ROB RITZENHEIN

Experience

Ellevation Education

Senior Software Engineer

November 2022 – July 2025 · Romeo, MI

  • Founded and co-led the Frontend Vanguard, a cross-department team of 6 engineers that maintained the design system and UI component library used by multiple teams / products
  • Led the technical side of a WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audit
  • Architected a refactor of global state management in the flagship Forms product, reducing test suite runtime by 10-20% while increasing engineer velocity and reducing cognitive load
  • Mentored junior engineers through the internal mentorship program

Skillshare

Senior Software Engineer

June 2018 – June 2022 · New York, United States

  • Introduced and built a shared UI component library adopted across 5 teams / product surfaces
  • Designed an incremental Backbone-to-React migration that embedded React components inside Backbone views, letting large and new features ship in React without a full rewrite
  • Implemented a live course product serving multiple countries with Next.js, Nest.js, Server-side React components and GraphQL API

HelloWorld, Inc.

Senior Interface Developer

August 2016 – June 2018 · Southfield, Michigan, United States

  • Built animation-heavy custom interfaces for a customer rewards game and sweepstakes platform used by 6 brands
  • Wrote a Node.js scaffolding tool that generated new game repositories with required local and npm packages, cutting project setup time

Consructor

Owner, Engineer

June 2011 – June 2018 · Michigan, United States

  • Worked with multiple clients across the United States on custom website and web application development
  • Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla development including custom themes and plugins
  • Consulted on information architecture and usability
  • Embedded with engineering teams on a project-by-project basis

Intersect Digital

Lead Developer

May 2014 – August 2016 · Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

  • Worked directly with clients to build custom websites and applications
  • Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla development including custom themes and plugins
  • Built the initial phase of a custom clothing configurator in Javascript

College for Creative Studies

Adjunct Instructor

September 2008 – May 2014 · Detroit, Michigan, United States

I joined the College for Creative Studies Graphic Design department as an adjunct instructor teaching web design and frontend programming.

Organic

Front End Developer

March 2011 – June 2011 · Troy, Michigan, United States

  • Built the frontend UI for multiple Hilton brands including Hilton, Hamilton Suites, H2 by Hilton, Embassy and Doubletree

Octane Design

Senior Developer

January 2009 – March 2011 · Detroit, Michigan, United States

  • Built custom websites and CMS systems using HTML, CSS and PHP
  • Developed highly interactive interfaces using Flash
  • Wordpress development including custom themes and plugins
  • Embedded with external engineering teams on projects shared across company partnerships

Web Developer

June 2004 – January 2009 · Detroit, Michigan, United States

Education

Elisava School of Design and Engineering

Master's Degree, Photography and Design

September 2025 – June 2026

College for Creative Studies

Bachelor's degree, Interactive Communications

September 2000 – June 2004

Top skills

TanStack, React.js, TypeScript

About

I build accessible, user-centered web applications, with 20+ years of experience leaning into frontend and a UX-first approach to engineering. My design background lets me work fluidly with product and design teams, translating concepts into interfaces. I’m comfortable in the backend and I pick up new stacks quickly.

I am also a multi-disciplinary artist and designer. I explore the divide between analogue mediums and bleeding-edge technology, most often through the use of photography and videography.

I’ve been engaged in two forms of creativity for most of my life: making photographs and using computers to create. I have a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Interactive Design from The College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, US. I have a Master’s of Photography and Design from Elisava School of Design in Barcelona, Spain.

I currently live in Barcelona with my partner, three kids and three dogs. We all love art and technology. Including the dogs.

I would love to chat about your project or open engineering role.