Susan Pitcher

Background

About Susan Pitcher

My passion is finding a solution; I enjoy writing the one-time query that saves a colleague 2 hours of manual calculation as much as designing and implementing a complex, project results data collection and reporting system. I understand the realities of business constraints and will work in a low-code environment to be compliant, while doing some complex json formatting to keep the views as user-friendly as possible. I most recently served on the Communications Team for the USAID-funded PROPEL Health project and its predecessors, maintaining the public facing sites, legacy Adobe ColdFusion sites, Microsoft 365 Teams and intranets, and activity-funded WordPress sites. I provide advice on accessibility and do advanced document remediation. In my many years of building data driven, web-based solutions, I have gained a comprehensive understanding of the software development cycle and experience in gathering user requirements and communicating with clients and end users. I can evaluate security needs and have worked in positions of significant trust. I have first-hand knowledge of the benefits and drawbacks of both highly structured environments- Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI)- and very relaxed ones. I feel comfortable working as a member and leader of teams or as an army-of-one, but love the opportunities to help younger staff accelerate their skills. My own skills include designing system architecture and application framework, managing project implementation, developing and supporting training activities, as well as the day-to-day necessities of image, content, video, and data manipulation needed for successful websites, email marketing, and social media engagement. I have extensive experience with data conversion/migration from legacy systems, deciphering and documenting previously undocumented applications and a knack for quickly picking up where previous development ended. I can discern when it makes better business sense to adapt my coding style to the extant base and when an overhaul is needed, but I definitely prefer to write JavaScript over using a library. I have performed innumerable version upgrades to server operating systems, databases, WordPress installations and various middleware. I have had to work on on a variety of platforms outside my core strengths including Drupal, ASP.Net, Salesforce, and various 3rd party custom CMS systems. Specialties: Legacy application updates, restructuring and integration; Configuration management; lifecycle development; ColdFusion 3-2021, Adobe Creative Cloud; Transact SQL; 508 compliance