Front end development
Responsive, maintainable interfaces with a focus on the React ecosystem.
About me
Hi, I’m Matt.
Software engineer.
MATT PILCHER / UKBased in Hampshire, UK
I’m a software engineer with over 10 years of development experience, specialising in React, TypeScript and CSS. I’ve worked on a wide range of projects, including e-commerce websites, customer portals and SaaS platforms, with features ranging from product pages and customer accounts to reporting dashboards.
My focus is front end development, but I also have hands-on backend experience — for example, using Node.js, Express and GraphQL to build and update API routes, handle customer data and integrate services. I’ve also worked with CMS platforms and page builders, configuring content models and building reusable templates and components. My experience includes automated testing, CI/CD, performance monitoring and code reviews.
I started in web and graphic design before moving into independent games and then professional software engineering. That background gives me an eye for detail when building interfaces. I take pride in my work and care about delivering reliable, well-tested software.
What I bring
Skills & experience.
Design & collaboration
Design systems, Figma handovers, peer reviews and experience working in agile product teams.
APIs & software delivery
Building and updating API routes, integrating services, automated testing, CI/CD and monitoring applications in production.
AI-assisted development
Since my last role, I’ve made AI-assisted workflows a bigger part of how I develop software, helping me explore ideas and work more productively on my recent projects. My hands-on experience helps me assess suggestions and understand the trade-offs. I review and test the code I ship and take responsibility for the result.
Other technologies I’ve worked with
Across previous roles, I’ve worked with a range of technologies to build features and maintain existing applications. My experience with each varies depending on the role and project.
Interfaces & styling
Services & data
Testing & tooling
Content & analytics
Games & animation
Where I’ve worked
Career history.
I took a planned career break to renovate my home. With the renovation complete, I’m building new web projects and looking for my next software engineering role.
Worked on the retail website and app, building product page features, recommendations and customer account functionality.
- Built responsive product galleries, delivery and click-and-collect components, with variations for split testing and a new design token system.
- Led the loyalty capture project across web and React Native, including forms, validation and customer data integration with GraphQL and Go.
- Helped migrate React components to a new page builder, configured CMS fields and migrated APIs from HapiJS to GraphQL and Go.
- Supported junior developers and reviewed code, alongside testing, CI/CD maintenance and performance monitoring with Datadog and Lighthouse.
Used Vue.js and Tailwind CSS to add features, fix bugs and work on a redesign of the existing platform.
Worked on booking journeys and customer portals, including sites for Merlin Entertainments.
- Helped plan and rewrite the Manage My Booking portal from legacy PHP to React, Redux and Express, integrating with newer microservices.
- Built features using GraphQL and Apollo, including hotel suggestions and lowest-price calendars, plus a customer email preference step in the booking flow.
- Migrated a Paultons SEO site to a Gatsby-based publishing system and created content templates in Prismic. Work also covered automated tests, CircleCI deployments, analytics and stakeholder demos.
Built interfaces for a SaaS platform, working with Angular, Pug, MongoDB and Sass, and supported its migration from Angular 1 to Angular 2.
- Developed a responsive, printable reporting dashboard with resizable drag-and-drop widgets for lead, activity and graph data.
- Designed and built components, themes and templates for a landing page builder, alongside work on the company’s university ranking website.
Created independent games, including two released on the App Store. This brought together programming, artwork, animation and interface design; examples are in the portfolio.
Earlier experience
Before moving into development, I worked as a Content and Site Administrator at Wiggle (2012–2013), a Web and Graphic Designer at Hardcloud (2011–2012), and a Junior Web and Graphic Designer at Unipro (2009–2011). These roles covered product content, web artwork, marketing emails and promotional design.