Lev Kanter
🧑💻
Full-stack web developer with 16+ years experience leading, delivering, maintaining, and sweating the details of complex software engineering projects. Some things about me at a glance:
- Based in Brooklyn, NY.
- Comfortable in a variety of roles (including engineering management), but happiest when writing production code across the stack and collaborating with designers and other engineers.
- Led both backend and frontend engineering projects at Catch for ~three years.
- Co-founded and led the development team at Type/Code for a decade.
- Taught a web development course at Parsons School of Design for five semesters.
Work History
Catch
- Staff Software Engineer06/2021–01/2024
- Led the design and development of Catch's Javascript SDK.
- Led a full, from-the-grounds-up rewrite of the initial version of Catch's consumer-facing frontend web application.
- Led integrations with Shopify APIs, including Catch's flagship Shopify payments app.
- Led the MVP development of Catch's merchant-facing portal app.
Type/Code
- Technical Director01/2017–12/2020
- Lead Developer07/2010–12/2016
- Co-founder, Partner07/2010–12/2020
- Co-founded and, alongisde the company's other founders, played a major role in establishing, managing, and growing Type/Code from 2010 through 2020.
- Led web development and managed projects for a broad range of clients, including: Slated, MoMA, Google, Architizer, MIT Media Lab, FLIR Systems, Sharp Type, and A24 Films.
- Grew and fostered the strength of the dev team.
- Determined technology stacks, architectures, and development processes for different projects.
- Recruited and mentored developers.
- Encouraged a high standard of quality throughout the company's software engineering practice.
Parsons School of Design
- Adjunct Faculty08/2011–05/2014
- Taught introductory HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for five semesters to design students, instilling the wonders and agonies of frontend web fundamentals.
Freelance
- Web Designer and Developer11/2008–06/2010
- Freelanced on assorted web design and development projects, including several contracted by Kiss Me I'm Polish.
- Frontend development on the first generation of inStream Wealth's financial planning platform.
Redub LLC
- Frontend Developer05/2008–11/2008
- Frontend development on several projects, including a full redesign of Thrillist which was launched in September 2008 (long since rebuilt).
Selected Work
Catch Business Portal
- Technical Lead04/2023–01/2024
Merchant-facing dashboard/portal application, designed and developed at Catch.
My role:
- Worked with the team's product manager, engineering manager, and design lead to help spec requirements.
- Led development on the engineering team which included myself and two other developers. Responsible for the overall architecture, API design, backend groundwork, and 100% of the frontend implementation.
- Developed role-based permissions system for different classes of users (administrators, read-only viewers, users with the ability to access API keys, etc).
- Developed app backend using Flask, SQLAlchemy.
- Developed authentication backend using Amazon Cognito.
- Developed app frontend using React, MUI, React Router, Tanstack Query.
Catch.js SDK
- Technical Lead09/2021–01/2024
Frontend developer tools for merchants to integrate with Catch, designed and developed at Catch.
My role:
- Worked with Catch's design lead and CTO to help spec requirements.
- Responsible for the overall architecture and API design of the full SDK, and the full implementation of its MVP version.
- Implemented various widgets (callouts, purchase confirmation boxes, etc) using Lit, Redux Toolkit.
- Supported customization APIs and other features, including different widget styling options and dynamic messaging (wherein Catch callouts automatically recognize returning Catch users and tailor the content they display to the given user).
- Designed and developed a demo site to showcase Catch.js widgets. This site serves as an interactive documentation tool for developers working with Catch.js, as well as an aid for Catch's sales team when explaining the integration process to merchants.
- Wrote the initial version of Catch.js's public documentation.
- Implemented and maintained a package on NPM to support loading Catch.js in ESM projects, as well as using the SDK with TypeScript.
A24 Auctions
- Technical Lead10/2019–12/2020
Online live auction platform for A24 Films, designed and developed by Type/Code.
My role:
- Worked with the design team and A24 Films to help spec requirements.
- Led development on the engineering team which included myself and three other developers.
- Developed system for real-time scheduling of auctions and lots.
- Developed integrations with Stripe, Shippo, and TaxJar for payment processing, shipping label automation, and sales tax recording (respectively).
- Developed app backend using Django, Celery, Channels, Graphene.
- Developed app frontend using Vue.js, Apollo.
- Oversaw development of deployment and container orchestration architecture using Amazon ECS (along with other AWS services).
- Oversaw development of AWS infrastructure management code using Terraform.
- Oversaw development of CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins.
Sharp Type Ecommerce
- Technical Lead08/2018–12/2020
Ecommerce platform for the type foundry Sharp Type, designed and developed by Type/Code.
My role:
- Worked with the design team and Sharp Type to help spec requirements.
- Led development on the engineering team which included myself and three other developers.
- Developed system to support ecommerce flows specific to typeface products, including: font bundling, end-user license agreement generation, cart sharing, and license upgrades.
- Developed app backend using Django, Celery, Django REST framework, Prince.
- Developed app frontend using Vue.js, Vuex, Sass.
- Oversaw deployment architecture on AWS.
- Oversaw development of ETL pipeline to migrate customer and order data from Sharp Type's previous ecommerce system (Shopify).
- Oversaw development of CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins.
MIT Media Lab
- Technical Lead01/2017–01/2018
- Developer09/2015–12/2016
Public site and content management system for the MIT Media Lab, designed by Type/Code and developed by Type/Code in collaboration with NeCSys (the lab's IT department).
My role:
- Initially participated purely as a developer on the engineering team, which included myself and eight other developers.
- Helped develop app backend using Django, Celery, Django REST framework, Elasticsearch.
- Helped develop app frontend using jQuery, RequireJS, Sass.
- Took over as the technical lead shortly after the project's initial MVP launch.
- Worked with the design team and the Media Lab to help prioritize new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements, as well as spec requirements.
- Oversaw development of major new features, including the site's digital asset management system (DAM) and video pages.
Google Books Publisher Portal
- Frontend Developer08/2012–04/2013
Administrative dashboard for publishers on Google Books, designed by Type/Code and developed by Google, with frontend support from Type/Code. Allowed publishers who partnered with Google to manage their e-book catalog, pricing and distribution settings, view analytics, etc.
My role:
- Participated alongside members of the Google Books engineering team as a frontend developer.
- Was responsible for markup and styling of all UI components throughout the app. Provided stylesheets for standard Closure Library components using Closure Stylesheets.
- Developed prototypes of miscellaneous Javascript components later integrated into production by the Google team.
MoMA — de Kooning: a Retrospective
- Technical Lead07/2011–02/2012
Companion website for MoMA's de Kooning: a Retrospective exhibition, designed by Kiss Me I'm Polish and developed by Type/Code.
My role:
- Worked with the design team and MoMA's digital media and curatorial departments to help spec requirements.
- Led development on the engineering team which included myself and two other developers.
- Developed app backend using Wordpress.
- Developed app frontend using jQuery.
Education
Parsons School of Design
- BFA, Design and Technology01/2007–05/2010
- Majored in interaction design and digital art.
- Thesis project: designed and developed software that enables digital painting using a Nintendo Wii Remote as a brush.
Stony Brook University
- Computer Science08/2005–12/2006
- Completed three semesters in the computer science honors program before transferring to Parsons.
Contact Info
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