Fred Shepherd, Developer in Berlin, Germany
Fred is available for hire
Hire Fred

Fred Shepherd

Verified Expert  in Engineering

Bio

Fred is a front-end-focused software engineer passionate about crafting intuitive UIs and reliable systems using modern web technologies. He is a creative problem-solver who does his best work when tasked with finding innovative solutions to complex requirements. Fred has spent most of the last three years specializing in React and TypeScript while working for an Austin-based SaaS startup, where he was initially recruited only for a three-month contract.

Portfolio

Backpack
CSS3, HTML5, React, Flow, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL...
Bractlet
React, PostgREST, Chart.js, React Final Form, Front-end, Redux, TypeScript...
Midas Audio Systems
Go, React, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Front-end, Serverless, Redux, TypeScript...

Experience

  • React - 6 years
  • TypeScript - 6 years
  • Jest - 5 years
  • Next.js - 4 years
  • Tailwind CSS - 3 years
  • Figma - 2 years
  • React Native - 2 years
  • Vercel - 2 years

Availability

Full-time

Preferred Environment

Slack, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), MacOS

The most amazing...

...achievement has been reaching 2000 users with my non-serious side project, Thirty Plants!

Work Experience

Senior Front-end Engineer

2022 - 2024
Backpack
  • Mentored and onboarded new team members as the team grew significantly in size after an acquisition.
  • Led the development of several complex front-end features, establishing robust testing strategies and ensuring highly maintainable React code.
  • Assisted with devising strategies for difficult migrations, such as moving from SCSS Modules to Tailwind, Flow.js to TypeScript, CRA to Vite, and introducing a new color scheme.
  • Made significant improvements to the team's CI/CD and development processes, leading a restructuring of the front end to support deploy previews and staging environments and assisting with DevOps tasks using GitHub Actions and Docker.
  • Worked closely with designers in planning and developing a new design system/component library.
Technologies: CSS3, HTML5, React, Flow, Tailwind CSS, TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL, Full-stack, PostgreSQL, Figma, Jest, Serverless Architecture

Senior Front-end Engineer

2020 - 2022
Bractlet
  • Developed an innovative system for converting real-world utility bill data into a format suitable for Energy Star submission and then submitting/syncing this information via the Energy Star API.
  • Created and maintained various dashboard pages, working with Chart.js and SVG to display customer data.
  • Made performance enhancements across the app using tools like React virtualized.
Technologies: React, PostgREST, Chart.js, React Final Form, Front-end, Redux, TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, Vercel, HTML, Tailwind CSS, Node.js, GraphQL, Full-stack, PostgreSQL, Jest, Figma

Software Engineer

2017 - 2019
Midas Audio Systems
  • Designed and implemented a file syncing service running on the 2020 generation of Midas Consoles. This was very challenging as it had to handle version control as well as conflicts from changes on multiple devices.
  • Played a key role in creating a React component library used in multiple applications across the company. This was a useful insight for writing highly generic components and deploying without npm (since the project was not open-source).
  • Oversaw the development of our main client-facing web application (cloud.midasconsoles.com) built in React. This was an extensive React project with features comparable to Google Drive.
Technologies: Go, React, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Front-end, Serverless, Redux, TypeScript, Electron, JavaScript, CSS, Vercel, HTML, Node.js, Full-stack, MongoDB, Jest

Junior Software Engineer

2016 - 2017
Midas Audio Systems
  • Assisted in building the foundations of a large-scale microservice cloud system. Seeing this project develop from its humble beginnings was truly valuable, clarifying what errors to avoid in the future.
  • Developed a web app to receive and display real-time logging information using AngularJS. This included the use of Socket.IO and the implementation of real-time filtering and search features.
  • Developed several internal tools for desktop (cross-platform) using Electron.js. This led to tremendous productivity boosts in other parts of the company as we were able to streamline everything from build processes to ACL management.
Technologies: Docker, Go, React, Angular, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Front-end, Redux, TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, Vercel, HTML, Node.js, Jest

Experience

Thirty Plants

http://thirtyplants.app
A cross-platform app (web, iOS, and Android) that helps people track the variety of their diet. This was a great project to pursue on my own, with a concept simple enough to realistically do as a solo developer and a great opportunity to create and work with my dream tech stack.

The web and mobile front ends can share large amounts of code through the use of React Native for Web and other libraries.

I also implemented full end-to-end type safety using Prisma, Zod, and tRPC, creating a system where run-time errors are essentially impossible and new development can be extremely fast.

Bractlet Main Website

https://bractlet.com/
A SaaS product aimed at businesses and individuals with large property portfolios, which used proprietary modeling techniques to provide insights on which projects and improvements would result in the best value for money.

My role was primarily building the application's front end using React, but my responsibilities often included implementing full-stack changes for new features, from database migrations and new API routes to HTML and CSS.

It was a joy to work with some excellent designers during this assignment, building some really beautiful and intuitive interfaces.

Backpack Main Website

https://backpacknetworks.com/
After acquiring Bractlet, our team expanded significantly as we entirely rewrote the main web app. During this time, I took significant responsibility for architecting this new application and planning how we could most effectively reuse existing code while minimizing risk to the existing site.

Education

2010 - 2014

Master's Degree in Physics and Astrophysics

University of Manchester - Manchester, United Kingdom

Skills

Libraries/APIs

React, Node.js, Three.js, PostgREST, Chart.js, React Final Form, React Native for Web, React Query

Tools

Webpack, Sketch, Figma, Slack, Flow, Expo, MATLAB, Chartio, Handsontable

Languages

TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, GraphQL, Go, CSS3, HTML5, C++, SCSS

Frameworks

Tailwind CSS, Next.js, Redux, Jest, React Native, Electron, Angular

Platforms

Vercel, Docker, Netlify, MacOS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

Storage

PostgreSQL, MongoDB

Paradigms

Serverless Architecture

Industry Expertise

Web Design

Other

Front-end, Gatsby, Serverless, Full-stack, Design, SVG, Vite

Collaboration That Works

How to Work with Toptal

Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.

1

Share your needs

Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2

Choose your talent

Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3

Start your risk-free talent trial

Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.

Top talent is in high demand.

Start hiring