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/pnpm, cutting CI feedback from hours to minutes
• Architected BFF layer enabling thin client while keeping backend services decoupled
• Post-acquisition: leading frontend unification across all Judi Care consumer products (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—every page load meant downloading megabytes of JavaScript before anything rendered.

Within months, Capital Rx acquired Amino (and shortly followed a Series F $400M raise, $3.25B valuation). Scope expanded from rebuilding one app to unifying frontend across all consumer-facing products under the new Judi Care brand, serving 54M+ plan members.

Principal Software Engineer 2024 – 2025

• Rebuilt legacy monolithic frontend (Next.js 11/Express hybrid) → clean Next.js 13 + React 18 + graphQL
• Designed new Tailwind/shadcn-based design system
• Led migration of 1M+ lines of coupled legacy components into modern monorepo
• Created sing CLI for orchestrating common frontend tasks
• Built documentation platform that transformed company knowledge culture
• Led core pricing funnel rebuild—aligned 3 siloed teams, solved multi-year blockers
• Led and organized Frontend Guild (community of practice)

Engineering Manager 2023 (9 months)

• Managed Application Platform Frontend team while continuing architecture contributions
• Deliberate return to IC: chose hands-on craft over management track

Lead (Staff) Software Engineer 2022 – 2023

• Removed 2M+ lines of dead code, cutting build times by 10+ minutes
• Rearchitected CI/CD: Lerna → Turborepo/pnpm, reducing pipeline from 2+ hours to 15 minutes
• Restructured monorepo for decoupled contributions
• Transformed team reputation from "gatekeepers" to highest-performing eng team in 18 months
• Hosted internal engineering podcast, fostering community and knowledge sharing

The story

Joined to own a small CMS and lead a Design System team. Scope expanded quickly as I started fixing long-standing pain points—dead code slowing builds, CI pipelines that took hours, a tangled monolith that made teams step on each other. The Design System team had a reputation as gatekeepers. I focused on changing that through open communication (hosted internal podcast, open Slack huddles, Frontend Guild, workshops) and genuine partnership on other teams' problems.

The trust I built across teams led naturally to a management role. After nine months, I chose to return to IC—I wanted to focus on craft and building a platform that amplified every frontend engineer at the company. That's what I did: tooling, documentation, and infrastructure that helped other teams build faster and dream bigger.

Senior Software Engineer / Frontend Team Lead

• Built React/Next.js e-commerce platform for estate sales
• Implemented new design system for consistent, accessible UI
• Built typed utility libraries