Sam McAlilly
Full Stack Developer & Data Engineer
Currently in Burlington, Vermont
Github | LinkedIn | sam@bookhead.net
I’m a programmer, writer, and former bookseller. I’ve led and contributed to software projects for local governments, journalists, researchers, and libraries. I worked for an independent bookstore where I designed websites and print materials, promoted events, and marketed books online.
I can make web applications, interactive maps, data pipelines, and interactive data visualizations. Give me some messy data, and I’ll put it into a database and on a website for you.
Table of Contents
Notable Projects
- bookhead
I created an e-commerce website platform and inventory software for bookstores.
https://bookhead.net
(tech): Python/Django, HTMX, JavaScript, TailwindCSS, Heroku, Stripe, eBay API, Biblio FTP
(role): everything
- Agenda Watch
Agenda Watch notifies journalists whenever a local government meeting agenda discusses their beat.
https://agendawatch.org/
(tech): Python, Django, React, ElasticSearch/Haystack, Google Cloud Platform, Prefect, Postgres, Document Cloud
(role): data engineer, frontend engineer, backend engineer, devops
- Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System
https://iwss.uillinois.edu/
Interactive maps and data visualizations to see pathogen trends in wastewater throughout Illinois.
(tech): Python, Django, React, Leaflet, Postgis, Make, Heroku
(role): project management, client management, data engineer, frontend engineer, design, backend engineer, devops
- Land Use Insights
https://www.landuseinsights.org/map/
An interactive map to understand the land entitlement process in California.
(tech): Python, Django, React, Leaflet, Postgis, Make, Heroku
(role): project management, client management, data engineer, frontend engineer, backend engineer, devops
- Parks
https://github.com/smcalilly/parks
Get notified whenever your favorite Glacier National Park campsite opens up.
(tech): Python, Github Actions, GNU Make, webscraping, Gumroad, Zapier, Google Forms
(role): everything
Technologies
- Languages: Python, JavaScript, SQL, GraphQL, HTML, CSS, Ruby, R
- Frameworks/Libraries: Django, React, TailwindCSS, HTMX, Stimulus, Rails
- Cloud Services: AWS (Lambda, Step Functions, Textract, AppSync, Kinesis, S3, Athena, Batch), Google Cloud Platform, Heroku, Render, OpenAI, Stripe, SendGrid, Zapier, Gumroad, eBay, Biblio, DocumentCloud
- Databases: PostgreSQL, SQLite, DynamoDB, Postgis
- Tools: Linux, Docker, Github Actions, Prefect, Airflow, GNU Make, Leaflet, Mapbox, Observable, lxml, d3, chart.js, recharts, plot
- keywords: books, onix, libraries, ILS, MARC, FRBR, civic tech, data journalism, web scraping, open data, wastewater data, housing data, criminal justice data, election data, census data, local government, local news, interactive maps, data visualizations, data engineering, claude.ai, cursor, google app script, google sheets, gis, geojson, jQuery, serverless framework, redux, gatsby, hugo, jekyll, flask, raspberry pi, document retreival, fine tune GPT3: https://github.com/smcalilly/zobot-trainer and more recently when I wanted to learn how to search text with an LLM: https://github.com/smcalilly/docs-bot.
Work Experience
Lead Developer
DataMade | August 2023 - April 2024 | remote
DataMade is a civic tech consultancy based out of Chicago. See their work here: https://datamade.us/
These are the things I did:
- Built full stack web applications, data visualizations, maps, complex UIs, and data pipelines
- Planned and delegated technical work
- Managed projects within a set scope and budget
- Communicated with clients about what’s going on with the project
- Led research & development for our internal tech stack
- Facilitated user research to understand the problems faced by clients
- Collaborated with clients about potential software solutions for their problems
- Designed user interfaces
Software Developer
DataMade | November 2020 - August 2023 | remote
Freelance Software Developer
Patron Point | January 2022 - June 2023 | remote
Patron Point provides marketing automation for libraries across the world. I built APIs, data pipelines for email automation, and a user interface for library admins.
Software Engineer
AutoTec | May 2019 - October 2020 | Birmingham, Alabama
AutoTec provides software for the auto auction industry. I worked on high-traffic UIs and APIs that are requested 100,000+ times per day while processing nearly a million vehicles per day.
This was my first job after I taught myself to code then attended a bootcamp. The highlights:
- Frontend development with React, GraphQL, and TailwindCSS. On top of our presentational UI code, our applications required extensive client-side business logic.
- Backend work included creating, extending, and debugging AWS Lambda and Step Functions, writing GraphQL schemas and resolvers in AWS AppSync, and building data lakes with Kinesis/S3/Athena and Batch.
- Member of a committee that coordinated AutoTec’s company-wide volunteer efforts.
Designer / Digital Marketing Manager / Bookseller
Square Books | November 2015 - August 2018 | Oxford, Mississippi
Square Books is an independent bookstore. I did many things, like booksellers do:
- Designed an eCommerce website on Drupal with HTML & CSS. Online sales improved by 18% in the first six months.
- Designed and copyedited the Dear Reader
- Helped coordinate, promote, and host over 150 author readings per year
- Managed all social media content as a creator, writer, and editor
- Wrote/edited blog posts and book reviews
- Devised email marketing strategies and managed contact lists
- Designed postcards, t-shirts, and other merchandise, as well as advertisements, flyers, and signs
- Inventory ordering for periodicals
- Worked on the sales floor, where I recommended books and provided customer service
Education
B.A. in Southern Studies, minor in English
University of Mississippi
August 2010 - December 2015
