Team Leader | ICE Mortgage Technology

Led the creation of a comprehensive enterprise mortgage design system and managed distributed teams to deliver high-quality UI components.

Overview

As Team Leader at ICE Mortgage Technology, I was responsible for bridging the gap between legacy desktop applications and modern web experiences for a massive fintech ecosystem. My role involved technical architecture, team leadership, and a strong focus on design system engineering.

Challenges

The mortgage industry requires extremely precise and reliable user interfaces. The main challenges included:

• Legacy Migration: Transitioning complex, data-heavy desktop interfaces to a responsive and performant web environment.
• Design Fragmentation: Multiple teams building different parts of the platform without a shared UI foundation.
• Accessibility Compliance: Ensuring the platform met strict web accessibility standards (WCAG) for a diverse user base.
• Distributed Team Coordination: Aligning quality standards and implementation patterns across various locations and third-party integrators.

Solution

I spearheaded a multi-pronged approach to solve these issues:

Enterprise Design System Architecture: Developed a scalable library of React components, ranging from simple UI elements to sophisticated data-driven modules like interactive charts and complex tables.

Accessibility-First Development: Integrated accessibility as a core requirement from the start, conducting thorough reviews and implementing best practices to reduce rework and increase inclusivity.

Process Standardization: Collaborated with UX and Product stakeholders to break down large initiatives into iterative MVPs, reducing ambiguity and improving delivery predictability.

Technical Mentorship: Established code review practices and coding standards, providing the technical support needed for distributed teams to integrate the design system successfully.

Results

• Unified UI Foundation: Successfully delivered a reusable component library that served as the base for multiple flagship products.
• Predictable Delivery: Reduced rework and improved release alignment with business priorities through structured, iterative stages.
• High Quality Standards: Raised the overall code quality and significantly reduced defects in the UI layer across the organization.
• Inclusivity: Achieved higher compliance with accessibility standards, improving the user experience for all clients.