~/jcheetos

Johan Sneider Méndez Vega

Full-Stack Developer

Bogotá, Colombia

jcheetos.com Get in touch

/* PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY */

Photograph of Johan Sneider Méndez Vega on vacation with his partner

Systems Engineer with 3+ years at El Espectador, one of Colombia's leading news organizations, having contributed 980+ commits and 380+ authored pull requests across 33 corporate repositories. Builds frontend and backend features with React, Next.js, Node.js and FastAPI on Arc XP and WordPress CMS; containerizes services with Docker and deploys to AWS EC2. Focused on shipping scalable digital products through clean code, agile collaboration and measurable outcomes.

/* TECHNICAL SKILLS */

  • Languages [5]

    • JavaScript
    • PHP
    • Java
    • Python
    • C#

  • Frontend [4]

    • React
    • Next.js
    • HTML5
    • CSS3

  • Backend [3]

    • Node.js
    • FastAPI
    • APIs REST

  • Databases [4]

    • MongoDB
    • MariaDB / MySQL
    • SQL Server
    • OracleDB

  • CMS [2]

    • Arc XP PageBuilder/Fusion
    • WordPress

  • DevOps & Cloud [3]

    • Docker
    • AWS (EC2)
    • Git

  • Web security [2]

    • Google reCAPTCHA
    • Cloudflare Turnstile

  • Test automation [2]

    • Playwright
    • Vitest

  • Methods & other [2]

    • Scrum
    • Microsoft Power Apps

/* WORK EXPERIENCE */

  1. Jun 2023 – Present

    Development Analyst

    El Espectador

    Bogotá, Colombia

    • Shipped 130+ authored pull requests on Arc XP PageBuilder/Fusion for blocks, templates and features across the newspaper's high-traffic properties.
    • Evolved the newspaper's shared React component library, with 70+ authored pull requests of reusable components.
    • Built features in PHP and WordPress (blogs, games, subscriptions) and migrated the Arc XP CMS to WordPress VIP: native content sources, authors via REST and self-hosted images.
    • Built interactive election coverage systems (2023 regional and 2026 congressional races), including an AI lookup chatbot searching native WordPress content.
    • Implemented anti-bot controls with Cloudflare Turnstile, hardened authentication and ran major React/Next.js dependency upgrades.
    • Automated static special-content sections and editorial workflows (photo news, historical archive, syndication feeds).
    • Automated the print production pipeline through InDesign scripting and image processing.
    • Containerized services with Docker and deployed them to AWS EC2 instances.
    • Developed internal applications with Microsoft Power Apps connected to SQL Server and MongoDB.
    • Implemented security policies across internal applications: strengthened authentication, access control and input sanitization.
    • Improved the article AI service in Python and FastAPI (speech via Google Cloud TTS, summaries via OpenAI) with text sanitization and hash-validated audio regeneration.
    • Built automated tests for feature validation and regression, supporting the newsroom's QA team.
    • Documented the organization's AI governance and implemented AI across newsroom drafting and IT workflows, and supported AI security initiatives alongside the CrowdStrike team.
  2. May – Aug 2022

    Research Unit Monitor

    Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

    Bogotá, Colombia

    • Managed the research unit's database and kept its website up to date.
    • Coordinated research-group monitors and produced institutional newsletters.

/* SELECTED PROJECTS */

  • El Espectador Blogs

    Led the development of El Espectador's Blogs page, personally implementing nearly all of it.

    View

  • El Espectador homepage

    Part of the team that implemented the newsroom's defined design system on El Espectador's homepage.

    View

  • Online certificate web module (external client)

    Designed and built a web module with API integration to generate PDF certificates, deliver them by email and track theater groups' attendance; persistence on OracleDB.

    private

  • Nextendo Network – Front-end

    Nextendo Network front-end in Next.js 16 (App Router, React 19) with a test suite: 124 Vitest unit tests and Playwright E2E flows; authentication, active sessions and cloud saves with i18n across 10 locales.

    View

  • jcheetos.com portfolio

    Personal site built with Astro 5 (ES/EN i18n, technical SEO, JSON-LD, security headers), deployed on Vercel.

    View

  • JAMYT – Android app

    Kotlin application to manage a shared YouTube TV playback queue from multiple users' phones.

    View

  • Online chess (Node.js + Java)

    Node.js web client communicating with a Java server that handles game management and internal logic.

    private

  • Discord bot

    Bot built with JavaScript and Node.js integrating the Google Translate API over HTTP requests.

    private

/* EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS */

EDUCATION

  • B.Sc. in Systems Engineering

    Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas

    Bogotá, Colombia 2017 – 2023

CERTIFICATIONS

  • Trellix ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) – Certified Architect, Sales & Service Provider

    2022

  • Trellix Endpoint Security (ENS) – Certified Architect, Sales & Service Provider

    2023

/* LANGUAGES */

  • Spanish (native)
  • English (advanced, B2)
  • French (basic, A2)

/* CONTACT */