Milena Suárez

Experience

10+ years building for the web

From banking dashboards and startup architectures in Bogotá to design systems and accessibility at Babbel in Berlin, I've spent more than a decade turning complex products into reusable, inclusive interfaces.

Professional experience

  1. Design system and Frontend Engineer

    Babbel · Language learning platform

    Feb 2023 – Present

    Building Babbel's design system and leading its accessibility work, close to product design and across product surfaces.

    • Led accessibility improvements across the design system: WCAG 2.2 audits and fixes across 30+ components for keyboard, screen reader, and assistive technology users.
    • Designed and built scalable design system components with React, TypeScript, Styled Components, and Vanilla Extract.
    • Partnered with product designers to define component APIs, interaction patterns, and interactive prototypes.
    • Contributed to design token architecture and workflows with Figma, Supernova, Style Dictionary, and Storybook.
    • Improved developer experience through CDN-based font delivery, CI/CD workflows, and cost-effective visual regression testing.
    • Shared practices on accessibility and design systems in Frontend Chapter meetings and at design conferences.
    • TypeScript
    • React
    • Next.js
    • Storybook
    • Vanilla Extract
    • Design Tokens
    • GitHub Actions
    • AWS
  2. Senior Web Developer

    Huge · Digital agency

    Nov 2021 – Sep 2022

    Frontend lead on Google projects including Think with Google, Google Pay, and Wallet.

    • Prioritized and resolved technical debt across Think with Google, Google Pay, and Wallet.
    • Mentored junior, mid, and senior developers through code reviews and knowledge-sharing sessions.
    • Guided stakeholders and product management to build roadmaps aligned with business goals.
    • Defined frontend architecture and technical decisions with the team.
    • JavaScript
    • React
    • Contentful
    • Jest
    • WCAG
    • SEO
  3. Senior Web UI Developer

    Globant · Digital agency

    Nov 2019 – Nov 2021

    Feature and UI library work for Rockwell Automation and American Century Investments.

    • Designed and built highly reusable features for shared UI and design system libraries.
    • Mentored junior and mid-level developers.
    • Conducted technical interviews and reviewed code tests for hiring.
    • Created monitoring and deployment pipelines on OpenShift.
    • React
    • Vue
    • Angular
    • TypeScript
    • Storybook
    • GraphQL
    • Jenkins
    • OpenShift
  4. Senior Frontend Engineer

    Addi · Fintech startup

    Nov 2018 – Nov 2019

    First frontend engineer at the startup, owning the architecture of its first loan-request web app.

    • Built the company's first loan-request web application from scratch.
    • Designed a micro frontends architecture based on Domain-Driven Design, enabling independent product areas.
    • Led frontend technical decisions, code reviews, and hiring interviews as the team scaled.
    • TypeScript
    • Angular
    • RxJS
    • React
    • Storybook
    • Monorepo
    • DDD
  5. Frontend Engineer

    Scotiabank Colpatria Digital Factory · Banking

    Jul 2017 – Nov 2018

    Rebuilt core banking dashboards and started the bank's first design system.

    • Redesigned and rebuilt the User Products and Transaction dashboards used for daily transactions.
    • Designed and created the first version of a design system using Atomic Design.
    • TypeScript
    • Angular
    • SASS
    • BEM
    • Serenity.js
    • Jasmine
  6. Frontend Engineer

    Rappi · Delivery services

    Nov 2016 – Jul 2017

    Frontend work on the core delivery app and a new supplier-facing retail app.

    • Developed and maintained the main app connecting riders with end users.
    • Built from scratch a retail app that lets suppliers offer their products in the main app.
    • TypeScript
    • Angular
    • Ember.js
    • RxJS
    • REST
  7. Software Engineer

    Banco de Occidente · Banking

    Apr 2016 – Nov 2017

    Designed and developed a data warehouse for a BI project aimed at financial entities.

    • OBIEE
    • SQL Server
  8. Software Engineer

    Quasar Software · Digital agency

    May 2015 – Apr 2016

    Designed and developed a Trello-like task management tool.

    • Java
    • Vaadin
    • JavaScript
    • Google Drive API
  9. Software Engineer

    Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas · Academic services

    Feb 2011 – May 2015

    Designed and developed the web application used to book lab spaces.

    • PHP
    • JavaScript
    • PostgreSQL
    • WordPress

Where I grew

Community & volunteering

Most of my engineering work lives inside product teams, so there aren't many public repos to show. What is public is my community story: years of organizing, mentoring, and speaking at meetups and conferences.

Toolbox

Skills

Frontend

  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Vue
  • Angular
  • HTML
  • CSS

Architecture

  • Design Systems
  • Component Libraries
  • Micro Frontends
  • Domain-Driven Design
  • Atomic Design
  • Monorepos

Accessibility

  • WCAG 2.1 / 2.2
  • ARIA
  • Screen readers
  • Accessibility audits

Styling

  • CSS-in-JS
  • Styled Components
  • Vanilla Extract
  • SASS
  • BEM
  • Design Tokens

Testing & DX

  • Jest
  • Testing Library
  • Playwright
  • Percy
  • Storybook
  • GitHub Actions

Leadership

  • Mentorship
  • Technical decisions
  • Hiring interviews
  • Stakeholder collaboration

BS, Telematic Engineering — Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá, 2008 – 2014

Let's talk

Let's work together

Building a design system, improving accessibility, or organizing an event? I'd love to hear about it.