About

I'm an engineer and designer based in Baltimore, Maryland. I'm a hiker, photographer, mechanic, and artist.

I began my career freelancing and working with small agencies, where I honed my craft across both design and engineering. In 2016, I transitioned into software, discovering a deep interest in product design and design systems.

Over the years, I've worn many hats — serving as the sole designer-engineer on small teams and leading both disciplines on larger ones. I thrive in the space between, bridging gaps between design, engineering, and product to build better, more cohesive experiences.

20222025

Senior Software Engineer at Zillow

  • Created Zillow Group's design system observability platform, measuring design system adoption, usage, and ROI across thousands of repositories on GitLab and GitHub
  • Led modernization of unit, integration, E2E, and performance testing capabilities, improving visibility into design system health and quality

Staff UX Engineer at Sparkpost (Acquired by Bird)

20192022

Staff UX Engineer

  • Designed, built, and maintained Matchbox, a design system, saving SparkPost over 10,000 design and engineering hours per year
  • Coordinated with product managers, designers and engineers to define, understand and clarify goals and product requirements for several projects
  • Oversaw frontend and design team projects, providing mentorship and direction

20162019

Front End Engineer

  • Worked within a distributed team, leading the design and technical implementation of various product initiatives
  • Provided creative and technical guidance to marketing, product, developer relations, and other engineering teams on several projects

20132015

Web Developer at Fifteen4

  • Produced interactive micro sites, landing pages, component libraries, style guides, and prototypes to support clients’ products

20072012

University of Maryland, College Park

  • BA, Communication

Contact

Email

jon@jonambas.com

Social

Let's connect!