Dan Welch

Design Systems Architect

17+ years building scalable front-end platforms, design systems, and developer experiences.

Résumé
01About

A bit about me

I'm a Design Systems Architect with 17+ years as a front-of-the-front-end engineer, most at home in the space where design and engineering meet. I build the component libraries, design tokens, and tooling that help product teams ship interfaces that are consistent, fast, and accessible by default, with a deep focus on accessibility and Core Web Vitals performance.

I'm also comfortable across the full stack: headless CMS integrations, end-to-end testing, and CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions. I like to stay framework-agnostic and reach for the right tool for the job, whether that's Next.js, Astro, or plain HTML and CSS, paired with a strong Figma-to-code handoff practice and an AI-assisted workflow I'm always refining.

02Experience

From sites to systems

From hand-coding university landing pages to architecting the design systems that ship across dozens of products. The throughline is always the same: make the next thing easier to build right.

  1. 2021–2026

    Senior Software Engineer | Design Systems Architect

    Red Ventures / Bankrate

    Shipped two successive design systems that became the foundation for product delivery across Bankrate, moving teams off a legacy CSS framework onto a consistent, maintainable platform with zero production incidents.

  2. 2025

    Engineering Manager | Interim

    Red Ventures / Bankrate

    Stepped into a management role for 6 months, improving team velocity and co-leading an AI hackathon whose results directly shaped the team's migration strategy.

  3. 2016–2021

    Senior Front-End Developer

    Launch That

    Built the design system that unified front-end development across every Launch That property. Trained directly with Brad Frost on Atomic Design methodology, the systems-thinking approach I've carried forward ever since.

  4. 2014–2016

    Lead Front-End / Senior Web Developer

    Studio Birdsall

    Led front-end across 10+ client projects: Magento and Shopify e-commerce and custom WordPress builds.

  5. 2008–2014

    Senior Web Developer

    Full Sail University

    Led front-end for the university's marketing sites, blog, and its first online store and online school.

03Work

Selected work

Deep dives into the systems, decisions, and tradeoffs behind the work.

The Ledger

Case study coming soon

Architecting Bankrate's React/Next.js design system: 65+ components, token-based white-label theming, and the release tooling behind it.

The Treasury

Case study coming soon

Bankrate's first formal design system, adopted across a dozen-plus projects with zero production incidents, replacing a legacy CSS framework.

04Testimonials

Kind words from people I've worked with

From the talented engineers, designers, and managers I've had the pleasure of working alongside.

Ricky CarltonRicky CarltonSenior Director of Creative @ Bankrate
“Dan is the best front-end engineer I know... What makes Dan exceptional is how completely he bridges both sides of the design-engineering equation. He brings a designer's eye and genuine attention to detail, paired with the structural rigor and systems thinking of a strong engineer...”
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05Contact

Let's build something

I'm currently exploring full-time design systems architect and senior front-end roles, remote preferred but open to relocation for the right opportunity. Also available for freelance and contract work.

Let's Connect