I’m João Forja. I build software and help shape the product behind it.

I’m a product-minded Senior Frontend Engineer based in Faro, Portugal. I combine hands-on frontend engineering with product, design, and business judgment to turn complex requirements into reliable, intuitive software. Alongside my frontend focus, I enjoy building and owning features end to end across the stack.

Most recently, I built Sherlock AI’s frontend from scratch and was responsible for all frontend implementation. I collaborated closely with a designer on UI/UX while helping shape product and interaction decisions. I also delivered end-to-end features involving backend services, model integration, prompting, and benchmarking.

My frontend work also includes design-system foundations used by more than 50 engineers at Templafy and eight merged Excalidraw contributions across canvas zoom, resizing, selection, and element binding. Earlier in my career, I built and shipped custom software from requirements gathering through production.

I do my best work with clear goals and the autonomy to question assumptions, make decisions, and maintain a high quality bar. Outside work, I train Brazilian jiu-jitsu and surf.

Open to senior frontend and product engineering roles. Available for remote opportunities.