpenAI, Prompt Engineering, AI-Assisted Development

Professional Experience

Full-Stack Web Developer|Point Hacks Australia

Elsternwick, VIC · May 2023 – April 2026

Optimising and developing the Point Hacks and Australian Frequent Flyer websites and community platforms, while leading the adoption of AI tooling across the engineering workflow.

Build the Point Hacks Concierge web application using Remix.run
Rebuilt the Point Hacks website with a new design and layout using Laravel, delivering a modernised front-end alongside refreshed templating and back-end architecture
Synchronise content to production using GraphQL integrations with Hygraph and PocketBase
Collaborate with product, design, and business stakeholders in an agile environment to deliver features on deadline
Evolved into an AI-driven developer by integrating LLM APIs and modern AI frameworks into day-to-day delivery, using AI as leverage to rapidly prototype features, automate repetitive engineering tasks, and shorten iteration cycles
Identified friction in internal editorial, content, and engineering workflows and built lightweight AI-powered tools and automations to remove it, translating emerging AI capabilities into practical business outcomes
Championed AI adoption across the team by experimenting with new tools and models, sharing patterns that worked, and helping non-engineering stakeholders understand where AI could safely improve operations
Led the growth of new developers by owning their technical direction, running code reviews, pairing on architectural decisions, and coaching them toward independent ownership of features and AI-assisted workflows

Senior Full-Stack Developer|The Refinery Ltd

Prahran, VIC · Jul 2021 – May 2023

Led a small development team delivering full-stack websites for a digital marketing agency.

Executed end-to-end UI/UX website development using Silverstripe CMS
Implemented designs from the creative team into production builds using Bootstrap
Built back-end logic and functionality using React.js, jQuery, and Grunt
Designed database structures for efficient data storage and retrieval
Administered WHM, cPanel, domains, and SSL certificates across client sites

Systems Administrator / Business Analyst / Full-Stack Developer|Shuk Engineering Distributors Ltd

Auckland, New Zealand · Jun 2017 – Jun 2021

Owned IT operations and produced business intelligence for a distribution company.

Wrote SQL (MySQL) scripts to generate reports for stakeholder and managerial consumption
Produced product purchase forecasts to support inventory and cashflow planning
Administered relational databases including security, CRM, and product inventory systems
Analysed and corrected data inconsistencies across core business systems
Developed and maintained the company website and its back-end logic
Managed core IT systems including Cin7, Microsoft 365, and Exchange

Full-Stack Developer / Office Administrator|Kiwise Digital Agency

Auckland, New Zealand · Jun 2015 – Jun 2017

Sole developer across a diverse portfolio of client websites, mobile apps, and games.

Built and designed end-to-end WordPress websites
Designed and developed 2D games using Cocos2D and mobile apps using React Native
As the tech lead, established the engineering practice for incoming juniors and interns — defining build standards, leading hands-on training across the full stack, and acting as the technical anchor as the team scaled
Developed and maintained client web applications using C# and the .NET framework, delivering server-side logic and integrations alongside front-end work

Software Engineer Intern|Accordo Group Limited

Auckland, New Zealand · Dec 2014 – Feb 2015

Assisted in designing and developing high-value business features
Created and executed test cases for feature development
Designed and developed databases for efficient data management

Other Works

Freelance Full-Stack Developer|Self-employed

Australia / New Zealand · Feb 2024 – Present

Delivering scalable web solutions and responsive sites for small businesses and creatives.

Built full-stack WordPress sites and custom WordPress themes for clients including Freddie Pitts Studio, Chingu Gel, Whitecomb Range, and musician Gelo Cruz, using PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Node.js
Developed responsive landing pages for Safe as 3 Houses and Kinetic Effect
Built Next.js websites including my personal portfolio (stephendavid.dev), deployed via Vercel
Maintain and scale Shopify storefronts with ongoing development, including fansycake.com
Customise Shopify storefronts using Liquid to extend functionality beyond theme limitations
Currently developing mobile applications using React Router as the primary framework
Delivered back-end features and integrations for select clients using C# and the .NET framework, extending existing enterprise systems and building bespoke business logic