Rachel is available for hire
Hire RachelRachel Cantor
Verified Expert in Engineering
React Developer
Brooklyn, United States
Toptal member since July 1, 2026
Bio
Rachel is a front-end engineer with 14 years of experience shipping web interfaces from concept to production, from venture-backed startups to Hillary For America. She specializes in React, TypeScript, and Next.js, with expertise in design systems, accessible UI (Section 508-certified), and data-heavy product interfaces. As Hype's second hire, Rachel set the front-end course that carried the platform through its growth and acquisition. She also worked with AI-assisted tooling daily for 2+ years.
Portfolio
bear.ink
React, React Native, AG Grid, Recharts, Storybook, Playwright, TypeScript...
Hype
React, TypeScript, Storybook, Next.js, Node.js, GitHub, Yarn, GitHub Actions...
Hype
GitHub, Next.js, TypeScript, Storybook, React, Yarn, Rollup, GitHub Actions...
Experience
- Node.js - 9 years
- React - 9 years
- Tailwind CSS - 8 years
- Storybook - 7 years
- TypeScript - 6 years
- Web Accessibility - 6 years
- Claude Code - 2 years
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) - 2 years
Preferred Environment
Storybook, Figma, GitHub Actions, React, TypeScript, Node.js, Claude Code, Redux, Tailwind CSS, Prototyping, Front-end, Astro, AI-generated Code
The most amazing...
...component library I've built was at Hype with 35 components that gained 75% adoption in a 4 million-user platform—becoming the product's UI foundation.
Work Experience
Front-end Engineering Consultant
2024 - PRESENT
bear.ink
- Migrated a mid-size client web app from Vue to React, retaining feature parity across multiple pages and complex state.
- Delivered a React Native app for a consumer social platform as part of a company rebrand.
- Implemented an internationalization (i18n) framework for a social app built using React Native.
- Prototyped a high-frequency trading blotter (AG Grid, React) rendering approximately 500 simulated row updates per second, using async transaction batching to bypass React reconciliation, with institutional-grade theming for financial UI.
- Built Recharts-based data visualizations for showing progress over time in a fitness application.
- Created a cross-platform TV timer app using React Native, with custom branding, configurable timers, and TV-remote optimization.
Technologies: React, React Native, AG Grid, Recharts, Storybook, Playwright, TypeScript, Web Extensions, GitHub, Contentful, GitHub Actions, Chromatic, Lighthouse, Figma, Jest, Node.js, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion, Zustand, TanStack Query, Context API, REST, GraphQL APIs, Apollo Client, Claude Code, Cursor AI, Vitest, React Testing Library, Vite, Design, JavaScript, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Performance Optimization, Data Visualization, Application State Management, Architecture, Design Systems, Agile, CSS, Claude, HTML, Prototyping, UI Design, Vanilla JS, Web Components, Docker, Agile Project Management, Web Applications, Google Calendar API, PostgreSQL, REST APIs, Vercel, OAuth, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Anthropic, GraphQL, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Webhooks, Supabase, Full-stack, User Experience (UX), App Development, Claude API, Expo, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Clerk, API Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Interactive Prototypes, FastAPI, Front-end, APIs, Integration, Troubleshooting, Web Development, Datadog, Sentry, Turborepo, Astro, AI-generated Code, SolidJS, Cloud Storage, Database Management, Authentication, Redis, Stripe, SaaS, Code Review, Front-end Architecture, Front-end Development, Accessibility, Shadcn, Shadcn UI, i18n, Google Workspace, Jira, Slack, Software as a Service (SaaS), Code Auditing, Replit, UX Design, Component Libraries, Sanity Studio, WCAG 2, CMS, CI/CD Pipelines
Staff Software Engineer
2021 - 2024
Hype
- Led Design Pro with a team of 4—the product pivot from news to the creator economy that led to the company's acquisition. Authored the architecture document defining API contracts and the data schema.
