Blake Cerecero

When I started University, the plan was to major in astronomy. Then the 2008 financial crisis hit, and I decided I was done taking out student loans, so I went back to Northwest Vista College, and focused on digital media. The digital media program is what eventually led me into web development. While I was there, I worked as a lab tech in the Digital Media department, where students came to me when they were stuck and it was my job to know the answer or find who did. Being the person who figures it out has followed me through every job since.

Career

Northwest Vista College — 1.5 years

Lab Tech, Digital Media & Cinematography

Assisted students with software and equipment questions, managed lab operations, installed and maintained workstations, and organized the equipment library. First exposure to what it means to be the person who figures things out. My manager Alan Garner told me I was never allowed to say no. I was supposed to always find the solution, even if it meant finding someone else who knew the answer to them.

PPDG — Professional Performance Development Group — 1 year

Web Developer (Webmaster)

Built and maintained the company's public-facing site in Joomla, which accepted resumes from medical personnel seeking placement at military facilities. Designed and developed an employee portal that let medical staff log in, view required documents, and submit completed forms directly into the HR system. Rebuilt the Plaza Lecea event center website for easy content management. Trained approximately 30 HR professionals on the portal after launch, running multiple sessions until the team was fully self-sufficient.

Gray Digital Group — 8 years

Web Developer

Worked across 30+ client sites spanning WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Sitefinity, and dotCMS. Led the full project lifecycle on many engagements, from initial client meetings through wireframes, design iterations, development, and post-launch training. Clients ranged from small businesses to hospitals, law firms, podcast networks, medical research centers, and land companies. Regularly consulted with account executives, senior developers, and partners to solve problems no one else wanted to touch. Trained clients on their CMS after every launch.

Seismic — 3.5 years

Senior Web Developer

Joined during a high-stakes rebrand: a six-month project compressed into three, with a cross-functional team of 20+ across development, design, content, SEO, and brand. Built custom Gutenberg blocks, led the migration from TranslatePress to WPML, and trained a team of three content producers and the EMEA regional teams on the new localization workflow. That 2022 launch drove a 50% increase in site visitors. Followed by a second 1,000-page migration in 2025, this time from WordPress to Sitecore, requiring a reverse proxy to keep the site live through cutover and QA triage lead duties across hundreds of pages. When Seismic transitioned to a new agency, I documented every development standard, analytics configuration, and production workflow we had, then trained the incoming team of six on all of it.

How can I assist your organization?

Senior Web Developer

Currently available for full-time or contract roles. Remote-first, flexible schedule.

Skills & Technologies

CMS

WordPress, Drupal, Sitecore, Joomla, Sanity

Languages

PHP, JavaScript (ES6+)

Frontend

HTML, CSS/SCSS

Static sites

Jekyll, Liquid, GitHub Pages, static site generators

Accessibility

WCAG 2.1 AA, axe, Lighthouse, HTML validation

Tools

Git, Gutenberg blocks, Docker, Webpack, esbuild, pnpm

Build and CI

GitHub Actions, HTMLProofer, Snyk, gitleaks, Dependabot

Integrations

Google Maps API, GA4, REST APIs, WPML

AI-assisted development

Claude Code, AI-assisted build and review workflows

Currently building with

React, Next.js, TypeScript, Sanity

What I do best

Architect CMS projects that allowed non-technical users to work independently. Custom Gutenberg blocks, complex migrations that don't drop search rankings, API integrations eliminating double data entry tasks, and front-ends built to allow the next developer to move the work forward. Having conducted interviews, trainings and team meetings I've become comfortable speaking truthfully in front of my teams in order to get the best results for our stakeholders.

Even before my time at Northwest Vista College as a lab tech, "No" was never the answer I could give to a question or request being made of me. It has always my job to find the answer or the person who did.

How I work

Every project I've run started with client or stakeholder meetings to work out what the site has to do, followed by wireframes and design iterations before any code got written. On the build I read the design spec first and flag anything that will cause a development problem, then implement the component, build a full page with it, and send it back for stakeholder review before it ships. QA is its own step covering browser support, HTML validation, script errors, and usability.

After launch I document the development standards, the analytics configuration, and the production workflows, then train the people who will be running the site. That has meant about 30 HR professionals at PPDG, client groups of 1 to 6 at Gray Digital Group, three content producers and the EMEA regional teams at Seismic, and the six-person agency team that took over seismic.com.

What I’m looking for

Remote-first work with a flexible schedule. In-house, agency, or contract. Open to the right problem.

Outside of work: I spend a lot of time on YouTube and experimenting with AI tools, plus whatever apartment project I've decided I should probably finally finish.

View my resume

Want to get in touch? Connect on LinkedIn or send an email .

What colleagues say

“Blake is the kind of developer every team hopes to have. He’s fast to learn, deeply responsible for outcomes, committed to high standards, and consistently focused on delivering business impact.”

“Blake is, without exaggeration, the most capable web developer I’ve worked with. He combines deep technical expertise with calm, focused execution, even under the most intense deadlines.”

Josh Patrice Senior Director, Digital Marketing & Web Strategy · Seismic

“Blake is one of the nicest, most patient, and dependable developers I’ve ever worked with. … You will very rarely hear a simple “no” from him. He’s the kind of guy that looks for solutions and ways to get to yes.”

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