Maintainable code
Code is read far more than it's written. I optimize for clarity, boring patterns, and systems that outlive the original author.
Available for remote Full-Stack Engineer / Frontend Tech Lead opportunities
Full-Stack Engineer / Frontend Tech Lead building scalable SaaS products from architecture to production.
Sanja Malović
Frontend technical leadership, full-stack product ownership, developer tooling, and AI-assisted engineering.
At a glance
5+ years
Production software
Frontend
Technical leadership
End-to-end
Product ownership
AI-assisted
Engineering
Performance
& reliability
Mentoring
and code review
Philosophy
How I approach engineering.
Five principles that show up across every codebase, team, and release I've led.
01 02 Ship fast — without sacrificing quality
Tight feedback loops, scoped releases, and the discipline to know when to refactor and when to ship.
03 Products users actually enjoy
Polished interactions, fast interfaces, considered defaults. Engineering is in service of the product, not the other way around.
04 Strong collaboration with backend
API design, rendering strategies, contracts and edge-cases worked out together — not over the wall.
05 Architecture & product thinking
Trade-offs framed in business terms. Long-term scalability balanced against the next release.
AI-native engineering
AI is part of how I build.
AI is part of my daily engineering workflow across architecture, implementation, debugging, testing, documentation, and code review. I use tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and ChatGPT as force multipliers while keeping technical judgment, security, and maintainability human-owned.
Selected work
Featured projects.
Products I've led or built significant parts of — from observability and AI-enabled SaaS to large-scale consumer apps.
Independent Product Builder · Full-Stack Engineer
Telemetry Tracker
Full-stack observability platform for collecting application events, errors, sessions, and analytics — client SDKs, ingestion API, and multi-tenant dashboard.
- Built multi-tenant SaaS with organization management, API keys, and usage limits
- Designed Fastify ingestion API and live telemetry dashboards in Next.js
- Shipped client SDKs, Dockerized services, and CI/CD for production releases
ImpactProduction-ready observability stack built end-to-end as an independent product.
Next.js · Fastify · TypeScript · PostgreSQL · Prisma · Docker · CI/CD
Frontend Tech Lead
GrowthFlicks
Frontend Tech Lead for a production AI-enabled SaaS platform — owned frontend architecture, releases, code quality, performance, and production stability.
- Led frontend architecture and weekly production releases
- Mentored developers and established PR review standards
- Improved performance, observability, and conversion tracking
ImpactMore predictable releases, faster incident response, and more reliable analytics.
React · Next.js · TypeScript · Tailwind · Meta Conversions API · Sentry · CI/CD
Frontend Engineer
Fishing Points
Large-scale production platform for anglers — GPS, maps, trip tracking, weather, and catch logging across web and mobile.
- 3+ years on frontend across landing, web app, and internal backoffice
- Complex SSR/CSR rendering and SEO at scale across millions of pages
- Performance optimization for map-heavy UI on mid-range devices
ImpactSmoother map performance, stronger SEO coverage, and more maintainable frontend surfaces.
Nuxt.js · TypeScript · Maps · SSR/CSR · PostgreSQL
Independent Developer
Unjica
AI-assisted publishing platform exploring automated content generation, SEO optimization, edge deployment, and scalable content workflows.
- Automated content generation with editorial guardrails
- Hugo static generation on Cloudflare for speed and cost efficiency
- OpenAI integrations with Supabase and workflow automation
ImpactLower hosting cost, faster content iteration, and reduced manual publishing ops.
Hugo · OpenAI · Cloudflare · Supabase · Automation
Frontend Engineer
Ambienti TV
Video platform for architecture, interior design, and lifestyle content — strong SEO, media performance, and scalable publishing demands.
- Hybrid SSR/CSR rendering for SEO plus interactivity
- Dynamic page generation and automated sitemaps
- Caching, image loading, and frontend performance tuning
ImpactImproved video page load performance and better organic discovery via automated SEO.