- Cut scope using value/effort analysis to ship 80% of the value for 40% of the effort, a month early, including shipping page-level theming over a more complex block-level approach based on user feedback.
- Created the Theme Seeder Generator, a designer-contributable GitHub pipeline that closed the gap between design specifications and production.
Technologies: React, TypeScript, Storybook, Next.js, Node.js, GitHub, Yarn, GitHub Actions, Chromatic, Lighthouse, Figma, Jest, Tailwind CSS, Redux Toolkit, Zustand, Context API, REST, GraphQL APIs, Vitest, React Testing Library, Playwright, Redux, Design, JavaScript, Performance Optimization, Data Visualization, Application State Management, Technical Leadership, Architecture, Design Systems, Agile, CSS, HTML, Docker, Software Architecture, Agile Project Management, Web Applications, CSS-in-JS, REST APIs, OAuth, Full-stack Development, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), GraphQL, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Webhooks, Full-stack, User Experience (UX), App Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), API Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Front-end, APIs, Integration, Troubleshooting, Web Development, Datadog, Sentry, Cloud Storage, Database Management, Authentication, Redis, Stripe, SaaS, Code Review, Onboarding, Front-end Architecture, Front-end Development, Shadcn, Shadcn UI, i18n, Software as a Service (SaaS), UX Design, Figma to React, Component Libraries, Vercel, WCAG 2, CMS, CI/CD Pipelines
Lead Software Engineer
2019 - 2021
Hype
- Owned the Enchilada component library end-to-end, managing 35 React/TypeScript components with approximately 75% platform adoption, serving 4 million users, and utilizing Storybook documentation and Figma-to-code workflows.
- Standardized component packaging with Yarn workspaces and Rollup using semantic versioning across the design system and consuming apps.
- Built Next.js onboarding app as reusable React step-wizards handling several user journeys from one authentication entry point: linking a physical NFC card or sticker to an account, signing up with a Stripe free trial, and claiming an existing page.
- Instrumented signup flow with Datadog RUM and a custom funnel dashboard, reducing onboarding-related support tickets. Diagnosed a signup conversion drop-off via Datadog RUM session replay and shipped an inline validation that recovered lost signups.
- Architected a multitenant link-in-bio platform (Next.js) with SSR and per-tenant caching.
- Defined the design token system that powered consistent theming across the platform.
Technologies: GitHub, Next.js, TypeScript, Storybook, React, Yarn, Rollup, GitHub Actions, Chromatic, Lighthouse, Figma, Jest, Node.js, Tailwind CSS, Redux Toolkit, Context API, REST, GraphQL APIs, React Testing Library, Redux, Design, JavaScript, Performance Optimization, Application State Management, Technical Leadership, Architecture, Design Systems, Agile, CSS, HTML, Near-field Communication (NFC), Docker, Software Architecture, Agile Project Management, Web Applications, CSS-in-JS, REST APIs, OAuth, Full-stack Development, GraphQL, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Webhooks, Full-stack, App Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), API Integration, Third-party Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Front-end, Cypress, APIs, Integration, HubSpot, Troubleshooting, Web Development, Datadog, Sentry, Cloud Storage, Database Management, Authentication, Redis, Stripe, SaaS, Code Review, Onboarding, Front-end Architecture, Front-end Development, Software as a Service (SaaS), UX Design, Figma to React, Component Libraries, CMS, CI/CD Pipelines
Senior Software Engineer
2018 - 2019
Hype
- Shipped the creator portal (Next.js) for settings, payments, and CRM, including virtualized data tables for large content sets, rich text editing, drag-and-drop, and dashboard-style data visualizations of creator earnings and audience metrics.
- Modeled content types and structured data in Contentful, built the React front end that consumed it, and designed the publishing workflows that let editors and other non-engineers create and ship content without engineering in the loop.
- Integrated Stripe payment processing, including subscription management, payout workflows, and revenue dashboards for creators.
