James R. AhernMA, MLIS, CAS, Ed.D. candidateProfessional Librarian/Archivist, Cultural Heritage Expert, & EducatorCertified Public Librarian (Ohio Library Council, lifetime membership)
Certificated Paralegal (allied member of the ABA & OSBA)

Curriculum Vitae

Under Construction

A full account of my professional experience, education, and capabilities. Updated July 2026.

Professional

Experience

Independent Developer & Consultant

jrahern.net

2020 — Present

United Kingdom

Full-stack development and technical consultancy for research institutions, publishing houses, and independent studios. Specialising in bespoke web applications, design systems, and API architecture.

  • Delivered 20+ projects across Europe and North America
  • Clients include academic institutions, publishing houses, and funded startups
  • Consistent record of on-time, within-scope delivery

Senior Front-End Developer

Meridian Digital

2017 — 2020

London, UK

Led front-end development on a portfolio of editorial and e-commerce products. Introduced component-driven architecture and established the team's accessibility standards.

  • Led a team of four developers across three concurrent products
  • Reduced average page load time by 38% across the product portfolio
  • Introduced WCAG 2.1 AA compliance as a baseline standard

Web Developer

Ashford & Crane Publishing

2015 — 2017

Oxford, UK

Built and maintained digital products for a heritage publishing house. Responsible for the migration of a 60-year print archive to a searchable digital platform.

  • Digitised and indexed over 12,000 archival documents
  • Built the company's first responsive web presence
  • Collaborated directly with editorial and design teams
Academic

Education

MA Digital Humanities

University of Edinburgh

2013 — 2015

Dissertation: 'Encoding the Archive — Structured Data Models for Historical Manuscript Collections'. Distinction.

BA History

University of Durham

2010 — 2013

Specialisation in medieval and early modern Britain. First Class Honours.

Capabilities

Technical Skills

Languages

TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, SQL

Frameworks & Libraries

React, Node.js, Express, Tailwind CSS, Vite, Drizzle ORM

Databases

PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite

Tools & Platforms

Git, Storybook, Figma, Vitest, Docker

Standards

WCAG 2.1 AA, Core Web Vitals, semantic HTML, REST, GraphQL

Output

Writing & Talks

On Building for Longevity

Personal essay, jrahern.net

2025

Accessibility as Craft

Talk, Edinburgh Web Standards Meetup

2024

Design Systems for the Long Term

Article, Smashing Magazine

2023

Interested in working together? I take on a small number of projects each year.

Get in touch →