Technical Lead & Senior Software Engineer

Hands‑on 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 award‑winning software engineering specialist based in sunny overcast Brighton, UK.

I am an enthusiastic senior software engineer and technical leader with over twenty‑three years of hands‑on experience.

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

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

  • leading the modernisation of the online portfolio of one of Britain's largest airlines;
  • helping prospective car buyers find just the right configuration for their next sports car;
  • engaging businesses, politicians, academics, and world leaders to shape global agendas;
  • ... and enhancing the website of a local toyshop so that they could continue trading during lockdown.
More about me

Featured Case Studies

  1. Featured case study

    HSBC Corporate
    Banking

    Lead UI development across several HSBC digital transformation projects, spanning commercial banking, React platform development, legacy integration, and complex global banking workflows.

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

    Microsoft Edge
    DevTools

    Principal engineer leading AI‑driven browser tooling within Microsoft Edge DevTools, including real‑time content simplification, integrated issue reporting, and developer feedback pipelines.

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

    Nando’s

    Senior software engineer on the UK and Ireland replatform, migrating Nando’s customer‑facing websites from legacy Drupal to a unified headless platform built with Next.js and Storyblok, with a focus on performance, accessibility, and SEO.

    Screenshot of the Nando’s 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 early 2027. Short diagnostics or urgent work may be possible sooner.

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Have a complex web platform issue?

Tell me what is blocked, what has changed, and what needs to be true after the fix. I'll come back with a practical next step.