Devon Wells

Principal Software Engineer

• Led ground-up frontend rebuild from legacy Flask/React 16 to Next.js 15, React 19, Tailwind 4, and shadcn
• Reduced JS payload from multiple megabytes to <500KB, eliminating slow page load on marginal devices
• Established full test coverage across user journeys with Vitest, Playwright, Turborepo, and pnpm, cutting CI feedback from hours to minutes
• Architected BFF layer enabling a thin client while keeping services decoupled
• Post-acquisition: leading frontend unification across Judi Care consumer products serving 54M+ plan members

The story

Joined Amino Health, a healthtech startup focused on care navigation, to lead a complete frontend rebuild and redesign. The legacy stack was a Flask/Django backend serving client-side React 16, so every page load meant downloading megabytes of JavaScript before anything rendered.

Within months, Capital Rx acquired Amino. Scope expanded from rebuilding one app to unifying frontend across all consumer-facing products under the Judi Care brand.

Principal Software Engineer 2024 - 2025

• Rebuilt a legacy Next.js 11/Express frontend as Next.js 13 and React 18
• Designed a new Tailwind and shadcn-based design system
• Led migration of 1M+ lines of coupled legacy components into a modern monorepo
• Created the sing CLI for orchestrating common frontend tasks
• Built a documentation platform that transformed company knowledge culture
• Led the core pricing funnel rebuild across three previously siloed teams
• Led and organized the Frontend Guild community of practice

Engineering Manager 2023, nine months

• Managed the Application Platform Frontend team while contributing architecture
• Deliberately returned to the IC path to focus on hands-on craft

Lead (Staff) Software Engineer 2022 - 2023

• Removed 2M+ lines of dead code, cutting build times by more than ten minutes
• Moved CI from Lerna to Turborepo and pnpm, reducing two-hour pipelines to 15 minutes
• Restructured the monorepo for decoupled contributions
• Transformed the team's reputation from gatekeepers to trusted partners
• Hosted an internal engineering podcast to foster knowledge sharing

The story

Joined to own a small CMS and lead a Design System team. Scope expanded as I fixed long-standing pain points: dead code slowing builds, CI pipelines that took hours, and a tangled monolith that made teams step on each other.

The trust built across teams led naturally to management. After nine months I chose to return to IC work and focus on a platform that amplified every frontend engineer through tooling, documentation, and infrastructure.

Senior Software Engineer / Frontend Team Lead

• Built a React and Next.js e-commerce platform for estate sales
• Implemented an accessible design system and typed utility libraries