# Melanie MacDonald

> Senior Frontend / Full-Stack Engineer | React, Next.js, TypeScript | Scalable Product Development & Mentorship

Location: Asheville, North Carolina, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/melaniemacdonald

Senior Frontend / Full-Stack Engineer with 8 years of experience building scalable, high-performance web applications. I specialize in frontend architecture, product-led development, and turning complex systems into intuitive user experiences.

At Optera Climate, I scaled the Outreach platform from 500 to 1,500+ suppliers and 3,000 active users (~200% growth), helping grow it into a $600K+ annual product. I also built data ingestion workflows and AI-powered bill processing features, reducing onboarding and manual processes from days or weeks to under a day, giving users autonomy over their data.

I’m passionate about building maintainable, high-quality interfaces, mentoring engineers, and implementing workflows that improve team efficiency. My toolbelt includes React, Next.js, TypeScript, Node.js, FastAPI, PostgreSQL, and automated testing frameworks (Jest, Playwright), with experience in AI/LLM-powered workflow automation and CI/CD optimization.

## Work Experience
### Senior Software Engineer @ Trust & Will
Jan 2026 – Present
Founded in 2017, Trust & Will is the leading digital estate planning platform in the U.S., trusted by over one million families. Our secure, attorney-approved solutions empower Americans to create wills, trusts, and healthcare directives tailored to state-specific laws. As a certified B Corporation and Public Benefit Corporation, our mission is to make legacy planning accessible. In 2025, we launched EstateOS™, an intelligent platform offering connected estate plans, AI-powered workflows, and professional collaboration tools. Today, we support 20,000+ financial advisors and 200+ enterprise partners — including Fifth Third Bank, UBS, USAA, LPL Financial, Northwestern Mutual, and AARP — expanding access to estate planning nationwide. Recognized by CNBC Disruptor 50, Inc. 5000, and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™. Learn more at [trustandwill.com](https://trustandwill.com/).

### Senior Software Engineer @ Optera
Jan 2024 – Jan 2026 | Boulder, CO

### Software Engineer @ Optera
Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | Boulder, Colorado, United States
- Led frontend architecture to scale the Outreach platform from 500 → 1,500+ suppliers and 3,000+ active users (~200% growth), contributing to $600K+ annual revenue (React, Next.js, TypeScript).

- Built data ingestion pipelines and AI-powered bill processing, reducing onboarding from weeks to ~1 day and manual processing from ~1 week to ~15 minutes.

- Drove frontend quality and delivery velocity by mentoring engineers, leading the Frontend Guild, and initiating testing, CI/CD, and code quality improvements.

- Collaborated closely with product and design to deliver practical, well-scoped solutions aligned to business needs.

### Founding Software Engineer @ Terrayn
Jan 2020 – Jan 2022 | Denver, Colorado, United States
- Delivered front-end dashboards adopted by 10+ dispensary locations, supporting ~$3M in seed funding and recurring revenue. (React, TypeScript, JavaScript)

- Partnered with founders and stakeholders to define product vision, MVP scope, and user research, shaping frontend architecture and performance decisions. (Agile, product discovery, user research)

- Designed and implemented backend services and API integrations, enabling scalable product delivery and analytics dashboards. (FastAPI, Node.js, PostgreSQL, API integration)

- Mentored engineers on frontend best practices, automation, and workflow efficiency. (Mentorship, Agile, CI/CD)

### Software Engineer @ Conseqta Technology
Jan 2019 – Jan 2020 | Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- Developed frontend interfaces for U.S. Senate financial tech products serving 10,000+ users, ensuring usability, security, and performance.

- Built full-stack dashboards integrating frontend interfaces with backend services (Spring Boot, Angular, PostgreSQL, MongoDB) for secure, data-heavy workflows.

- Contributed to mobile-first web design and multi-product portfolio, expanding company presence and contracts.

### Web Application Developer @ Synergy360
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Washington DC-Baltimore Area
- Developed a company-wide timesheet tracking system for government contracts, improving time management and billing accuracy.

- Led UI development for Navy contract digitization projects, building custom document viewers that enhanced data accessibility for stakeholders.

- Acted as React, Redux, and JavaScript subject matter expert, establishing architecture standards that improved code reuse and maintainability.

- Delivered React training and instituted code review best practices, increasing team efficiency and code quality across projects.


## Education
### Bachelor's degree in Biology, General
St. Mary's College of Maryland


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/melanie-macdonald1

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Source: https://flows.cv/melaniemacdonald
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/melaniemacdonald/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-03-22