Technologies: Next.js, Contentful, Yarn, Rollup, React, GitHub, GitHub Actions, Lighthouse, WordPress, Jest, Node.js, Redux Toolkit, Context API, REST, React Testing Library, Redux, JavaScript, Performance Optimization, Application State Management, Agile, CSS, HTML, Docker, Web Applications, CSS-in-JS, REST APIs, Full-stack Development, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Webhooks, Full-stack, App Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), API Integration, Third-party Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Front-end, APIs, Integration, Troubleshooting, Web Development, Datadog, Sentry, Cloud Storage, Authentication, Redis, Stripe, SaaS, Code Review, Onboarding, Front-end Architecture, Front-end Development, Software as a Service (SaaS), UX Design, Figma to React, Component Libraries, CMS, CI/CD Pipelines
Software Engineer
2017 - 2018
Hype
- Joined as employee #2 and established the front-end architecture, technology choices, and development patterns that became foundational across the organization.
- Built an embeddable subscription and registration widget that publishers self-installed on their own sites: a JavaScript embed script plus a WordPress plugin, with a zoid-based cross-domain widget that shipped to hundreds of publisher integrations.
- Integrated Stripe, Mailchimp, and ConvertKit to drive email registration and subscriptions.
Technologies: React, Next.js, JavaScript, Node.js, GitHub, GitHub Actions, WordPress, Jest, Context API, REST, Redux, Agile, CSS, HTML, Vanilla JS, Docker, Web Applications, CSS-in-JS, REST APIs, Full-stack Development, Full-stack, App Development, Amazon Web Services (AWS), API Integration, Third-party Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Front-end, APIs, Troubleshooting, Web Development, Sentry, Stripe, SaaS, Code Review, Front-end Development, Software as a Service (SaaS), UX Design, Figma to React, Component Libraries, CMS
Front-end Engineer
2015 - 2016
Hillary Clinton
- Lead developer for hillaryclinton.com during campaign deployment, building a decoupled React front end on top of a headless WordPress CMS with custom content models for time-sensitive content, geo-targeting, and high-traffic campaign moments.
- Shipped features at campaign velocity, often building and deploying new pages and tools within 24 hours under intense public scrutiny.
- Created high-traffic campaign tools, including The Briefing (Jekyll) for breaking news and The Feed blog for storytelling using headless WordPress.
- Engineered an integrated donation button that handled solicitation, processing, and thank-you flow within a single React component, using Pantsuit, the in-house design system.
Technologies: React, Headless WordPress, GitHub, WordPress, Context API, REST, JavaScript, Agile, CSS, HTML, Vanilla JS, REST APIs, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), App Development, Front-end, APIs, Web Development, Sentry, Code Review, Front-end Development, Component Libraries, CMS
Software Engineer
2012 - 2015
Intersection Co.
- Developed Angular web interfaces for Edward M. Kennedy Institute exhibits and a tablet-based Senate simulation, contributing to award-winning work recognized as IxDA Best in Category and Core77 Design Notable.
- Engineered a Chrome packaged app for World Wide Group, connecting dual RFID readers to an 80-inch 4K display, showing interactive floor plans.
- Contributed to the winning LinkNYC pitch, the public wifi kiosk network that replaced New York City's payphones.
Technologies: JavaScript, GitHub, REST, Performance Optimization, Agile, CSS, HTML, Prototyping, RFID, Museums & Exhibits, Vanilla JS, Web Components, Angular, REST APIs, App Development, Front-end, APIs, Web Development, Code Review, Front-end Development
Experience
Design Pro: Leading Hype's Pivot to the Creator Economy
https://rachel.fyi/work/design-proDesign Pro was the product initiative that drove Hype's pivot from a news platform to a creator-economy product, work that enabled the company's acquisition. I led it end to end with a team of 4 engineers, wearing both product and engineering hats: deciding what to build, aligning product, design, back end, and marketing around one approach, and shipping it.
