Dean Friedland
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Boynton Beach, FL, United States
Toptal member since January 14, 2025
With 15+ years of experience, Dean is a full-stack developer passionate about continuous learning. His tech journey began after law school, when he fell in love with technology at a startup in Florida. Since then, he has mastered various server and client-side technologies, contributing to diverse SaaS, internal, and consumer-facing applications. Dean is dedicated to lifelong learning and sharing knowledge. He is a husband and father who loves surfing, Jiu-Jitsu, and mentoring others.
Portfolio
Experience
- Express.js - 10 years
- Node.js - 10 years
- TypeScript - 10 years
- Redux - 9 years
- React - 9 years
- Angular - 8 years
- Vue - 8 years
- Vuex - 8 years
Preferred Environment
Slack, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Windows, MacOS, AWS Command Line Interface (CLI)
The most amazing...
...thing was leading a MEAN to MERN stack migration, boosting performance and scalability for a high-traffic app and enhancing user experience and speed.
Work Experience
Owner
Kimura Coding
- Architected and shipped multiple large‑scale React/Next.js SPAs (eCommerce, analytics, real‑time collaboration), handling 500,000+ monthly active users and peak loads of 20,000 concurrent sessions with <200 milliseconds TTI.
- Developed modern, accessible React 18 and TypeScript front ends using Hooks, Redux Toolkit, React Query, Context, and React Router for lightning‑fast, data‑heavy UIs.
- Implemented advanced performance strategies—SSR, SSG, incremental static regeneration, code‑splitting, lazy loading, prefetching, and Web Vitals monitoring—to consistently score 95–100 on Lighthouse.
- Designed and maintained a cross‑platform component library and design system (Storybook, Material‑UI, styled‑components) consumed by 12 product teams, reducing new feature dev time by 35%.
- Integrated REST and GraphQL back ends; built Apollo Federation gateway and micro‑frontend architecture (Webpack Module Federation), enabling independent deployment of feature domains.
- Championed test‑driven development with Jest, React Testing Library, and Cypress, achieving 90 %+ unit coverage and automated visual regression (Chromatic).
- Deployed containerized apps to AWS (EKS/Fargate), Azure, GCP via automated CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Docker, Helm) with blue‑green and canary release pipelines.
- Secured apps with OAuth 2.0/OIDC (Auth0, Clerk), JWT, Content Security Policy, meeting SOC 2 requirements; implemented WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility and i18n for five locales.
- Built and scaled Ruby on Rails apps with RESTful APIs, background jobs (Sidekiq, Delayed Job), and service objects; integrated Rails back ends with React/Next.js for seamless full-stack experiences.
- Leveraged skills/tools: Ruby on Rails, Sidekiq, PostgreSQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Chakra UI, Figma, Postman, Supabase, Prisma, Stripe, WebSockets, Sentry, Firebase, Vercel, Netlify, Bash, Nx Monorepos, PNPM, ESLint, and Prettier.
Senior Back-end Ruby Developer
Fullscript - Natural Partners Inc
- Led the design and delivery of a public-facing, white-labelled storefront platform for enterprise healthcare partners, leveraging React, TypeScript, Ruby, and Rails to create scalable eCommerce experiences.
- Designed and implemented storefront capabilities, including curated catalogs, product merchandising, branded user experiences, custom URL support, and seamless integration with core Fullscript platform services.
- Collaborated with cross-functional product, design, enterprise, and engineering teams to define requirements, drive technical solutions, and deliver customer-focused features through agile development practices.
- Established scalable front-end architecture, reusable component patterns, and engineering best practices that improved maintainability, developer productivity, and long-term platform extensibility.
.NET Developer
Atlantic Business Technologies, Inc.
- Delivered and maintained enterprise-grade .NET applications for a major healthcare federation serving millions of members.
- Modernized and enhanced legacy .NET Framework 4.8 components while developing scalable solutions in .NET Core 6 and Node.js.
- Rapidly ramped up on a complex multi-project codebase, ensuring clean, maintainable, and performant code.
- Collaborated effectively with distributed teams across multiple time zones, providing clear and proactive communication.
- Ensured adherence to best practices, coding standards, and security requirements, contributing to improved system reliability.
Software Developer
Aaron's Tech
- Developed internal web services: Built internally facing web services using ServiceStack within .NET Core and .NET Standard applications to streamline back-end processes.
- Designed and implemented RESTful APIs: Developed RESTful API endpoints and business logic in C# to support multiple front-end applications, ensuring seamless data communication and integration.
- Built responsive front-end applications: Created and maintained customer and internal-facing front-end applications using React, leveraging TypeScript, HTML, and CSS to deliver scalable and responsive interfaces.
