Rob Clifford
Programmer & Project Manager
About Me
I would describe myself as a developer with a passion for confronting technical challenges that is matched only by my interest in building cohesive teams that can leverage all of the talent present in its members. I do so through a combination of my technical acumen and a love of learning new things and growing my capacity as a maker, as well as through empathizing with and building my understand of how best to match my teammates up with tasks and workflows which challenge them fully, and allow them to grow as well. When put into a position to take the lead, I consider it my duty to form a coalition and solve problems in a way that benefits my team, our product, and our customers.
Education
University
Rochester Institute of Technology Class of 2016
Degree
Bachelors of Science: Game Design & Development, Minors: Free & Open Source Software, and Science, Technology & Society.
KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
I have served in two different primary types of role since beginning my career, the first is that of a code contributor working to solve technical problems, and the second is that of a project and people manager working to navigate the challenges of building a system of connections between team members of and processes which yield success. Some of the skills which I have cultivated in that pursuit are as follows:
• Managing Remote Teams
• Scrum (PSM I Certified)
• MS Office & Similar Suites
• C#
• Unity Development
• Source Control Management (Git & SVN)
EXPERIENCE
2016 - Present
Tonk Tonk Games
Engineering Lead
At Tonk Tonk, it has been my job to work as a member of the core engineering team to deliver on designed features. Starting after a few months working on this project, I was also fortunate enough to work as a lead on the team, helping to bring on new programmers, as well as define the direction and tasking of the team functioning both as a strong individual contributer, and at many times as the Engineering Manager for a growing startup.
2015 - 2016
MAGIC Spell Studios
Associate Producer
In my time at MAGIC (The in-house game publishing arm of the Rochester Institute of Technology) I worked to take a group of student game developers from concept to release of a game titled "Hack, Slash & Backstab" which we launched in August of 2016. My job was focused around keeping a group of less than part time developers and artists on task and guided towards completing a game that not only managed to succeed as a demo for the University program, but also as a viable indie game title that could be purchased on PC and Xbox One.
Summer 2014 & 2015
All Things Media
Programming intern
In the summers between my years at RIT, I worked at a local media firm as a Unity Programming intern. While in this position, I worked alongside members of the core programming team providing assistance on a number of projects, as well as taking on my own tasks for clients such as Pearson Financial Services, Toys R Us, and Mercedes Benz.
Awards & Achievements