Ivan Lara
UI & Full-Stack Developer

Gastonia, NC | Open to relocate
uki@live.co.uk
+1 954 412 0811
https://linkedin.com/in/ilaradev

PROFILE
Frontend-leaning UI and Full-Stack Developer with over 10 years of experience building scalable web applications, from early-stage products to enterprise SaaS platforms. Specialized in React, Next.js, Angular, TypeScript, Java, and C#, with a focus on user experience, performance, and maintainable architecture.

EXPERIENCE
Apply Digital | Vancouver, Canada | Remote
UI Developer | Frontend Developer
Apr 2025 – Apr 2026
- Supported digital product delivery for high-traffic custom/private e-commerce platforms using React.js, Next.js, TypeScript, and Angular, partnering with product, design, backend, and QA teams to clarify requirements and deliver production-ready features.
- Participated in backlog refinement, sprint planning, Jira ticket discussions, and technical conversations, helping translate business requirements into actionable frontend, API, and integration tasks.
- Developed and integrated RESTful APIs with Node.js to support critical e-commerce workflows, including cart management, checkout, order processing, account features, and customer-facing transactional flows.
- Partnered with engineering teams on API-related initiatives, integration flows, and orchestration-layer capabilities to improve communication between frontend applications, backend services, and third-party systems.
- Integrated Contentful’s GraphQL API to dynamically fetch and render structured content for public landing pages, supporting a scalable CMS-driven architecture and reducing dependency on hardcoded marketing content.
- Built and maintained Angular v20 features for a production web platform, including responsive UI components, video API integrations, authentication flows, playback/stream workflows, event handling, and error states.
- Helped investigate and resolve production issues across frontend, API, and integration layers, coordinating with technical teams to identify root causes, validate fixes, and support timely resolution.
- Unified client/server validation using TypeScript generics and Zod, reducing duplicated interfaces, improving type safety, and helping teams ship features with fewer validation-related issues.
- Improved shared-state management across complex UI flows by implementing scalable Zustand-based architecture with a Provider pattern, reducing prop drilling and making component behavior more predictable.
- Led the creation and accessibility enhancement of a scalable UI Kit based on Atomic Design principles, translating Figma designs into reusable, theme-ready components aligned with WCAG guidelines and validating screen-reader behavior with VoiceOver on macOS, improving design consistency and accelerating development across multiple projects.
- Adopted Claude Code and custom AI-assisted workflows to improve codebase exploration, accessibility review, documentation, and developer productivity while collaborating with designers, backend engineers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
Technologies: Angular, React.js, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, Zustand, Zod, Tailwind CSS, Contentful, Figma, Jira, Claude Code, Claude Agent Skills, GitHub

FPFX Tech | Boca Raton, Florida, US
UI Developer | Frontend Developer | Backend Developer
Aug 2023 – Jan 2025
- Supported digital product initiatives for trading and financial data platforms, translating business needs into reusable dashboards, .NET Core/.NET 8 and SQL Server-backed API integrations, and scalable frontend workflows.
- Built and optimized React and Next.js features using Server Components, improving load performance by 20% and enabling server-side caching for faster data rendering.
- Partnered with product stakeholders, backend engineers, and business users through Jira backlog refinement and technical discussions to clarify requirements, refine priorities, and align technical solutions with operational needs.
- Implemented Zustand and React Query to manage global state and server-state synchronization, creating more predictable data flows between client applications, .NET APIs, and backend services.
- Designed and developed multi-tenant dashboards that allowed users to manage trading data dynamically through reusable, composable React components.
- Collaborated on REST API and orchestration-layer design for high-volume data exchange using .NET 8 and SQL Server, improving frontend consumption patterns and supporting a more modular application architecture.
- Partnered with backend engineers to build .NET Core/.NET 8 microservices using SOLID principles, dependency injection, design patterns, and scalable service integrations, improving maintainability, testability, and scalability.
- Contributed to .NET 8 and Java backend services by implementing CQRS design patterns in REST APIs, separating read and write responsibilities for financial services data.
- Led the migration of legacy workflows to Java-based backend services, integrated payment gateways, and delivered the first two MVPs, establishing the foundation for future product development and scalable financial-service integrations.
- Migrated background processing services and REST API workflows from C++ to Python, modernizing legacy processes and improving stability for prop trading services and third-party stock market APIs.
- Helped investigate and resolve production issues across frontend, .NET APIs, SQL Server, authentication, and data workflows, coordinating with technical teams to identify root causes, validate fixes, and support timely resolution.
- Built and validated complex forms using React Hook Form and Zod/Yup, including dynamic schemas driven by backend business logic and user-managed configuration.
- Expanded ownership beyond frontend development by contributing to backend services, microservice architecture, API design, SQL Server workflows, Git-based code reviews, Jira task management, Azure DevOps pipelines, Figma-based workflows, and cross-functional technical discussions.
Technologies: React.js, Next.js, TypeScript, Zustand, React Query, Tailwind CSS, Java, Python, C#, MySQL, Figma, Jira, Contentful, Azure DevOps

