A modern, responsive personal website showcasing engineering leadership experience, platform architecture expertise, and community involvement. Built with React and hosted on AWS with infrastructure-as-code.
🌐 Live Site: www.rockygray.com
This website serves as a comprehensive professional portfolio, highlighting my career as an Engineering Manager at Reddit, where I lead platform teams for the Ads API ecosystem. The site emphasizes system design, reliability engineering, and cross-functional leadership in high-scale environments.
- Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
- Animations: Motion/React for smooth interactions
- Icons: Lucide React
- Build: Create React App with custom build optimizations
- Infrastructure: AWS (S3, CloudFront, Route 53) managed with Terraform
- CI/CD: CircleCI with multi-stage pipeline
- Deployment: Automated S3 sync with intelligent caching
The application follows a clean component-based architecture:
- Modular section components (Header, Hero, About, Highlights, etc.)
- TypeScript interfaces for type safety
- Reusable UI patterns with consistent styling
Modern cloud-native setup with infrastructure-as-code:
├── S3 Static Website Hosting
├── CloudFront CDN Distribution
├── Route 53 DNS Management
└── Terraform State Management
Efficient CircleCI workflow with optimized caching:
- Checkout: Source code retrieval with SHA-based caching
- Dependencies: npm install with package-lock caching
- Build: Production build with git SHA injection
- Deploy: Automated S3 sync with cache headers (main branch only)
- Professional Focus: Engineering leadership, platform design, API governance
- Community Involvement: Youth basketball commissioner, poker organizer
- Project Showcase: Full-stack applications with modern architecture patterns
- Technical Writing: Links to blog posts on system design and engineering practices
- Responsive Design: Mobile-first approach with Tailwind CSS
- Performance Optimized: Strategic caching, optimized assets, smooth animations
- Node.js (current LTS)
- npm
- AWS CLI (for deployment)
- Terraform (for infrastructure)
# Install dependencies
make node_modules
# or
npm install
# Start development server
make start
# or
npm run start
# Build for production
make build
# Deploy to AWS (requires AWS credentials)
make publish# Initialize Terraform
make infra-init
# Plan infrastructure changes
make infra-plan
# Apply infrastructure
make infra-applyThe site automatically deploys via CircleCI when changes are pushed to the main branch. The deployment process:
- Builds the React application with production optimizations
- Syncs static assets to S3 with long-term caching (
max-age=604800) - Syncs HTML files with no-cache headers for immediate updates
- CloudFront invalidation handled automatically
- Domain: www.rockygray.com (managed via Route 53)
- SSL: Automatic HTTPS via CloudFront and AWS Certificate Manager
- CDN: Global content distribution for optimal performance
This website demonstrates:
- Leadership Experience: Engineering management at scale (Reddit Ads API Platform)
- System Design: Platform architecture, reliability patterns, API governance
- Technical Expertise: Modern development practices, cloud infrastructure, CI/CD
- Community Impact: Youth sports leadership, technical community building
- Communication: Technical writing and speaking on platform engineering topics
├── src/
│ ├── components/ # Modular React components
│ ├── App.tsx # Main application component
│ └── Logo.tsx # Custom logo component
├── public/ # Static assets
├── infrastructure/ # Terraform AWS infrastructure
├── .circleci/ # CI/CD configuration
├── Makefile # Build and deployment automation
└── package.json # Dependencies and scripts
The site embraces a clean, professional aesthetic with:
- Typography-focused design highlighting content hierarchy
- Subtle animations enhancing user experience without distraction
- Consistent color palette reflecting personal branding
- Experimental design elements showcasing creative technical approaches
For speaking opportunities, technical consulting, or platform engineering discussions:
- Email: rocky.grayjr@gmail.com
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grocky
- GitHub: github.com/grocky
This repository serves as both a professional showcase and a demonstration of modern full-stack development practices, infrastructure automation, and engineering leadership principles.