Senior Software Engineer & Technical Lead

Hands‑on technical leadership for digital transformation programmes, specialising in complex Next.js and React replatforming, migrations, platform architecture, performance and technical SEO.

  1. BBC Future Media
    BBC Future Media

I'm John, an award‑winning software engineering specialist based in sunny Brighton, UK.

I am a friendly and enthusiastic senior engineer and technical leader backed by 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:

  • helping a major browser vendor explore AI‑driven tools for clearer, more useful browsing experiences;
  • leading a team of developers for the world's local bank, rebuilding their commercial banking platform;
  • leading the headless replatforming of a much loved chain of restaurants, modernising its UK & Ireland web estate;
  • ... and bringing a local rock band closer to their fans online during lockdown.
More about me

Featured Case Studies

  1. Featured case study

    Virgin Atlantic
    & Holidays

    Lead engineer on this massive replatforming project, unifying twelve disparate applications under a new headless architecture with React and Next.js.

    Screenshot of the Virgin Atlantic & Holidays website; part of John Kavanagh's selected project work.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

How I Usually Help

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Previous Clients

Availability

I am currently leading a new digital transformation engagement, with availability for selected consulting and engineering delivery from September 2026. Short diagnostics or urgent work may be possible sooner.

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Untangling a delivery problem?

Send the symptoms, constraints, and affected routes. I'll help identify whether the issue sits in the application, platform, content model, deployment path, or search surface.

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