The decisions I'm proudest of were about scope, not code. I ran a value/effort analysis to find the version that delivered roughly 80% of the user value for about 40% of the engineering effort, which let us ship a month early. The clearest example: instead of building a complex block-level theming system, I used direct user feedback to justify shipping page-level theming first, cutting scope without cutting the value users actually cared about. Design Pro became the foundation on which the pivoted product was built, and the capability that made Hype an acquisition target.
The decisions I'm proudest of were about scope, not code. I ran a value/effort analysis to find the version that delivered roughly 80% of the user value for about 40% of the engineering effort, which let us ship a month early. The clearest example: instead of building a complex block-level theming system, I used direct user feedback to justify shipping page-level theming first, cutting scope without cutting the value users actually cared about. Design Pro became the foundation on which the pivoted product was built, and the capability that made Hype an acquisition target.
RecipeCast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL_aHcyLy7QRecipeCast is a micro-SaaS I designed, built, and shipped as the sole founder. It casts recipes to TVs and smart displays so you can cook without touching a phone screen mid-recipe. I own the whole stack: a React and TypeScript front end, a Node.js back end, Python services for recipe scraping and extraction, the Wasp framework tying it all together, and a Chrome extension for casting recipes from any site.
The core engineering problem was real-time state synchronization across 3 surfaces (a web app, a browser extension, and a Google Cast receiver on the TV), ensuring consistency as the user moves through a recipe. I built an Authoritative Receiver Pattern on top of the Google Cast SDK so the display device holds canonical state, with optimistic updates on the controllers for instant feedback. It has paying subscribers today.
The core engineering problem was real-time state synchronization across 3 surfaces (a web app, a browser extension, and a Google Cast receiver on the TV), ensuring consistency as the user moves through a recipe. I built an Authoritative Receiver Pattern on top of the Google Cast SDK so the display device holds canonical state, with optimistic updates on the controllers for instant feedback. It has paying subscribers today.
TidyText
https://tidytext.ccTidyText is a web app I designed and built for cleaning up and reformatting messy text: stripping junk formatting, normalizing whitespace and quotes, and fixing artifacts that appear when text moves between apps. The processing runs client-side in the browser, so nothing the user pastes gets sent anywhere, which matters for sensitive content.
I am currently extending it into a cross-platform desktop app with Tauri, which is where the fully offline, installable version comes in. The project is an exercise in building a focused utility that does one thing well with a fast, frictionless UI, and in shipping the same core to both web and native targets.
I am currently extending it into a cross-platform desktop app with Tauri, which is where the fully offline, installable version comes in. The project is an exercise in building a focused utility that does one thing well with a fast, frictionless UI, and in shipping the same core to both web and native targets.
Nutrition Facts Web Component (Lit)
https://rachelslurs.github.io/lit-nutrition-factsA framework-agnostic nutrition-label web component built with Lit and TypeScript. It's form-associated through the native ElementInternals API, so the chosen serving count submits through a native HTML form with no extra wiring, the way a built-in input would. The same build runs in a plain HTML page or a React app with no wrapper package to maintain.
The engineering work that matters here is where the boundaries were drawn. The data layer lives in a Lit reactive controller, a plain class that owns fetching, loading, and error state, rather than sitting in the DOM as a fake service element. Nutrition data comes in only two ways, a src attribute or a facts property, so concerns like choosing a dataset stay in the consuming page instead of leaking into the reusable element. Accessibility is built into the structure: only the nutrient rows are a real table with proper headers, serving metadata is a definition list, and updates are announced through an aria-atomic live region. It's the kind of self-contained, form-aware, accessible primitive that a design system is actually built on.
