Niko McGrath

Saitama, Japan [email protected]linkedin.com/in/niko-mcgrath-3743568bgithub.com/nikojmcgrath nikomcgrath.com

Summary

Co-founder of SalmonCat Studios, a mechanical-keyboard company whose first kit raised $231,849 in 30 days; I ran its suppliers, Shopify operations and fulfillment. Three years as Director of Photography on a documentary YouTube channel that grew past 600,000 subscribers. Since March 2025 I've taught English at a Saitama high school where the staffroom runs in Japanese. I build software for the work in front of me: order and inventory automation, a tool that cuts video to a script, a Japanese-learning product. From April 2027 I'm looking for operations, business analysis or product operations roles, in Tokyo or Southern California.

Experience

Freelance video editor, A Japanese-learning YouTube channel

Sep 2026 – present

Remote

  • Edit two to three long-form educational videos a month, 10 to 20 minutes each, with custom motion graphics, graphic design and some filming.
  • Built Roughcut, which finds every take of every script line in the footage and plans the rough cut for DaVinci Resolve.

In the portfolio: Roughcut

Assistant Language Teacher, Interac

Mar 2025 – present

Warabi Saitama Prefectural High School · Saitama, Japan

  • Teach 18 classes a week to about 400 students, including 12 periods of debate and discussion for the school’s international-language track, at around CEFR C1.
  • Lead the second-year speech curriculum this year: I co-develop the course with my Japanese co-teacher and make all of its slides and materials.
  • Lead the English Debate Club and judge at prefectural and regional competitions; co-led the English Drama Club to first prize at the prefectural competition.
  • Coach third-years for university entrance-exam speaking tests and the TOEIC. Staff meetings, planning and day-to-day work happen in Japanese.

Director of Photography, James Klug

Feb 2022 – Mar 2025

Documentary YouTube channel · United States

  • About 240 productions over three years for a channel that grew past 600,000 subscribers; a flagship short reached 17 million views.
  • Planned shots, locations and lighting, ran multi-camera shoots on location, and carried out sponsors’ creative briefs.
  • Built the channel’s shorts strategy around YouTube Premium revenue sharing, and launched a live-stream donation stream whose ad revenue per view ran about 600% above normal videos.

In the portfolio: James Klug

Co-founder, SalmonCat Studios

Feb 2021 – present

Mechanical keyboards · United States and Japan · Winding down since 2023

  • Led the June 2021 launch of the Aozora kit: $231,849 in 30 days on 849 orders, 4.6× the $50,000 goal, from an audience we built ourselves.
  • Cut the unit cost from over $350 to $138 across five design-for-manufacture rounds with the factory.
  • Ran supplier negotiation, Shopify operations, community and fulfillment, and took hand-shipping from 20 to about 100 orders a day.
  • Rebuilt operations in 2026 in Google Sheets and Apps Script: Shopify order sync, part-by-part inventory and reorder points.

In the portfolio: SalmonCat Studios, Aozora 69, Aozora PCB, Inventory Tracker

Independent projects

Education

BS Business Administration, International Business, Cal Poly Pomona

2020 – 2024

  • Dean’s List for two semesters in the final year.
  • Coursework in international business strategy, international agreements and negotiation, strategic management and financial accounting.
  • Co-founded the Japanese Language Learners Club and served a year as its vice president.

Skills

Business and operations
Community, E-commerce, Monetization, Operations, Product, Shopify
Design and hardware
3D, CAD, Electronics, Hardware, Industrial design, KiCad, PCB design
Software and data
AI agents, Automation, Claude API, Data, Google Apps Script, Java, NLP, Python, SQLite, Systems design
Film and video
Cinematography, Editing, Motion graphics, Production
Teaching and language
Curriculum design, Japanese, Teaching

Languages

English
Native.
Japanese
Used every day at work. JLPT N2 in July 2026: 88 / 180, two points short of a pass; next sitting July 2027.