CRYSTAL GARDNER REYES

Senior Software Engineer
Wait...
hi[at]crystalreyes.dev
Atlanta, GA
linkedin.com/in/crystalreyesdev
crystalreyes.dev

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Senior Software Engineer with 17 years of experience building high-performance frontend systems for enterprise-scale platforms. Expertise in React, TypeScript, and Next.js with proven success architecting accessible, responsive UIs serving millions of daily users at The Weather Company and weather.com. Skilled in component library development, GraphQL and REST API integration, performance optimization through Lighthouse audits and Core Web Vitals improvements, and cross-functional collaboration with backend, product, and design teams. Strong background in modern engineering standards, code reviews, and codifying frontend engineering best practices across organizations.

SKILLS

Technical:JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Next.js, HTML, CSS, GraphQL, REST APIs, Server-Side Rendering (SSR), Static Site Generation (SSG), Component Libraries, Performance Optimization, Accessibility, Cross-Browser Compatibility, Responsive Design, SASS
Tools:Git, GitHub, Storybook, Jest, Cypress, Lighthouse, Webpack, Vite, ESLint, Prettier, Figma, VS Code, Vercel, CI/CD Pipelines
Soft:Technical Mentorship, Code Reviews, Cross-functional Collaboration, Agile/Scrum, Product Strategy, Technical Writing, Problem Solving

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Baldie Con Inc.
Head of Technology & Digital Experience
Aug 2024 – Present
Atlanta, GA
  • Lead Baldie Con's digital ecosystem, including website development, platform architecture, and user experience across all touchpoints.
  • Design and manage core systems including web infrastructure, domain and email configuration, and integrations across ticketing, payments, and marketing platforms.
  • Build internal tools and automation workflows to streamline event operations, including volunteer management and real-time check-in systems.
  • Own technical strategy and execution for live events, supporting everything from system planning and documentation to on-site implementation and troubleshooting.
  • Ensure WCAG-compliant accessibility standards and consistent brand implementation across all digital platforms while producing marketing-ready assets to support event promotion.
The Weather Company (IBM)
Senior Software Engineer
Oct 2020 – Mar 2024
Atlanta, GA
  • Coordinated a contract frontend team through the Premium Subscriptions launch, maintaining delivery momentum across frequently shifting requirements to ship a new revenue stream on schedule.
  • Engineered high-performance UI components for forecast pages using React and TypeScript, serving millions of daily users across multiple devices.
  • Collaborated with backend, product, design, and QA teams to integrate weather data via REST and GraphQL APIs, ensuring consistent data delivery across frontend surfaces.
  • Built accessible components within a centralized StorybookJS library and helped establish WCAG 2.1 AA standards adopted across the frontend organization.
  • Applied Lighthouse audits consistently across projects to identify and resolve Core Web Vitals regressions, with measurable improvements to performance on key revenue pages.
The Weather Company
Software Engineer
Mar 2008 – Oct 2020
Atlanta, GA
  • Developed responsive frontend components for high-traffic webpages, reducing load times for millions of daily visitors across desktop and mobile.
  • Drove frontend development for Hurricane Central, building interactive storm tracking tools and responsive UI components for a high-traffic seasonal destination.
  • Contributed to a large-scale migration from AngularJS to React, improving development workflows and enabling implementation of more advanced frontend features.
  • Developed Today Page and homepage components, creating high-performance layouts for weather.com's most trafficked revenue-generating destinations.
  • Contributed to a Backend for Frontend (BFF) implementation combining server-side rendering with client-side hydration, improving initial page load times and SEO.

PROJECTS

The Village at Cobblestone Hub
Developed a premium community ecosystem
2026
  • Developed a "front door" digital ecosystem for a 225-home community, consolidating fragmented communication into a unified source of truth.
  • Built real-time content management workflows using Sanity.io, enabling streamlined updates to community resources and directories.
  • Engineered a highly accessible, mobile-first interface optimized for usability across a wide range of resident technical comfort levels.
Georgia Homeless Pets Platform
Modernized pet adoption platform
2026
  • Engineered a ground-up mobile-first rebuild of a legacy animal shelter website, improving performance scores from 60 to 95+.
  • Integrated live animal inventory data from Adopt-a-Pet.com API with URL-persisted search states for deep-linking and sharing.
  • Achieved full WCAG 2.1 AA compliance and restructured complex resource directories into intuitive, purpose-driven navigation.

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE

Volunteer Software Engineer
Liquid Prep – IBM Call for Code
Sep 2022 - Mar 2025
  • Contributed to open-source Angular app helping farmers optimize water usage in drought-prone regions.
  • Mentored Texas A&M senior capstone team through unit testing and machine learning projects.
Marketing & Technology Chair
IBM Women in Technology
Jan 2022 - Dec 2023
  • Designed and maintained WIT intranet platform and produced digital marketing materials.
  • Mentored middle and high school girls through job shadow programs.

EDUCATION

Southern Polytechnic State University (now Kennesaw State University)
Coursework in B.S. in Technical Communications
2008 - 2009
Marietta, GA
Chattahoochee Technical College
Coursework in A.A.S. in Computer Information Systems: Website Design
2007 - 2008
Marietta, GA

PROFESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

  • 17 Years of professional software development experience
  • Tens of millions of users served daily through weather.com platform
  • 40% performance improvement through SSR optimization and Lighthouse audits
  • 100+ production features shipped across enterprise-scale applications
  • WCAG 2.1 AA compliance champion and advocate for accessible web standards
  • Team leadership coordinating cross-functional teams and mentoring junior developers