Robel Belihu
Senior Frontend Engineer
I'm a frontend engineer based in Addis Ababa. Five years building React and Next.js apps for startups and product teams, currently at BigLittleThings. I work best on projects where the frontend genuinely matters — design-led products, complex interactions, performance-sensitive interfaces.
When I'm not coding, you'll find me learning guitar and sketching.
Currently at
BigLittleThings
Based in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Open to
Remote work worldwide
Stack
"His frontend expertise, proactive communication, and commitment to quality truly stood out. He quickly grasped our needs, proposed smart solutions, and delivered."
Doni A.
CTO · Uptrine Technology
Experience
My professional journey and key milestones.
Senior Frontend Engineer
BigLittleThings
2024 – Present
Leading frontend development and collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality web applications.
- Build and maintain responsive web applications using React and TypeScript
- Collaborate daily with backend team, designers, and CTO to implement new features
- Participate in brainstorming sessions and contribute to product decisions
- Optimise application performance and implement frontend best practices
Senior Software Engineer
Uptrine
2020 – 2024
Led development of innovative solutions and mentored team members in a fast-paced startup environment.
- Architected and implemented scalable web applications using modern technologies
- Led a team of developers in delivering critical features and improvements
- Implemented CI/CD pipelines and automated testing processes
- Reduced application load times by 40% through performance optimisation
Freelance Software Developer
Upwork
2021 – 2024
Delivered high-quality solutions for various clients across different industries.
- Developed full-stack applications for diverse client requirements
- Implemented responsive designs and optimised user experiences
- Integrated third-party APIs and payment gateways
- Maintained clear communication with clients throughout project lifecycles
Featured Projects
A selection of recent work.
Production · B2B SaaS · EU marketBigLittleThings
Sole frontend engineer on a product team — responsible for the full frontend from architecture decisions through to production. Building a React + Next.js codebase against a typed backend API in a cross-functional team, translating Figma into responsive, accessible UIs, and driving improvements to Core Web Vitals and rendering performance as the product scales.
Live · Publishing platformRipple
A Medium-style publishing platform where anyone can read, write, and engage with ideas across tech and beyond. Built with Next.js, Prisma, and Supabase, with Google auth, a rich text editor, likes, comments, and a clean dark/light UI.
Eliminated manual reportingAdmin Dashboard
Designed and built a high-density analytics dashboard for Emerald Games, giving the operations team real-time visibility into player activity, revenue trends, and system health. Replaced a manual spreadsheet workflow — the team now runs reporting in seconds instead of hours.
Live · Web3 talent platformHireVibes
Built a pixel-perfect, accessible React frontend for a Web3 talent marketplace, integrating wallet-based authentication and Ethereum-native job listings. Maintained strict TypeScript discipline across a complex async data model connecting smart contracts, IPFS, and a REST API.
Live · Ethiopian real estateTaza House
Engineered a property marketplace for the Ethiopian real estate market from scratch — advanced search and filtering, Firebase real-time sync for live listings, and an intuitive listing management flow for agents. Went from wireframes to production in under 8 weeks.
40% load time reductionTrackSym
Architected the frontend and REST API for a crowdsourced COVID-19 symptom tracker used by health researchers to monitor outbreak patterns in real time. Achieved a 40% reduction in load time through code-splitting, lazy loading, and API response caching.
Live · Personal finance appFinanceer
A personal finance dashboard built with Next.js 15, TypeScript, and Framer Motion. Features a financial health score ring, income and expense tracking, savings goal progress, and a full theming system with 4 accent palettes and dark/light mode — all persisted to localStorage.
Live · 2k+ active readersNebeb
Designed and built an online reading platform end-to-end — authentication, a custom content editor, real-time reading progress, and a social sharing layer. Scaled to thousands of active readers and established the frontend architecture that the product is still running on.