Headshot

Hi, I'm Samantha.

Let's get building!

I’m a technical leader with 10+ years building and scaling frontend systems, usually in messy, cross-functional environments where the hard part isn’t the framework, it’s the domain. My favorite projects share one thing: dense, rule-heavy logic with a lot of moving parts, whether that’s a restaurant ordering flow or a grant and scholarship platform. Making that kind of complexity feel simple is where I do some of my best work.

I like being the person who untangles the gnarly technical calls, from figuring out how the frontend holds up as it scales across teams and years of feature requests to deciding if we build something ourselves or buy and integrate a vendor solution. Just as much of the job, for me, is the people: mentoring engineers, setting technical direction, and thinking about how AI actually changes the way we build software.

Outside of work, you’ll usually find me watching football (soccer) far too early in the morning, #YNWA, out snowboarding, or geeking out over EDC gear.

Samantha Barli

10+ years building & scaling frontend systems. Let's get building!

Samantha is in your extended network

Samantha’s Blurbs

About me:

I’ve been building and scaling frontend systems for 10+ years now, mostly in messy, cross-functional environments where the real challenge was never the framework, it was the domain. Restaurant ordering flows, grant and scholarship platforms, doesn’t matter, I love a project with dense, rule-heavy logic and a ton of moving parts. Making that stuff feel simple is basically my favorite thing to do.

But honestly, it’s just as much about the people. I’ve spent years leading and mentoring engineers, setting technical direction, and obsessing over quality and dev experience while keeping teams actually happy while they grow. I’ll reach for AI when it really makes engineers faster, not just because it’s trendy. Teaching career-changers at a coding bootcamp (and building the platform they learned on!) changed how I lead for good. Nothing beats watching someone have their lightbulb moment.

Who I’d like to meet:

I love untangling the gnarly technical stuff, whether that’s figuring out how a frontend holds up as it scales across teams and years of feature requests, or the classic “build it ourselves or buy and integrate a vendor solution” debate. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how AI is actually changing how engineers build software, not just which tools we hand them. Bonus points if it’s food, sports, or education, I’m a sucker for those.

If any of that sounds like your team, hit me up!

Samantha’s Latest Talk

Recurring speaker on advanced JavaScript, frontend architecture, and testing at Build With Code LA, VueJS LA, and SoCal React.

[View All Talks & Publications]

Samantha’s Top 8 Skills

Samantha has 8 core skills.

  • #1
    Technical Leadershipraises the bar
  • #2
    Reactreact.dev
  • #3
    React Nativegoes native
  • #4
    TypeScriptstrictly typed
  • #5
    Node.js & NestJSbackend-for-frontend
  • #6
    REST & GraphQLAPIs that scale
  • #7
    Mobile Architecture & Perfships fast
  • #8
    Testing, CI/CD & Toolinggreen checks, fast ships

Samantha’s Timeline

  • Sam's Club — Member Desk2024 – Present
    Staff Software Engineer / Tech Lead

    Spent a few quarters going to war with the Returns app’s tech debt, and honestly? Worth it. Cut iOS build times in half, got test coverage up 30%, and made deploys a whole lot less scary. I also built a custom iOS native module so React Native could talk to our Ingenico payment hardware, which finally let us retire a legacy POS system, and co-architected a greenfield app whose frontend patterns other Member Desk teams actually picked up.

  • Shared Context — Game1.ai2026 – 2026
    Principal Engineer

    Owned the frontend architecture for a soccer youth-academy platform, juggling multiple React Native apps plus a NestJS backend-for-frontend, all in service of AI-backed performance plans for young players. Getting to point a frontend skillset at actual soccer content? Dream gig.

  • Walmart — Store N°8 (DailyEats)2023 – 2024
    Staff Software Engineer / Tech Lead

    Was the core architect on a brand-new meal-planning venture (React Native, NestJS, GraphQL), working shoulder to shoulder with product, design, and leadership to get from prototype to App Store in just 8 months. Wired up A/B testing and feature flags for safe rollouts, teamed up with the AI folks on recommendations based on what people actually eat, and made sure a shiny greenfield app didn’t skip its InfoSec and CloudSec homework.

  • Restaurant Brands Int'l — Tim Hortons2020 – 2023
    Sr. Software Engineer / Tech Lead

    Ran an internal engineering bootcamp that leveled up technical standards org-wide (a real highlight), then directed 8 engineers through a full migration off React Web/Capacitor onto React Native/Expo. Built a build-time localization script so a single App Store listing could serve users across regions, and gave the Roll Up To Win campaign’s UX a full overhaul, keeping things stable for 4.3M monthly users while making it noticeably snappier by moving filtering logic into an async GraphQL layer.

  • Codesmith — CSX2017 – 2020
    Lead Engineer

    Mentored junior engineers through pairing, code review, and lectures on everything from JS async internals to machine learning in Python (yes, really), while leading the charge on migrating our legacy platform to React/Redux, Node/Express, and PostgreSQL.

  • WizeHive2014 – 2017
    Web Developer / Product Manager

    Partnered with clients and product teams to migrate a legacy grant and scholarship SaaS platform onto a brand-new flagship system, my first real taste of untangling gnarly, rules-heavy logic (see: a whole career theme).