Hi, I'm Justin Bell
Senior Software Engineer
I craft reliable systems and intuitive experiences, focusing on performant and user-friendly applications
About Me
I'm a Senior Software Engineer with a passion for building scalable systems, streamlining architecture, and shipping thoughtful product features. At The Washington Postās Arc XP, I solution-designed and shipped features across its most-used applicationsāComposer, WebSked, and Tridentābuilding and enhancing tools for thousands of internal and client users, powering experiences for tens of millions of downstream users across global sites.
I'm currently on a focused career sabbatical, sharpening my system design and cloud architecture skills as I prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect ā Associate exam. During this time, Iāve been modernizing AtravĆ©s, a legacy geolocation and messaging app; architecting and scaling GameRelish, a feedback marketplace for games; and building additional full-stack applications in crowdfunding, blockchain, and real-time collaboration.
Regardless of what I'm doing exactly, Iām always drawn to work that lives at the intersection of technology, creativity, and connection.
System Thinker
Designing resilient architectures with a product-first mindset
Full-Stack Craftsman
Obsessed with clean code, smart tooling, and end-to-end polish
Product-Driven Engineer
Bridging design, dev, and business goals with minimal ego
Collaborative Partner
Brings momentum, clarity, and calm to high-trust teams
Interests & Passions
Product Engineering
Music Production
Physical Fitness
Nature & the Outdoors
Fictional Writing
Community Impact
Sports: Lakers/Dodgers/Eagles
Food (Cooking & Eating)
Professional Experience
Career Sabbatical / Professional Development
Founder / Senior Software Engineer
Los Angeles, CA
- Architected and launched gamerelish.com, a production-ready feedback platform for gaming franchises, featuring:
- ā¢ Enterprise-grade security with 41+ RLS policies and tiered access (user, moderator, admin, owner)
- ā¢ Multi-tiered abuse prevention system with honeypots, intelligent rate limiting, IP logging, and CAPTCHA integration
- ā¢ Advanced React Query architecture using optimistic updates, cache invalidation, and automatic rollback patterns
- ā¢ Next.js 15 application with dynamic routing middleware, 100% TypeScript coverage, and runtime Zod validation
- ā¢ Supabase/Postgres backend with real-time sync, RLS, granular access control, and multi-franchise schema support
- ā¢ Email automation system with user onboarding, preference management, and feedback alerts
- ā¢ SEO optimization, progressive web app (PWA) support, and integrated analytics for performance and discoverability
- ā¢ Comprehensive test suite with 100+ passing unit and integration tests across backend and frontend
- Leveraged AI-assisted development workflow with ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor to accelerate feature development
- Modernized atraves.net, a React/Firebase app for cross-world messaging via antipodal maps with geospatial queries, location fuzzing for privacy, and multilingual support (12 languages)
- Developing early-stage applications in crowdfunding and collaborative writing
- Studying for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam (Oct 2025), focused on core AWS services and architectures
Senior Software Engineer / Software Engineer
Washington Post (Arc XP)
Los Angeles, CA
- Led rebuild of WebSked's List View using React, refactoring legacy AngularJS CMS code for scalability and maintainability
- Crafted React components for Arc internal UI libraries (built with Tailwind/Bootstrap); tested with Chai, Jest, and Cypress
- Architected an org-wide config-free user authorization system in Node.js reducing admin support tickets by >40%
- Created AWS S3 metadata aggregation tools for customer deployment visibility and CI/CD debugging
- Built REST APIs, automation scripts and DynamoDB schemas enabling fine-grained RBAC
- Consolidated monthly usage data using AWS Lambda-based services
- Solution designed Featured Media appending in most used customer facing app and identified critical bottlenecks
- Led cross-functional "Trident Training Sessions" to help colleagues interface with our backend systems more confidently
- Ensured internationalization compliance (i18n) and RTL support for SLA-bound applications
- Rotated in 24/7 on-call support for live triaging and Slack-based incident response
- Implemented and maintained CI/CD pipelines and AWS cloud infrastructure
Education
Hack Reactor / Telegraph Academy
Software Engineering Immersive
Dartmouth College
BA in Sociology
Featured Projects
GameRelish
A community-driven feedback platform that helps gaming enthusiasts share constructive feedback and shape the future of their favorite games. Features include a four-tier feedback system (wishlist, relish, mustard, gamebreaker), real-time community voting, comprehensive moderation tools, email notifications for game launches, and a foundational badge system that rewards quality contributions.
AtravƩs
AtravĆ©s is an interactive web app that lets users discover and explore the antipodeāthe exact opposite point on Earthāfor any location. Features include real-time map rendering, address and landmark geocoding, support for 12 languages, and a whimsical āMessage in a Bottleā system that lets users leave or discover anonymous messages on the other side of the world.
Coming Soon
A crowdfunding platform with blockchain integration, community-driven features and a fun twist.
Coming Soon
A community platform that reimagines how people connect and create together.
Skills & Expertise
Frontend
Backend & Database
Testing & Tools
AWS Services
Get in Touch
Let's Connect
I'm always excited to discuss new projects, product challenges, and collaboration opportunities