Callum Flack

The work and team I’m after

This post is to help recruiters, hiring managers, colleagues and myself to get a better idea of the kind of work I’m good at and that I enjoy.

All my work in the past decade has come from word of mouth. This is an attempt to be more deliberate about my next role.

The short version: I want a job where design engineering is important. Ideally remote. With a team that shares mutual respect, camaraderie, and a passion for what we build.

I’m a design engineer and product leader. Read about me. Here’s my CV.

Code is my design tool. Design is my first love. I spent over a decade working in branding and graphic design. I taught myself to code because it was the only way to effect my ideas. Now I use code as a design tool to get as close as possible to the web medium. Being able to design and code simply creates a much faster feedback loop.

I love building UI. I love making the user interface real in terms of what makes a valuable customer experience. For example, async data management and thoughtful data schemas are as much the basis for good UI as the visual, interactive experience. One cannot work without the other. I try to account for all of it.

More than the sum of parts. It looks good in Figma, but how does it feel as a coded UI? It may fulfil spec, but does it feel fast? There are no answers to these questions without continuously drafting until it feels right. Delivery is not code commits, it’s a tangible experience in the hands of people. I enjoy owning this process.

AI makes design (and taste) even more important. I think LLMs will shift the role of software engineer from author to reviewer. This means there is going to be more time to think deeply about ideas and opportunities. Small, hungry teams working with these tools will open up great potential. But they’ll need to have both curiosity and taste.

Career highlights include:

Please read my case studies here.

People first. Great products are built by teams of people working together in a context of knowhow that is very difficult to replicate. I’m naturally reflective but love a laugh. I’m not afraid to ask questions or be wrong or jump in the deep end. Most of all, I want to work with a team I can trust and have fun with.

Tempo. Are we testing a hypothesis? Running downhill towards a feature release? Nailing a customer experience flow? A sense of urgency helps carve out the true nature of scope. Being pragmatic at every step helps balance craft with delivery. I keep a tempo in mind at all times.

Communication plays a big part. How the team is oriented around mission helps make task work smooth and meaningful. If we disagree, then accept and commit to a decision. Action creates insight. Strong opinions, weakly held. Personally, I write or video demo my progress at the end of most days.

Listening leadership. The best manager I’ve had would, when I had the floor, listen closely, query for understanding, rephrase what I’d said in his own words, then take a few seconds and give me a direct answer. I was always so happy to work with him.

The role. I want to join a team but I’m open to contracts and one-off projects in order to meet people. I can work in either design or engineering, or both together. I have a wealth of T-shaped knowhow so I can also consult on product, brand and UI, code reviews and design systems.

I’m in Australia (AEST). I live with my family in Cairns, Australia. I’ve worked remotely here since 2015 for clients across Australia, and for two US-based start-ups. The 5-hour US-AUS timezone overlap works very well. UK-AUS less so. As a family unit, we are also open to relocation adventures!

Base rates. My base salary is approximately ~AU$190k and my base day rate is ~AU$900. I am open to people and ideas so if you have a unique situation, let’s chat.

Don’t hesitate to say hello :)