Gavin Lynch

    Gavin Lynch

    Engineer building platforms at scale across media, commerce, and enterprise.

    SOFTWARE

    ENGINEER

    Passionate about building robust platforms and scalable systems. Specialize in transforming complex requirements into clean, production-grade architecture.

    +17

    YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

    +46

    PROJECTS COMPLETED

    +20

    WORLDWIDE CLIENTS

    PLATFORM ENGINEERING,
    BACKEND SYSTEMS

    REACT, TYPESCRIPT,
    NODE.JS, GRAPHQL

    CORE

    CAPABILITIES

    Identity & Access

    SSO, RBAC, OAuth2, audit-ready authorization services

    Design and implement end-to-end authentication flows, fine-grained role-based permissions, and audit-trail workflows across enterprise platforms. Build secure authorization services that meet compliance requirements while staying transparent to end users.

    Node.jsNode.jsPostgreSQLPostgreSQLAWS LambdaAWS Lambda

    Backend Platforms

    APIs, microservices, GraphQL, event-driven architecture

    Build scalable API layers, service orchestration patterns, and real-time data pipelines using Node.js, Ruby on Rails, and GraphQL. Architect event-driven systems with message queues and pub/sub patterns for high-throughput workloads.

    Node.jsNode.jsNestJSNestJSGraphQLGraphQLRailsRailsRedisRedis

    Cloud & Infra

    AWS, serverless, CI/CD, observability, scaling patterns

    Deploy and manage serverless functions with AWS Lambda, set up monitoring and alerting with CloudWatch, and design CI/CD pipelines for continuous delivery. Infrastructure-as-code approaches for reproducible, scalable environments.

    AWS LambdaAWS LambdaCloudWatchCloudWatchViteViteWebpackWebpack

    Frontend Systems

    React, component libraries, design systems, SSR/SSG

    Build reusable component libraries at scale with Storybook-driven development, theming engines for multi-brand deployments, and performance-optimized rendering strategies. Deep experience with React, Next.js, TypeScript, and modern bundlers.

    ReactReactNext.jsNext.jsTypeScriptTypeScriptStorybookStorybookTailwindTailwind

    Data & Content

    CMS platforms, search, ETL, encrypted data pipelines

    Build headless CMS integrations, Elasticsearch indexing pipelines, and ETL workflows for millions of encrypted records. Design content syndication systems and data migration strategies for enterprise-scale content operations.

    PostgreSQLPostgreSQLElasticsearchElasticsearchRedisRedisMySQLMySQLGraphQLGraphQL

    RECENT

    PROJECTS

    Global Media Platform

    Global Media Platform

    CMS & Distribution Pipeline

    Global Commerce Platform

    Global Commerce Platform

    Multi-brand Food & Retail

    Agency Internal Systems

    Agency Internal Systems

    Enterprise Social & CMS

    17 YEARS OF

    EXPERIENCE

    WhiteLabel / Empty.Engineering

    Founded a consulting practice focused on platform engineering, frontend architecture, and AI-augmented development for enterprise clients.

    2022 - Present
    TypeScriptTypeScriptReactReactNode.jsNode.jsNext.jsNext.jsNestJSNestJSTailwindTailwindOpenAIOpenAI

    WarnerMedia / CNN

    Led core platform work across a headless CMS ecosystem, revived revenue-critical syndication systems, and designed authorization services with audit workflows.

    2020 - 2022
    Node.jsNode.jsVueVuePostgreSQLPostgreSQLRedisRedisElasticsearchElasticsearchAWS LambdaAWS LambdaGraphQLGraphQL

    Yum! Brands

    Built a unified commerce foundation used across Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC internationally. Delivered component libraries, i18n workflows, and encrypted data migrations.

    2018 - 2020
    ReactReactNode.jsNode.jsPostgreSQLPostgreSQLRedisRedisStorybookStorybookTailwindTailwindAWS LambdaAWS Lambda

    J. Walter Thompson

    Owned frontend architecture for internal platforms and public sites at a 150+ year global advertising agency. Built an internal social network for 10,000+ employees.

    2011 - 2018
    Node.jsNode.jsVueVueReactReactWordPressWordPressAWS LambdaAWS Lambda

    SubscriberMail

    Developed platforms for secure archiving, analytics, and marketing operations serving financial services teams.

    2007 - 2011
    RailsRailsRubyRubyMySQLMySQLWordPressWordPress

    SELECTED

    WORK

    Global Media Platform

    WarnerMedia / CNN

    Led core platform work across a headless CMS ecosystem serving one of the world's largest news organizations, reviving revenue-critical content syndication and building authorization services with full audit-trail compliance.

    • Revived revenue-critical RSS syndication system
    • Designed authorization service with audit workflows
    • Improved build performance across rendering engines
    Node.jsNode.jsVueVuePostgreSQLPostgreSQLRedisRedisElasticsearchElasticsearchAWS LambdaAWS LambdaGraphQLGraphQL

    Global Commerce Platform

    Yum! Brands -- Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC

    Built a unified commerce foundation deployed across multiple brands and countries, delivering shared component libraries, internationalization workflows, and secure data migrations at enterprise scale.