Novatech | San Salvador, El Salvador | Remote
Full Stack Developer
Jan 2022 – May 2023
- Remade the company website using React, Next.js, and TypeScript, increasing Google Lighthouse performance scores to 90+ and improving Core Web Vitals, load speed, and overall user experience.
- Developed modular, reusable UI components in React and TypeScript, standardizing frontend logic across multiple projects and reducing future development effort by 30%.
- Built and maintained complex form workflows using React Hook Form, Formik, and Zod/Yup-style validation patterns, improving form reliability and reducing repetitive validation logic.
- Integrated a self-hosted Strapi CMS with React, enabling dynamic content management and simplifying editorial workflows for non-technical and marketing teams.
- Improved payment services dashboards using Angular and React, enhancing usability, accessibility, and maintainability while reducing user-reported issues by 15%.
- Scaled Java REST API endpoints to support integrations with payment gateways, third-party CMS platforms, and external services, consolidating data from multiple sources into a unified flow.
- Collaborated closely with designers to deliver pixel-perfect UI implementations, improve design-system consistency, and maintain responsive layouts across multiple screen sizes.
- Strengthened my ability to connect frontend performance, CMS architecture, and backend integrations by working across website optimization, dashboard workflows, and API-driven systems.
Technologies: Angular, React.js, Next.js, TypeScript, Strapi, Java, Node.js, Firebase, Azure DevOps, Figma

Stefanini | San Salvador, El Salvador | Remote
Frontend Developer (Project contract)
Feb 2022 – Apr 2022
- Migrated a legacy React application from class-based to functional components, introducing React Hooks and modern state management patterns to improve maintainability and performance.
- Developed new features for managing complex data views in React.js, reducing load times and enhancing data visualization for internal business dashboards.
- Managing and validating forms using libraries like React Hook Form and zod.
- Designed and optimized dashboards for Walmart Costa Rica, ensuring smooth rendering of large datasets through memoization and virtualized lists.
- Integrated React frontend with Java backend APIs, creating reusable data-fetching utilities and improving response handling for multiple endpoints.
- Simplified user workflows by redesigning UI flows, resulting in a more intuitive experience for non-technical users.
Technologies: React.js, TypeScript, Java, Redux, React Hooks, Jira

Hypernova Labs | Panama, Panama | Remote
Backend Developer
Feb 2021 – Jan 2022
- Developed .NET Core/.NET 6 microservices supporting large-scale banking applications, applying Clean Architecture, Dependency Injection, SOLID principles, and design patterns to improve modularity, testability, and long-term maintainability.
- Collaborated closely with frontend teams using React and Angular to design reliable, performant REST endpoints that supported seamless integration, authentication and authorization processes, between web and mobile applications.
- Improved API performance through asynchronous operations, caching, and SQL Server query optimization, helping deliver faster response times for financial tracking and banking-related services.
- Implemented Entity Framework Core with SQL Server to ensure data integrity, improve persistence workflows, and support efficient data access across distributed .NET Core/.NET 6 systems.
- Improved database functions, stored procedures, and database access policies to strengthen system reliability, enforce business rules closer to the data layer, and support safer data operations.
- Contributed to backend architecture decisions by improving service boundaries, validation flows, and integration patterns across banking and financial service modules.
- Strengthened my backend engineering skills by working deeper with .NET Core/.NET 6 microservices, database optimization, security-aware data access, scalable API design, Git, Jira, and Azure DevOps workflows in a financial services environment.
Technologies: .NET Core, C#, EF Core, MS SQL, React.js, Angular, TypeScript, Node.js, MongoDB, Azure DevOps, Jira

