Technical Lead & Senior Software Engineer

Handson engineering leadership for complex digital transformation programmes. I help product and engineering teams turn fragile legacy web estates into robust platforms that are faster and easier to maintain, scale, govern, and improve.

I'm John, an awardwinning software engineering specialist based in sunny cloudy Brighton, UK.

I am an enthusiastic senior software engineer and technical leader with over twentythree years of handson experience.

I help teams and clients design, build and improve websites, applications and web platforms, pairing architecture, delivery judgement and handson TypeScript, React, HTML, and CSS.

My portfolio is diverse; I work with global clients, solving real-world problems, including:

  • leading the headless replatforming of a much loved chain of restaurants, modernising its UK & Ireland web estate;
  • helping develop the online identity of Volvo's emerging premium EV brand;
  • helping a major browser vendor explore AIdriven tools for clearer, more useful browsing experiences;
  • ... and creating a digital home and web shop for a fledgling Sussex vineyard.
More about me

Featured Case Studies

  1. Featured case study

    HSBC Corporate
    Banking

    Lead UI development for a set of HSBC digital transformation projects, including a React, TypeScript, Node.js, and AEM rebuild of commercial banking applications.

    Screenshot of the HSBC Corporate Banking website; part of John Kavanagh's selected project work.
  2. Featured case study

    Lotus
    Cars

    Longrunning legacy platform engineering for Lotus Cars across vehicle configurators, model pages, preowned sales, dealership tools, and launch marketing.

    Screenshot of the Lotus website; part of John Kavanagh's selected project work.
  3. Featured case study

    Virgin Atlantic
    & Holidays

    Lead engineer on Virgin Atlantic & Holidays' largescale replatforming programme, unifying twelve disparate applications within a new headless architecture built with React and Next.js.

    Screenshot of the Virgin Atlantic & Holidays website; part of John Kavanagh's selected project work.
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Previous Clients

Availability

I am currently leading a global digital transformation engagement, with limited availability until late 2026. Short diagnostics or urgent work may be possible sooner.

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Planning a platform change?

I help teams make difficult platform work clearer, from architecture decisions and migrations to launch recovery, performance, and search visibility.