Software Engineer
Sterling Talent Solutions
- Developed a robust web application using C#/.NET and MVC frameworks that streamlined the background screening process, reducing turnaround time by 30% and improving client satisfaction rates.
- Led the design and implementation of a secure Web API, enhancing the integration of third-party verification services, which increased the accuracy of background checks by 25%.
- Managed version control and team collaboration using GIT, significantly improving deployment efficiency and reducing conflicts in code integration phases by 70%.
Software Engineer
NxtEdge
- Developed and implemented a custom invoice processing system that reduced manual data entry by 60%, significantly cutting down on processing time and reducing human error in financial transactions.
- Enhanced system security protocols, successfully safeguarding sensitive financial data and ensuring compliance with international data protection regulations like GDPR.
- Architected a scalable automation solution that seamlessly integrates with existing ERP systems, enhancing data synchronization and improving real-time financial reporting capabilities.
Experience
MacaroniKID
https://national.macaronikid.com/Key features:
• Comprehensive event management system tailored for local publishers.
• Secure dashboards for content creation, management, and distribution.
• Integration with CertifiKID deals, offering families cost-effective activity options.
• Scalable architecture supporting thousands of communities nationwide.
Technical stack:
• Front end: Angular, JavaScript, HTML, CSS (Bootstrap and Angular Material).
• Back end: Node.js (MEAN stack) and PHP.
• Database: MongoDB.
• Infrastructure: AWS for hosting, scalability, and performance optimization.
• Version control: Git.
This project enables Macaroni KID to serve over three million families annually, becoming a cornerstone for community connection and family-friendly activities.
Vertical Raise – Fundraising Platform
https://www.verticalraise.comKey responsibilities:
• Built and maintained serverless APIs using AWS Lambda with Node.js and TypeScript.
• Deployed microservices and managed infrastructure on AWS EC2.
• Developed responsive and dynamic front-end components with Vue.js.
• Integrated secure payment processing and email/SMS notifications.
• Improved campaign creation workflows and dashboard analytics.
Give Interactive
https://giveinteractive.com/Education
Juris Doctorate in Law and Justice Administration
Nova Southeastern University - Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Florida International University - Miami, FL, USA
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, React, Vue, Vuex, Amazon API, Stripe, REST APIs, LocalStorage, Vue 2, Entity Framework, LINQ, Playwright, Auth, React Flow, Chart.js, D3.js, RxJS, Vue 3, SQLAlchemy
Tools
AWS Command Line Interface (CLI), Git, GitHub, Webpack, Amazon CloudFront, Amazon OpenSearch, Nx, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Figma, Terraform, Claude Code, Auth0, Azure Active Directory B2C (ADB2C), Slack, Visual Studio 2019
Languages
JavaScript, C#, PHP, TypeScript, Python, CSS, HTML, HTML5, SQL, GraphQL, CSS3, C#.NET, C, C++, Go, Java, Snowflake, Visual Basic 6 (VB6)
Frameworks
Angular, Express.js, .NET, Laravel, Redux, Next.js, ASP.NET, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Ruby on Rails 6, Spring Boot, Tailwind CSS, Jest, .NET Core, Nuxt.js, Ruby on Rails (RoR), NestJS, Spring, Django, LangGraph, Blazor, .NET 6
Paradigms
MEAN Stack, Microservices, Scalable Application, HIPAA Compliance, DevOps, Serverless Architecture
Platforms
Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, Docker, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Heroku, Linux, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Windows, MacOS, Visual Studio 2022
Storage
MongoDB, MySQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), NoSQL, PostgreSQL, Elasticsearch, Databases, Redis, Microsoft SQL Server, Database Management
Other
Data Structures, Algorithms, Software Engineering, MERN Stack, TypeORM, Front-end, Figma to React, Web Development, Apollo, Supabase, Back-end Development, APIs, Full-stack, Architecture, API Integration, RESTFul APIs, Back-end, Full-stack Development, Cookies, Web Applications, Authentication, Integration, Billing Software, Medical Billing, Medical Software, Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), Query Optimization, Large-scale Projects, Web Security, WebSockets, CI/CD Pipelines, Edge Functions, Supabase Auth, FastAPI, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Component Testing, Storybook, Security, .NET Framework, Leadership, AWS Cloud Architecture, Distributed Systems, Software Architecture, Web Scraping, OAuth, AI Agents, AI Chatbots, Large Language Models (LLMs), Low Code, Finance, AI Tools, Agentic AI, SQL Server, Fintech, Payment APIs, Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM), Okta, Cloud Computing, Law, LangChain, OpenAI, Healthcare & Insurance, Health Insurance, Data Engineering, Observability
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