James Kenneth Guidaven Senior Software Engineer Full-stack, strongest on the frontend · AI features & agent tooling · 15+ years

I build web products end to end, and I'm strongest on the frontend: I turn designers' Figma specs into fast, production-ready UIs in React, Angular, or Vue. At Automattic I lead projects from first spec to launch, and I bring AI into how my team works without lowering the bar.

  • 4+ years fully remote
  • Cebu, Philippines · UTC+8
Worked at Automattic Newlogic Codev Lexmark Serious Dev NCR
Read my story → Email me LinkedIn
James Kenneth Guidaven Now · Senior Software Engineer Automattic · Code Wrangler
Selected work

What I've built

At Automattic I work on the Automattic for Agencies and Jetpack dashboards. Below are projects I can share in full.

Open source and side projects

A few favorites, from open-source tools to things I explore on my own.

How I work

Strong fundamentals, amplified by AI.

I use agents to move faster, and set up the codebase so they stay reliable for the whole team.

  1. Fundamentals first

    Architecture, security, testing, and CS basics. Knowing what good looks like.

  2. Context and skills

    Conventions, project notes, and Claude Code skills, so agents follow how we work.

  3. Tools and guardrails

    Agent-ready tickets, MCP servers, and checks agents can run on their own work.

  4. A person owns the result

    I review and test every change, and decide what ships.

How I build reliable, production-ready features
Strengths

How I work with a team

I turn designs into working UIs

I work closely with product designers and turn their Figma specs into fast, production-ready UIs, in React, Angular, or Vue, whichever the project uses.

Automattic · Newlogic · Tessera UI

I ship whole features

From the UI to the API behind it. I lead features end to end, from the first spec to launch, with analytics and funnel tracking to see how they are used.

Automattic · Codev · Newlogic

I care about quality and security

Careful rollouts, testing, and human review of AI output. Plus security work: OAuth, JWT, and access control.

Automattic · Lexmark · Codev

I lead and improve how we work

I lead projects end to end and look for ways to help the team work better. Earlier, I co-founded a company and brought in Agile.

Automattic · Serious Dev · Lexmark
Skills

What I work with

Strongest
  • React
  • Angular
  • Vue
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
AI engineering
  • MCP servers
  • Agent tooling
  • Context engineering
  • Evals
  • Structured outputs
  • Claude Code
  • OpenAI Codex
Testing
  • Jest
  • Testing Library
  • Playwright
  • Vitest
  • MSW
  • End-to-end testing
Also shipped with
  • TanStack
  • Analytics & funnel tracking
  • PHP
  • Node.js
  • Java / Spring Boot
  • AWS
  • React Native
  • Web Components
  • MySQL / PostgreSQL
Full skills, with where I used each
Get in touch

Say hi

Questions about my work or building with AI? Happy to chat.

jkguidaven@gmail.com → LinkedIn GitHub