Marcus ChenMarcus Chen

$ whoami / Staff Full-Stack Engineer

Marcus Chen

Staff full-stack engineer building calm, capable products.

Marcus Chen is a staff full-stack engineer based in Seattle, focused on dependable web products, thoughtful systems, and teams that ship with confidence. For more than a decade, he has helped early-stage and established companies turn ambiguous product ideas into accessible, observable software. His work spans product discovery, frontend architecture, APIs, and the delivery systems that keep a product healthy after launch. Marcus brings a practical engineering voice to the room: simplify the hard parts, make the trade-offs visible, and leave the codebase easier to change than he found it.

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Marcus Chen
status: available
location: Seattle
11+years shipping3case studies0core toolsSeattlebase node

01 / about

Hi, I'm Marcus Chen

Marcus Chen is a staff full-stack engineer based in Seattle, focused on dependable web products, thoughtful systems, and teams that ship with confidence. For more than a decade, he has helped early-stage and established companies turn ambiguous product ideas into accessible, observable software. His work spans product discovery, frontend architecture, APIs, and the delivery systems that keep a product healthy after launch. Marcus brings a practical engineering voice to the room: simplify the hard parts, make the trade-offs visible, and leave the codebase easier to change than he found it.

const approach = [ 'clarity', 'accessible systems', 'measurable outcomes'];

03 / career data

Experience

01
2022-03-01 – Present

Staff Full-Stack Engineer

Northstar Systems

Seattle, USA

↗

Northstar Systems builds workflow software for distributed service teams that need dependable operations across locations and time zones.

Responsibilities

  • Lead product engineering across frontend architecture, APIs, and delivery systems
  • Turn ambiguous product requirements into accessible, observable software
  • Coach engineers through design reviews, technical planning, and production readiness

Achievements

  • Reduced median page load time by 42% across the customer dashboard
  • Created a platform migration plan adopted by 6 product squads
TypeScriptReactNext.jsNode.jsPostgreSQL
02
2019-01-01 – 2022-02-28

Senior Software Engineer

Copperline Labs

Portland, USA

↗

Copperline Labs is a fintech platform focused on clear, dependable customer workflows and shared product foundations.

Responsibilities

  • Build customer-facing workflows with React, GraphQL, and accessible CSS
  • Partner with product and design to improve shared patterns across the platform
  • Support quality through automated tests and practical documentation

Achievements

  • Shipped a reusable component system used across three product surfaces
  • Improved checkout completion by 18% through an accessible redesign
ReactGraphQLCSSAccessibilityJest
03
2015-08-01 – 2018-12-31

Software Engineer

Fieldnote Software

Seattle, USA

↗

Fieldnote Software creates collaborative tools for field research, reporting, and teams working across varied environments.

Responsibilities

  • Deliver full-stack features from database design through browser experience
  • Improve release safety with automation, documentation, and repeatable checks
  • Work with researchers and product partners to make complex reporting workflows clear

Achievements

  • Established the first automated release pipeline for the product team
JavaScriptPythonSQLDocker

04 / foundations

Education

Bachelor of Science · Computer Science

University of Washington

2011-09-01 – 2015-06-15

Focused on systems programming and the human side of software design.

Dean's List

07 / verified

Certifications

AWS Certified Developer – Associate

Amazon Web Services

Issued 2023-06-01

Credential ID: AWS-DEV-MC-2306

Verify credential →

Web Accessibility Specialist

Deque University

Issued 2022-09-01

Credential ID: DQU-MC-2209

Verify credential →

05 / shipped work

Projects

Operations dashboard workspacework / selected work
workOngoing

Northstar Operations Console

A faster, clearer command center for service teams

A role-aware dashboard that brings scheduling, exceptions, and customer communication into one dependable workspace.

Role: Technical lead

System designProduct discoveryPerformance engineeringNext.jsTypeScriptPostgreSQLRedis
Read case study
Component explorationswork / selected work
work2020-02-01 – 2021-10-31

Copperline Design System

Shared foundations for a multi-product team

A documented component library and contribution model that aligned design and engineering around accessible, composable UI.

Role: Design systems lead

AccessibilityAPI designTechnical writingReactStorybookCSSPlaywright
Live project
Harbor CLI in a terminalopen-source / selected work
open-sourceOngoing

Harbor CLI

A small command line toolkit for local environments

An open-source CLI that makes common project setup and environment checks repeatable for small teams.

Role: Maintainer

Developer experienceDocumentationRelease automationNode.jsTypeScriptVitest
Repository

02 / capabilities

Skills

06 / external signal

Testimonials

“”

Jordan EllisVP Product · Northstar Systems

“”

Priya ShahEngineering Manager · Copperline Labs

“”

Rafael KimFounder · Fieldnote Software

08 / recognition

Awards

Platform Impact Award

Northstar Systems · professional

2024-12-01

Recognized for improving the reliability and clarity of the core operations platform.

Open Source Stewardship Award

Seattle JS Community · community

2023-11-01

Honored for practical tooling and mentorship for local JavaScript teams.

09 / interfaces

Languages

English / native

10 / community

Volunteer Experience

01
2021-01-01

Volunteer mentor

Code for Cascadia

Coach career changers through portfolio reviews, interview practice, and their first production pull request.

Impact: Mentored 24 learners through community project launches.

MentoringCode reviewTechnical communication

11 / public code

Open Source Contributions

Harbor CLI

maintainer · 38 pull requests

Maintains release automation, onboarding commands, and the contributor documentation.

View repository →

12 / available commands

Services

01

Service 1

End-to-end product engineering from architecture to deployment.

End-to-end product engineering from architecture to deployment.

  • Technical architecture
  • API design
  • Frontend implementation
  • Deployment pipeline
$5,000 · 2–8 weeks
02

Service 2

Detailed WCAG review with prioritized remediation guidance.

Detailed WCAG review with prioritized remediation guidance.

  • Automated and manual testing
  • Remediation report
  • Developer handoff
$2,500 · 1–2 weeks

13 / contact

Contact

Have a product, platform, or engineering problem worth solving?

Send a message →
hello@marcuschen.dev+1 (206) 555-0148Seattle, WA

Share the project, the deadline, and what needs to be seen.

This form is intentionally short. It is meant to start a conversation, not force a proposal before the work has been discussed.