Alex Larson

Frontend

• React and Next.js
• TypeScript
• Playwright (end-to-end testing)
• Storybook (component documentation)
• Product analytics (PostHog)
• Accessibility (a11y)

Backend

• Node.js (NestJS, Express)
• API integration patterns (aggregation, retries, caching)
• Auth & access control (environment boundaries, role-based access)
• Java & Spring Boot
• SQL

DevOps & Tools

• Nx monorepos and build tooling
• CI/CD pipelines (build/test/lint automation)
• Docker & containerized development
• Cloud deployments: PCF and GCP
• Dependency security (vulnerability scanning/remediation)

Rewriting a Legacy Embedded App for Self Checkout Security & Release Safety

Primary contributor on a full rewrite of a legacy web app embedded via iframe inside Self Checkout (and launchable from POS). The original app repeatedly failed security/vulnerability scans and couldn't be safely promoted to production, so we rebuilt it in an Nx monorepo with React and modern tooling.

• Eliminated release blockers by addressing security scan failures bringing reported vulnerabilities down to 0 and reducing release risk for a high-traffic checkout surface.
• Improved quality and confidence with Playwright end-to-end coverage and Storybook for documented, reusable UI components.
• Instrumented usage with PostHog metrics to validate adoption and guide iteration across Self Checkout and cashier-facing POS entry points.

Reducing QR Checkout Test Setup from Minutes to Seconds

Built an internal React + Express tool that consolidated test account selection, payment/loyalty/coupon lookup, and QR generation into a single flow—cutting setup time from ~5–10 minutes to seconds for dev and QA.

• Deployed to PCF behind VPN; protected with basic auth and restricted to a test-only environment.
• Added guardrails via allowlisted test accounts to keep usage safe and predictable.
• Improved reliability with downstream retries + API caching; UI degraded gracefully on partial failures.

Feature Flag UI for Faster Search, Safer Changes, and Auto-Generated PRs

Built an internal React + Nest tool (Nx monorepo) that made feature/config flags easy to search and update across QA and production. Replaced manual YAML digging and curl-based lookups with a UI that could filter quickly and generate PRs automatically.

• Previously, engineers managed flags directly in large YAML files and relied on curl requests to determine which stores had specific flags enabled.
• The UI enabled fast searching/filtering and streamlined edits, eliminating time spent hunting through config files. It also created PRs automatically—saving the full workflow of opening the repo, locating flags, editing, committing, and opening a PR.
• Deployed to GCP behind VPN with access controlled by requiring permissions to the feature flag/config Git repo. Supported QA and production environments.