Joel Lithgow
Professional Summary
UX Engineer with 7+ years bridging design and engineering. Strong accessibility advocate who led systemic WCAG improvements across digital properties. Career progression from QA to design to development enables seamless translation of design intent into production-ready interfaces.
Technical Skills
Frontend: TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, Vue, Astro, WebGL
Backend: Python, Django, Wagtail CMS, PostgreSQL
Testing: Playwright, Cross-browser Testing, QA Processes, Automated Testing
Cloud: Google Cloud Platform, Docker, CI/CD, Cloud Run
Tools: Git, Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Chrome DevTools
Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA, Screen Reader Optimization, Color Contrast Standards, Accessible UI Patterns
Learning: C++, Lit, WebUI, Chrome Codebase
Professional Experience
LazarusAI
2026 – Present Forward Deployed Engineer 2026-04 – Present
- Build end-to-end AI document extraction pipelines using LazarusAI AIE engine and LiteLLM for insurance, workers comp, and underwriting use cases
- Partner directly with sales to scope, build, and deploy customer-facing demos from rapid prototypes to production-grade Dockerized apps on EC2
- Develop multi-tenant insurance claims quality audit infrastructure with LLM and RAG pipelines over unstructured claim documents producing structured audit outputs with LLM tracing and explainability
- Design and ship internal tooling including an agentic Slack bot for Jira product board management and a sales calendar integration for meeting triage
California College of the Arts
2017 – 2026 UX Designer / Developer 2023 – 2026-04
- Develop and maintain frontend applications for the marketing and communications department
- Build interactive editorial experiences for the college newsroom using modern web technologies
Junior UX Designer 2021 – 2023
- Ran user research and usability testing to inform design decisions
- Partnered with developers to ship responsive, accessible designs
- Produced wireframes, prototypes, and detailed design specifications
Interaction Designer 2019 – 2022
- Designed custom digital storytelling experiences for editorial content using Vev.design and custom code
- Conducted design QA ensuring cross-browser and cross-device compatibility for all web properties
- Created multimedia narrative components for commencement coverage and exhibition showcases
- Collaborated with marketing team to translate brand guidelines into accessible digital implementations
QA Specialist 2017 – 2019
- Identified and documented accessibility issues with remediation plans
- Partnered with developers to prioritize and resolve bugs
- Wrote test documentation and regression-testing procedures
Asian Art Museum
2022 – 2022 Preparator / Art Handler 2022 – 2022
- Handled and installed artwork for exhibitions with care and precision
- Assisted with gallery preparations and exhibition changeovers
- Maintained proper art handling protocols and safety standards
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies
California College of the ArtsProjects
- WebGL Background Playground – Interactive shader-based generative art system with real-time controls joellithgow.com/backgrounds
- CMS Automation Case Study – Playwright test automation reducing months of manual work to automated processes
- Accessibility Standards Initiative – Cross-functional effort to establish WCAG-compliant color guidelines for brand identity