20 Perigree RoadSheffieldUnited KingdomS8 0NE
CV | Billy Watson
Billy Watson logo
Creative, collaborative and personable Front End Engineer from the Peaks with a huge wealth of experience spanning agency, in-house and freelance roles across 12 years; including Next, Node, React (+ Native) and TypeScript.
A passion for accessibility and use of subtle animation and interactivity to enhance user experience. Interests include scuba diving and mountain biking.
Digits: Divider
Experience: Divider
Pets at Home
Handforth
Principal Front End Engineer
- present
Contract
- BulletPromoted to oversee the entire team of 15 engineers on complex e-commerce platform with 7M+ monthly visitors
- BulletFocused on improving platform - auth enhancements; unblocking E2E tests; boosting performance and improving robustness
- BulletMade tech debt a collaborative process; keeping the codebase modern and relevant whilst garnering a shared sense of ownership
- BulletReviewed upcoming features; collaborating with other principals to scrutinise, prioritise and iterate
- BulletImproved accessibility, usability, performance and conversion rates for users while boosting SEO and reducing churn
- BulletTriaged incoming bugs to ensure they were refined and ready to fix before hitting squads
- BulletRan accessibility audit, updating site components and pages to target WCAG compliance
Technical Lead
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Contract
- Bullet3x-extended consultant role at FTSE250 product company, to help huge digital transformation
- BulletTasked with providing expertise to upskill existing engineers whilst also creating and delivering new Next site
- BulletResponsible for completion of vital features like search, find-us, bookings, subscriptions and health plans
- BulletLed three of six development squads, mentoring devs to boost in-house knowledge and skills
- BulletDrove strategic technical decisions; instilled performant, scalable and robust coding techniques
- BulletDefined coding standards, critiqued PR’s and encouraged best practices to ensure high code quality and test coverage
- BulletIntroduced advanced mocking patterns and accessible strategy for Jest unit tests and Playwright integration tests
IAM Cloud
Huddersfield
Senior Software Engineer
-
Contract
- BulletDeveloped software UI used by thousands of companies and millions of customers
- BulletLeveraged advanced React methodologies (use of hooks, callbacks and memoization)
- BulletCreated extensive unit testing strategy for components, hooks and context
- BulletExtended use of Chakra design system, with advanced Storybook implementation
- BulletPublished packages to NPM with Rush monorepo for consumption by other projects
- BulletUtilised Docker to spin up Verdaccio instance, allowing local testing without publishing
- BulletSwitched to Vite stack instead of Webpack, and explored Vitest instead of Jest
Pollen
London
Senior Software Engineer
-
Permanent
- BulletLed and mentored development team of 4 as a T-shaped engineer at travel company
- BulletUsed TypeScript and GraphQL extensively in an Agile, product-focused environment
- BulletContributed to component library shared by web (Next) and mobile (React Native)
- BulletThoroughly unit tested code with Jest, explored functional and E2E tests with Cypress
- BulletImproved code performance to enhance UX by reducing render and loading times
- BulletDrove codebase accessibility audit, boosting usability for all users as well as SEO
- BulletIntegrated feature flags and implemented AB testing in collaboration with data team
Absurd
Manchester
Lead Front End Developer
-
Permanent
- BulletPromoted to lead role after building out multi-faceted team of different seniority
- BulletMentored and line-managed whole team; mapping objectives and running 1-2-1's
- BulletHoned bleeding edge agency tech stack - Next, TypeScript, Node, Sass and Jest
- BulletEmbraced GraphQL, using it in headless instances of Shopify and Contentful
- BulletIntroduced modern unit testing with Jest // React Testing Library for code confidence
- BulletRemained hands-on, developing major projects for Umbro, Lucy & Yak and CitySuites
- BulletInvolved in strategic decisions like DX, branch strategy and Azure DevOps migration
Senior Front End Developer
-
Permanent
- BulletHeadhunted for senior role at service design agency after relocation to Manchester
- BulletIntroduced ES6+, TypeScript, React and React Native as well as GSAP and Webpack
- BulletImplemented advanced React concepts like custom hooks, context and suspense
- BulletExpanded agency's expertise into mobile via creation of a TypeScript React Native app
- BulletTurbocharged performance and SEO of agency website utilising Next and SSR
- BulletDeveloped Alexa app with Node and Lamba, led agency’s official Alexa certification
- BulletChampioned the PWA, leveraging advantages with an offline-capable Vue project
Plusnet
Sheffield
Front End Developer
-
Permanent
- BulletIn-house JavaScript expert at major ISP whose site receives millions of hits per year
- BulletMentored placement student during project to rebuild Service Status in React
- BulletIntroduced unit testing using Mocha and Chai, used Selenium for functional testing
- BulletRebuilt old Grunt build stack in Gulp, saving the department 3 day's dev time per year
- BulletDeveloped new prototype Member Centre in Angular after conducting user testing
- BulletCompleted code reviews for entire department to encourage clean, manageable code
Havas Lynx
Manchester
Front End Developer
-
Permanent
- BulletPromoted to mid-weight following advancement of skills and knowledge as a junior
- BulletKey member of development team, initiated and led both individual and team projects
- BulletActed up and ran department during replacement for outgoing Head of Front End
- BulletHoned JS skills with use of Knockout, Require and writing custom Handlebars helpers
- BulletMentored junior devs, advising on key decisions and best practices to develop skills
- BulletResponsible for scheduling and timelines, hiring freelance resource where necessary
Junior Front End Developer
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Permanent
- BulletGiven full time role as a junior developer after impressing during placement
- BulletDeveloped websites, apps and eDetails; including for various client CLM platforms
- BulletCollaborated with mobile team for iOS apps, using TeamCity and provisioning profiles
- BulletInvolved in developing new build stack, moving from Jekyll + Zepto to Grunt + jQuery
- BulletUsed templating tools like Handlebars, Assemble and Jade to avoid code repetition
- BulletRan rapid prototyping - overnight app development for global company conference
Placement Developer
Placement
- BulletOffered placement after being headhunted at university Creative Showcase
- BulletFurthered experience to modern web technologies including HTML5, Sass and Zepto
- BulletGained exposure to Back End technologies by working on PHP and .NET websites
Skills: Divider
Through my extensive experience I've gained a vast array of skillsets and expertise in a range of web and native technologies. I have a keen focus on thoroughly tested, scalable and maintainable code - which is performant and accessible - and live by the mantra: write less, do more! Next, Node, React Native and TypeScript is my preferred tech stack but I’m a firm believer in using the right tool for the job.
As a T-shaped engineer, I value collaboration with members of the wider project team across different disciplines. Having experience of leading teams and mentoring other engineers, I also find the management side of the job really rewarding, while at the same time cherishing the technical challenge of being an expert engineer. I am passionate about usability and accessibility and how these enhance UX.
Qualifications: Divider
Leeds Metropolitan University
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First Class BSc (Hons) in Multimedia Technology
Lady Manners School
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12 GCSEs and 3 A-Levels
Profile: Divider
References: Divider
Tom Tollafield
Head of Software, Pets at Home
LinkedInMattia Battiston
Engineering Manager, Pollen
LinkedInRob Dorsett
Technical Director, Absurd
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