John Watkins
Senior Software Engineer II at HubSpot
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolJohn Watkins is a Senior Software Engineer II based in Chicago with 11 years of experience building front-end web experiences, particularly in JavaScript, React, PHP, WordPress, and CSS. He has progressed from web developer roles into engineering leadership at agencies like 10up and XWP and now contributes at HubSpot, blending product-focused engineering with team mentorship. A regular open-source contributor to high-profile WordPress projects—AMP for WordPress, Gutenberg, and Web Stories—he specializes in editor UX, validation tooling, and onboarding flows that improve real-world publishing workflows. With an MFA and a background in writing and communications, he brings a user-centered, editorial sensibility to technical decisions and a knack for translating content needs into polished interfaces.
11 years of coding experience
17 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor's degree English, Bachelor's degree English at University of Colorado DenverMaster of Fine Arts (MFA), Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Sarah Lawrence College
Stackoverflow
51reputation
196kreached
1answer
0questions
Github Skills (19)
javascript10
ampl10
testing10
css10
wordpress10
user-interface10
google-amp10
webpack10
front-end-development10
webpacker10
gutenberg10
react10
amp-stories9
html8
theme-development8
Programming languages (6)
Github contributions (5)
ampproject/amp-wp
Sep 2018 - Dec 2020
Enable AMP on your WordPress site, the WordPress way.
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:194 reviews, 1328 commits, 62 PRs in 2 years 4 months
Contributions summary:John primarily contributed to the development and maintenance of the AMP plugin's user interface for the WordPress editor. Their work involved updating end-to-end tests, particularly for the onboarding process wizard. They made changes to implement UI components, including styling and integrating them into the overall interface, as well as adding support for the selection and display of reader themes.
wordpresswordpress-pluginamp
WordPress/gutenberg
Feb 2018 - Jan 2021
The Block Editor project for WordPress and beyond. Plugin is available from the official repository.
Role in this project:Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:2 reviews, 23 commits, 16 PRs in 2 years 11 months
Contributions summary:John's commits primarily focused on the implementation and modification of front-end components within the Gutenberg block editor. This included updating and correcting the usage of `ImagePlaceholder`, and its corresponding integrations across various block types, showing an awareness of the project's structure. Furthermore, there were commits related to general editor functionality and testing, and overall, the commits reflect a deep understanding of the project's front-end architecture.
wordpressgutenbergwordpress-plugin
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