GoDigital Group | Panama, Panama | Remote
Tech Lead | Full Stack Developer
Dec 2018 – Feb 2021
- Joined as the first developer in the startup, helping define the initial technical foundation, architecture decisions, and development standards that supported the launch of multiple SaaS products.
- Designed and developed a loyalty management platform from the ground up using .NET Core, C#, Angular, and SQL Server, enabling retail clients to manage rewards, customer engagement, promotional workflows, and recurring customer retention programs.
- Built dynamic storefront experiences using React and Gatsby.js, allowing clients to manage public-facing content faster and improve customer interaction across digital channels.
- Developed a crowd-buying web application that allowed users to collectively purchase discounted products, supporting real-time deal tracking and scalable backend workflows for campaign-based sales.
- Created a drag-and-drop page builder in React, enabling marketing teams to launch landing pages and campaign layouts without developer support, reducing turnaround time for content updates.
- Implemented Repository and Unit of Work patterns across API layers, improving transactional consistency, maintainability, and separation of concerns as the platform scaled.
- Developed payment features including redeemable points, payment links, and customer reward flows, expanding the platform’s ability to support different retail and loyalty business models.
- Contributed to infrastructure decisions, CI/CD pipelines, Docker-based environments, and reusable UI libraries, improving deployment consistency and accelerating future product development.
- Grew from feature delivery into early-stage technical ownership by helping shape product architecture, reusable engineering patterns, and scalable foundations for a startup environment.
Technologies: Angular, React.js, TypeScript, .NET Core, C#, EF Core, MS SQL, MongoDB, Node.js, Material UI, Docker, Firebase, Ionic, Bulma, Asana

Online | Managua, Nicaragua | Remote
Tech Lead | Backend Dev | Web Designer
May 2016 – Oct 2018
- Designed and developed user-friendly e-commerce and corporate websites, improving usability, customer experience, and delivery quality for multiple clients.
- Automated manual reporting and analytics processes by building a custom internal web application, reducing reporting time from hours to minutes.
- Promoted to lead e-commerce website production, managing priorities, coordinating delivery, and ensuring timely completion of high-quality client projects.
- Implemented a reusable boilerplate website system that reduced project setup time from 15 days to 3 days, significantly improving team efficiency and delivery speed.
- Developed and maintained backend infrastructure using .NET Framework, Razor Pages, ADO.NET, and SQL Server, ensuring seamless integration with database-driven applications.
- Earned the Microsoft Certified Professional accreditation, strengthening my foundation in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and web application development while applying those skills to production projects.
Technologies: HTML, CSS, jQuery, Razor Pages, .NET Framework, MS SQL, ADO.NET, Bootstrap

SKILLS
Frontend: React, Next.js, Angular, TypeScript, Zustand, React Query, Tailwind CSS
Backend & data: Java, C#, .NET Core / .NET 8, Node.js, Python, SQL Server, MySQL, MongoDB, REST APIs, GraphQL
Architecture: SOLID, Clean Architecture, Repository, Factory, CQRS, Mediator
Delivery & tooling: Agile / Scrum, Code reviews, Git / GitFlow, CI/CD, Azure, AWS, Docker, Figma, Swagger, Postman, VS Code, Visual Studio
Content & product: Contentful, Strapi, UI/UX principles, Digital marketing fundamentals

EDUCATION
Universidad Politecnica de Nicaragua
System Engineering | Jan 2016
Degree paperwork pending

CERTIFICATIONS
Microsoft
70-480: Programming in HTML5 with JavaScript and CSS3 | Nov 2017

LANGUAGES
Spanish: Native
English: Fluent (B2–C1)