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 Kavanagh, an awardwinning software engineering specialist based in sunny rainy 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 a team of developers for the world's local bank, rebuilding their commercial banking platform;
  • engaging businesses, politicians, academics, and world leaders to shape global agendas;
  • helping prospective car buyers find just the right configuration for their next sports car;
  • ... and revamping the online presence of a local food truck so that their customers knew where to find them.
More about me

Featured Case Studies

  1. 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.
  2. Featured case study

    Lotus
    Cars

    Longrunning platform engineering for Lotus Cars across vehicle configurators, model pages, preowned sales, dealership tools, and major vehicle launches.

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

    Polestar

    Senior developer on Polestar's highly animated, interactive website and automotive configurators, built with Gatsby, React, and TypeScript as Volvo's former gofaster brand evolved into an EV company.

    Screenshot of the Polestar website; part of John Kavanagh's selected project work.
Skip past clients

Previous Clients

Availability

I am currently leading a global digital transformation engagement, with limited availability until early 2027. Short diagnostics or urgent work may be possible sooner.

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Want to find out more?

If you need senior handson support with a complex React or Next.js platform, migration, performance issue, or technical SEO problem, send me the context and I'll tell you where I can help.