    • Delivered custom component library and theming engine
    • Implemented i18n and localization workflows
    • Executed ETL for million-plus encrypted records
    ReactReactNode.jsNode.jsPostgreSQLPostgreSQLRedisRedisStorybookStorybookTailwindTailwindAWS LambdaAWS Lambda

    Agency-Scale Internal Systems

    J. Walter Thompson -- 150+ year global agency

    Owned frontend architecture for internal platforms and public-facing sites during the digital transformation of one of the world's oldest advertising agencies, including an internal social network connecting 10,000+ employees worldwide.

    • Built internal social network for 10,000+ employees
    • Delivered corporate website rebrands and SEO upgrades
    • Integrated SSO, search indexing, and content tooling
    Node.jsNode.jsVueVueReactReactWordPressWordPressAWS LambdaAWS Lambda

    Compliance & Archival Tools

    SubscriberMail -- SaaS for financial services

    Developed early single-page applications for SEC-compliant email archiving and marketing analytics, serving financial services teams with strict regulatory requirements.

    • Built early SPA for SEC-compliant email archiving
    • Designed canvas-based data visualization tools
    • Created CMS and campaign integrations
    RailsRailsRubyRubyMySQLMySQLWordPressWordPress

    Terminal UI Modernization

    Open-source -- unblessed

    Modernized the blessed terminal UI ecosystem with truecolor support, maintaining full backward compatibility while expanding the component library for the Node.js terminal UI community.

    • Implemented truecolor support with per-widget color modes
    • Built 100% blessed API compatibility for migrations
    • Expanded blessed-contrib component compatibility
    Node.jsNode.jsTypeScriptTypeScript

    PREMIUM

    TOOLS

    Languages

    TypeScript
    TypeScript
    Ruby
    Ruby
    Swift
    Swift
    Lua
    Lua

    Frameworks

    React
    React
    Next.js
    Next.js
    NestJS
    NestJS
    Rails
    Rails
    Vue
    Vue
    WordPress
    WordPress

    Runtimes & Build Tools

    Node.js
    Node.js
    Bun
    Bun
    Deno
    Deno
    Vite
    Vite
    Webpack
    Webpack

    APIs & Data

    GraphQL
    GraphQL
    PostgreSQL
    PostgreSQL
    MySQL
    MySQL
    Redis
    Redis
    Elasticsearch
    Elasticsearch

    Cloud & Infrastructure

    AWS Lambda
    AWS Lambda
    CloudWatch
    CloudWatch

    AI & Tooling

    OpenAI
    OpenAI
    Cursor
    Cursor
    OpenCode
    OpenCode

    Dev Environment

    Neovim
    Neovim
    Storybook
    Storybook
    Tailwind CSS
    Tailwind CSS

    Platforms

    Linux
    Linux
    macOS
    macOS

    OPEN

    SOURCE

    Excelwind

    TypeScript

    JSX-based Excel generator with Tailwind-style class parsing

    Render Excel spreadsheets from JSX components using a Tailwind-inspired class API. Parses utility classes into Excel cell styles, enabling enterprise reporting workflows with a familiar developer experience.

    TypeScriptTypeScriptReactReact

    unblessed

    Terminal UI

    Modernized terminal UI library with truecolor support

    Drop-in replacement for the blessed terminal UI library with full truecolor rendering, per-widget color modes, and 100% API compatibility. Includes expanded blessed-contrib support for charts, tables, and dashboards.

    Node.jsNode.jsTypeScriptTypeScript

    scroll-sanity

    Swift

    macOS utility for refined scrolling behavior

    Native Swift application for macOS that intercepts and normalizes scroll events, providing consistent, refined scrolling across all applications and input devices.

    SwiftSwiftmacOSmacOS

    nvim-window-wrapper

    Lua

    Neovim helper for cycling window navigation

    Lua plugin for Neovim that provides intuitive cycling window navigation, wrapping around splits and tabs for a seamless editing workflow within the Neovim ecosystem.

    LuaLuaNeovimNeovim

    DOWNLOAD

    RESUME

    Gavin Lynch -- Senior Software Engineer

    Full resume available as PDF

    • 17+ years across enterprise, agency, and startup environments
    • Platform architecture for media, commerce, and identity systems
    • Full-stack: React, TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL, Ruby on Rails
    • Open-source maintainer and contributor
    Download PDF

    ENGINEERING

    THOUGHTS

    Coming Soon

    Writing about platform engineering, developer tooling, and lessons learned from building systems at scale. Check back soon.

    BASED IN

    CHICAGO

    Remote-first with a dual-base setup enabling coverage across US and APAC time zones. Available for both domestic and international client engagements, with willingness to travel as needed.

    Chicago, IL

    Primary base -- US Central Time

    Ho Chi Minh City

    Secondary base -- Indochina Time

    CST / ICT

    Flexible overlap for US and APAC teams

    LET'S WORK

    TOGETHER

    Built by Gavin Lynch. Based in Chicago, working globally.