Joel Lithgow
Professional Summary
Frontend developer with 7+ years in educational technology. Career progression from QA to designer to developer provides unique perspective on quality assurance and testing—directly relevant to this role's 85% development / 15% process improvement split. Strong accessibility advocate who led systemic WCAG improvements at CCA.
Technical Skills
Frontend: TypeScript, JavaScript, CSS/Sass, HTML5, React, Vue
Backend: Python, Django, Wagtail CMS, PostgreSQL
Testing: Playwright, QA Test Plans, Cross-browser Testing, Integration Testing
Cloud: Google Cloud Platform, Docker, CI/CD, Cloud Run
Tools: Git, Docker, Configuration Management, Technical Documentation
Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA, Screen Reader Optimization, Color Contrast Standards, Inclusive Design
Learning: Angular (eager to develop), AWS (have GCP Cloud Run experience)
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