Chris Schuhmacher
San Anselmo, CA · chris.r.schuhmacher@gmail.com
linkedin.com/in/chrisschuhmacher·github.com/cschucode
Product engineer and AI builder with 10 years in tech, building scalable web applications in React and TypeScript and LLM-powered products. Proven track record leading UI architecture, shipping high-impact features, and partnering closely with design and product to deliver user-focused experiences.
Technical Skills
- Frontend
- React, TypeScript, Next.js, Redux, HTML5, CSS3, Tailwind, Sass, Styled Components, HTMX, Alpine.js, Web performance, Accessibility (WCAG), Scalable component architecture
- Backend
- Node.js, Express, Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, REST APIs, GraphQL
- Testing
- Jest, React Testing Library, Cypress, RSpec
- Platform & DevOps
- AWS (EC2, RDS, SQS), Docker, Kubernetes, Nginx, CI/CD (GitLab, CircleCI)
- Languages
- TypeScript, JavaScript (ES6+), Ruby, Python, Scala
- AI-Assisted Development
- Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot
Professional Experience
Dignifi — Engineering Lead (Contract)
Jan 2025 – Present- Leading engineering for an AI-powered Reentry Navigator helping formerly incarcerated individuals discover housing, employment, and essential services through conversational search.
- Architected a React + TypeScript frontend for LLM-powered resource discovery, integrating modern AI workflows and structured knowledge retrieval.
- Managing engineering contributors, guiding architecture decisions, and shaping product direction for a mission-driven AI platform.
- Established AI-assisted development workflows using Cursor, Copilot, and Claude Code to accelerate experimentation and iteration.
Fanstake — Senior Software Engineer
Oct 2024 – Nov 2025- Delivered end-to-end product features across athlete, team, and school profile surfaces, building responsive TypeScript interfaces using HTMX and Alpine.js.
- Partnered with product and design to ship fan engagement experiences that improved usability and responsiveness across key platform workflows.
- Shipped product features rapidly in an early-stage startup environment while balancing speed, reliability, and user experience during launch preparation.
Checkr — Software Engineer II
Oct 2021 – Apr 2024- Led migration of a legacy Angular application to React + TypeScript, establishing reusable component architecture that reduced development time by ~30%.
- Built real-time text editing workflows through Grammarly SDK integration, enhancing writing quality and user productivity within customer workflows.
- Led engineering initiative to improve deployment velocity (DORA metrics), driving process improvements that increased release cadence and reliability.
- Mentored 5+ engineers through technical coaching, code reviews, and frontend best practices, improving maintainability across the codebase.
FANDOM — Software Engineer
Oct 2017 – Apr 2021- Built interactive React + Redux features (trivia quizzes, message walls) powering real-time engagement across high-traffic fandom communities.
- Developed product catalog UI for the Fandom X initiative, delivering performant browsing experiences for large fan audiences.
- Led HTTPS migration and domain consolidation to fandom.com, ensuring zero-downtime transition across millions of daily users.
Education & Honors
- Pragmatic Institute — Product Management Foundations, Focus & Design (2023)
- Hack Reactor — Advanced Software Engineering Immersive Program, San Francisco, CA (2021)
- The Last Mile — Software Engineering Program, San Quentin, CA
- Mt. Tam College — AA in Liberal Arts, Valedictorian, San Quentin, CA (2012)
- FANDOM Hackathon Winner — Improved user registration flow, contributing to increased sign-ups and revenue