Nuxt.js · TypeScript · SSR/CSR · Caching · Sitemaps
Capabilities
What I bring to a team.
Grouped by capability rather than a long technology list — the tools change, the engineering judgement carries over.
Frontend
- Architect scalable frontend systems
- Build design-system and component primitives
- Performance budgets, Core Web Vitals, perceived speed
React · Next.js · Vue · Nuxt · TypeScript · Tailwind
Backend
- Design APIs, pragmatic data contracts, authentication flows, and product-driven data models alongside backend teams
- Build and maintain Node.js services, integrations, sessions, and secure client-server workflows
Node.js · NestJS · Laravel · PostgreSQL
AI
- AI-enabled SaaS product development
- AI-powered product features, LLM integrations, and developer automation
- AI-assisted automation and content pipelines
OpenAI · LLMs · AI integrations · Automation
DevOps
- CI/CD workflows and release management
- Production monitoring and incident response
- Rollback strategy and staged deployment practices
GitHub Actions · Vercel · Railway · Cloudflare · Sentry · Docker
Case studies
Real engineering problems.
- Problem
- Slow first paint and scroll jank on galleries with hundreds of large images — users dropped off before content loaded.
- Why it was hard
- Unoptimized assets, eager mounting of off-screen items, and no virtualization meant the browser was doing too much work at once.
- Approach
- Built an image optimization pipeline, lazy loading with intersection observers, and list virtualization for long grids.
- Outcome
- Noticeably faster first paint, smoother scrolling on mid-range devices, and a safer rollout cadence for gallery-heavy features.
- Problem
- Ad attribution was inconsistent — duplicate events, missing server-side signals, and consent gaps undermined growth decisions.
- Why it was hard
- Client Pixel and server Conversions API had to stay in sync, respect consent, and map cleanly to real product lifecycle events.
- Approach
- Meta Pixel on the client, Conversions API on the server, deduped via event IDs — Purchase, StartTrial, and lifecycle events mapped to product reality with consent gating both surfaces.
- Outcome
- Cleaner attribution for the growth team, fewer duplicate conversions, and a tracking setup the business could trust for budget decisions.
- Problem
- Releases were stressful — unclear scope, weak verification, and slow incident response when something slipped through.
- Why it was hard
- A fast-moving SaaS team needed speed without sacrificing stability; every release touched frontend, backend, and analytics.
- Approach
- Versioned releases with notes and assignees, staging verification plus production smoke tests, active Sentry monitoring in the release window, and documented rollback paths.
- Outcome
- More predictable weekly releases, faster triage when issues surfaced, and fewer weekend fire drills after risky deploys.
Experience
A short timeline.
- 2024 — Present
Independent Software Engineer
Tačko — self-employed
Building production SaaS products and developer tools for clients and independently, with ownership across architecture, implementation, deployment, and technical delivery.
- 2025 — 2026
Full-Stack Engineer / Frontend Tech Lead
GrowthFlicks
Led frontend architecture, releases, CI/CD, code reviews, and production stability across an AI-enabled SaaS platform — mentoring developers and establishing engineering standards.
- 2021 — 2024
Frontend Engineer
Kaldi IT — FishingPoints, Ambienti TV
Led frontend across large-scale SEO and product platforms using Nuxt.js and TypeScript — scalable rendering, map-heavy UIs, and performance work on mature production apps.
- 2021
Software Developer
3B+D BlackBlox
Vue.js apps, a JavaFX desktop app, and a music player with a Wear OS companion. High responsibility in a small team.
- Ongoing
Personal products & Open Source
Telemetry Tracker, Unjica, and others
Independent SaaS products and open-source tooling, including multi-tenant observability infrastructure and AI-assisted publishing workflows.
Let's build something good.
Open to Full-Stack Engineer / Frontend Tech Lead and product engineering roles where I can take ownership, influence technical direction, and help turn complex problems into reliable products.
Based in Slovenia and available for remote-first international teams.