The engineering work that matters here is where the boundaries were drawn. The data layer lives in a Lit reactive controller, a plain class that owns fetching, loading, and error state, rather than sitting in the DOM as a fake service element. Nutrition data comes in only two ways, a src attribute or a facts property, so concerns like choosing a dataset stay in the consuming page instead of leaking into the reusable element. Accessibility is built into the structure: only the nutrient rows are a real table with proper headers, serving metadata is a definition list, and updates are announced through an aria-atomic live region. It's the kind of self-contained, form-aware, accessible primitive that a design system is actually built on.
Real-time Trading Blotter (Proof of Concept)
https://github.com/rachelslurs/trading-blotterA proof-of-concept high-frequency trading blotter built to explore the performance ceiling of data-dense financial UI. It renders around 500 simulated row updates per second in a React and AG Grid interface without dropping frames.
The key technique is async transaction batching. Instead of letting each update flow through React's reconciliation, I batch updates and apply them through AG Grid's transaction API, bypassing React's render cycle for the hot path while keeping the rest of the UI in React. I also built institutional-grade theming to match the density and visual conventions traders expect. The project is a focused study on where React's rendering model needs help with high-throughput data, and how to give it that help cleanly.
The key technique is async transaction batching. Instead of letting each update flow through React's reconciliation, I batch updates and apply them through AG Grid's transaction API, bypassing React's render cycle for the hot path while keeping the rest of the UI in React. I also built institutional-grade theming to match the density and visual conventions traders expect. The project is a focused study on where React's rendering model needs help with high-throughput data, and how to give it that help cleanly.
Education
2007 - 2009
Bachelor's Degree in Liberal Arts
Sarah Lawrence College - Bronxville, NY, USA
2004 - 2006
Bachelor's Degree in English
State University of New York at Fredonia - Fredonia, NY, USA
Certifications
JUNE 2024 - PRESENT
Trusted Tester Certification
US Department of Homeland Security
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, Node.js, Context API, React Testing Library, REST APIs, Recharts, Framer Motion, Playwright, Google Calendar API, Claude API, Stripe, AG Grid, Apollo Client, Google Cast API, Lit, SolidJS
Tools
GitHub, Lighthouse, Claude Code, Vitest, Claude, Sentry, Astro, Shadcn, Shadcn UI, Google Workspace, Slack, Rollup, Chromatic, Figma, Redux Toolkit, Expo, Jira
Languages
TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, GraphQL, Python
Frameworks
Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Vanilla JS, React Native, Yarn, Jest, Redux, Tauri, Angular, Cypress
Paradigms
REST, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), App Development, UX Design, Agile, UI Design, Agile Project Management, Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Platforms
Vercel, Contentful, WordPress, Docker, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Clerk, HubSpot, Replit, Sanity Studio
Storage
Redis, PostgreSQL, Datadog, Database Management
Industry Expertise
Photography
Other
Storybook, GitHub Actions, Cursor AI, Vite, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Performance Optimization, Application State Management, Design Systems, Prototyping, Web Applications, CSS-in-JS, OAuth, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Anthropic, API Integration, UI Development, User Interface (UI), Interactive Prototypes, Front-end, APIs, Integration, Troubleshooting, Web Development, AI-generated Code, SaaS, Code Review, Onboarding, Front-end Architecture, Front-end Development, Accessibility, i18n, Software as a Service (SaaS), Code Auditing, Figma to React, Component Libraries, WCAG 2, CMS, CI/CD Pipelines, Headless WordPress, Zustand, TanStack Query, GraphQL APIs, Design, Video Design, Web Extensions, Real-time State Synchronization, Optimistic UI, Data Visualization, Technical Leadership, Product Strategy, Cross-functional Collaboration, Architecture, Web Components, Software Architecture, Full-stack Development, Webhooks, Supabase, Full-stack, User Experience (UX), Third-party Integration, FastAPI, Turborepo, Cloud Storage, Authentication, Chrome Extensions, Web Accessibility, RFID, Museums & Exhibits, Near-field Communication (NFC), English
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