CV | Billy Watson

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Bullet

Digits: Divider

20 Perigree RoadSheffieldUnited KingdomS8 0NE

Experience: Divider

Principal Front End Engineer

October 2024 - present

Contract

BulletPromoted to lead 15 engineers on complex e-commerce platform with 7M+ monthly visitors
BulletStrengthened platform - enhanced auth, E2E test fixes, performance and robustness gains
BulletPartnered with other principals to prioritise the roadmap and share ownership of tech debt
BulletTriaged incoming bugs, ensuring they were refined and ready to fix before hitting squads
BulletRan a site-wide accessibility audit, lifting WCAG compliance, usability, conversion and SEO
BulletPiloted AI tools (Copilot, Claude and Cursor) to accelerate delivery and solve complex problems
BulletMigrated linting and formatting from ESLint/Prettier to OxLint/OxFmt, saving an estimated 15+ hours a week, locally and in CI

Technical Lead

April 2023 - October 2024

Contract

Bullet7x extended contract at FTSE250 retailer, supporting a major digital transformation
BulletUpskilled existing engineers while building and launching a new Next site
BulletDelivered key features - search, find-us, bookings, subscriptions and health plans
BulletLed three of six squads, mentoring developers to grow in-house knowledge
BulletShaped strategic technical decisions, embedding performant and scalable coding practices
BulletDefined coding standards and PR practices to raise code quality and test coverage
BulletEstablished advanced mocking and accessible testing across Jest and Playwright

Senior Software Engineer

September 2022 - April 2023

Contract

BulletDeveloped software UI used by thousands of companies and millions of customers
BulletApplied advanced React patterns (hooks, callbacks, memoisation) for lean, fast code
BulletBuilt extensive testing strategy for components, hooks and context to reduce bugs
BulletExtended the Chakra design system with advanced Storybook docs, aiding adoption
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 build tooling to Vite, cutting local dev and test feedback loops

Senior Software Engineer

April 2022 - August 2022

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

Lead Front End Developer

July 2021 - April 2022

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
BulletShaped DX strategy, including branch workflow and Azure DevOps migration

Senior Front End Developer

September 2018 - July 2021

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

Front End Developer

May 2016 - December 2017

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

Front End Developer

March 2014 - August 2015

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

July 2012 - March 2014

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

July 2012

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

My huge wealth of experience in engineering has equipped me with a broad toolkit across web and native technologies, and a genuine focus on code that's tested, scalable, performant and accessible. Next, Node, React Native and TypeScript are my usual stack; but I prefer reaching for the right tool over the familiar one, and keep pace with the evolving ecosystem.

I'm a T-shaped engineer who values working closely with other disciplines. Mentoring is where I do some of my best work - there's nothing more satisfying than watching someone I've mentored get promoted - though I'm equally at home solving a hard technical problem myself.

Qualifications: Divider

Leeds Metropolitan University

September 2009 - May 2012

First Class BSc (Hons) in Multimedia Technology

Lady Manners School

September 2001 - May 2008

12 GCSEs and 3 A-Levels

Profile: Divider

References: Divider

Tom Tollafield

Head of Software, Pets at Home

Mattia Battiston

Engineering Manager, Pollen

Rob Dorsett

Technical Director, Absurd

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Bullet

Digits: Divider

20 Perigree RoadSheffieldUnited KingdomS8 0NE

Experience: Divider

Pets at Home logo

Pets at Home

Handforth

Principal Front End Engineer

October 2024 - present

Contract

BulletPromoted to lead 15 engineers on complex e-commerce platform with 7M+ monthly visitors
BulletStrengthened platform - enhanced auth, E2E test fixes, performance and robustness gains
BulletPartnered with other principals to prioritise the roadmap and share ownership of tech debt
BulletTriaged incoming bugs, ensuring they were refined and ready to fix before hitting squads
BulletRan a site-wide accessibility audit, lifting WCAG compliance, usability, conversion and SEO
BulletPiloted AI tools (Copilot, Claude and Cursor) to accelerate delivery and solve complex problems
BulletMigrated linting and formatting from ESLint/Prettier to OxLint/OxFmt, saving an estimated 15+ hours a week, locally and in CI

Technical Lead

April 2023 - October 2024

Contract

Bullet7x extended contract at FTSE250 retailer, supporting a major digital transformation
BulletUpskilled existing engineers while building and launching a new Next site
BulletDelivered key features - search, find-us, bookings, subscriptions and health plans
BulletLed three of six squads, mentoring developers to grow in-house knowledge
BulletShaped strategic technical decisions, embedding performant and scalable coding practices
BulletDefined coding standards and PR practices to raise code quality and test coverage
BulletEstablished advanced mocking and accessible testing across Jest and Playwright

IAM Cloud logo

IAM Cloud

Huddersfield

Senior Software Engineer

September 2022 - April 2023

Contract

BulletDeveloped software UI used by thousands of companies and millions of customers
BulletApplied advanced React patterns (hooks, callbacks, memoisation) for lean, fast code
BulletBuilt extensive testing strategy for components, hooks and context to reduce bugs
BulletExtended the Chakra design system with advanced Storybook docs, aiding adoption
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 build tooling to Vite, cutting local dev and test feedback loops

Pollen logo

Pollen

London

Senior Software Engineer

April 2022 - August 2022

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 logo

Absurd

Manchester

Lead Front End Developer

July 2021 - April 2022

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
BulletShaped DX strategy, including branch workflow and Azure DevOps migration

Senior Front End Developer

September 2018 - July 2021

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 logo

Plusnet

Sheffield

Front End Developer

May 2016 - December 2017

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 logo

Havas Lynx

Manchester

Front End Developer

March 2014 - August 2015

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

July 2012 - March 2014

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

July 2012

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

Qualifications: Divider

Leeds Metropolitan University

September 2009 - May 2012

First Class BSc (Hons) in Multimedia Technology

Lady Manners School

September 2001 - May 2008

12 GCSEs and 3 A-Levels

Profile: Divider

References: Divider

Tom Tollafield

Head of Software, Pets at Home

Mattia Battiston

Engineering Manager, Pollen

Rob Dorsett

Technical Director, Absurd

Billy Watson

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Engaging Engineering

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Principal Front End Engineer

Technical Lead

Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer

Lead Front End Developer

Senior Front End Developer

Front End Developer

Front End Developer

Junior Front End Developer

Placement Developer

Skills: Divider

Qualifications: Divider

Leeds Metropolitan University

Lady Manners School

Profile: Divider

References: Divider

Tom Tollafield

Mattia Battiston

Rob Dorsett

Billy Watson

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Digits: Divider

Experience: Divider

Principal Front End Engineer

Technical Lead

Senior Software Engineer

Senior Software Engineer

Lead Front End Developer

Senior Front End Developer

Front End Developer

Front End Developer

Junior Front End Developer

Placement Developer

Skills: Divider

Qualifications: Divider

Leeds Metropolitan University

Lady Manners School

Profile: Divider

References: Divider

Tom Tollafield

Mattia Battiston

Rob Dorsett