Based in Amsterdam · Open to Global Opportunities
Kiran
KalyanKumar
>
Software Engineering Lead/Manager at Elsevier with 12+ years across frontend engineering, architecture, and people leadership. The manager who still codes, now leading how an entire engineering org adopts AI safely.
📍 Hoofddorp, Netherlands · Currently at Elsevier
0
Years of Engineering Experience
// frontend → architecture → leadership
0
Repos on AI Governance Platform
// 3–4 squads · de-facto org standard
0
CI Build Time Reduction
// 50 min → <3 min · micro-frontend + Vite
0
Open Source GitHub Stars
// react-native-segmented-control-tab
// about
The Manager Who Still Codes
I bridge the gap between technical depth and engineering leadership, a combination that's genuinely rare. I can architect a micro-frontend platform in the morning and run a performance review in the afternoon.
At Elsevier, I lead multi-squad teams across Frontend, Backend, and QA, managing 8 engineers directly and 12 indirectly. Over the past year, I've moved into AI-augmented engineering leadership, building and owning the UI Centre of Excellence's centralised AI governance platform, now consumed by 15+ repos across 3 to 4 squads.
My leadership philosophy: psychological safety, genuine 1:1s, and measurable outcomes. My Officevibe engagement scores stay consistently above 8.5, with relationship-with-manager scores above 9.0.
"A technically strong manager who can go deep into code and lead people and delivery. Now the leader defining how an entire engineering org adopts AI safely."
Architecture Authority
Micro-frontends, BFF, Module Federation and Turborepo in production at scale with millions of users
AI Governance Pioneer
Built org-wide AI platform: ~30 skills, OWASP + WCAG guardrails, tool-agnostic across Claude / Copilot / Codex
People-First Leader
4–5 engineers promoted post-mentoring · 2 direct reports promoted · 9.0+ manager relationship score
Delivery at Scale
1,500+ downstream app integrations · datasets up to hundreds of millions of records · 97% CI improvement
Open Source Author
617 stars · 116 forks · react-native-segmented-control-tab, widely adopted in RN community
// skills
Technical Expertise
12+ years of hands-on production experience across the full stack, from pixel-perfect UIs to cloud infrastructure.
★ Expert: Frontend Engineering
★ Expert: Engineering Leadership
★ Expert: AI & Platform Engineering
◆ Proficient: Infrastructure & Cloud
◆ Proficient: Testing & Quality
◆ Proficient: Mobile & Tools
// experience
Work History
12+ years from individual contributor to multi-squad engineering lead, at companies that ship to millions.
Software Engineering Lead / Manager
● Current
Elsevier · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Manage 8 engineers directly, 12 indirectly across 2 squads (Frontend, Backend, QA, UX) as squad lead and people manager for Squad 1, and matrix people manager for Squad 2
- Architected and delivered DP-Nexus, a module-federated micro-frontend platform (host shell and 5 remotes) for Elsevier's research data pipeline, handling datasets up to hundreds of millions of records
- Built and own dp-ui-coe-ai-governance, a centralised AI governance platform consumed by 15+ repos across 3 to 4 squads, with a three-layer override model, around 30 reusable AI skills, covering multiple stacks (React, Java, Scala, Python, Terraform) and working across Claude Code, GitHub Copilot and OpenAI Codex
- Reduced CI build time from 50 minutes → under 3 minutes (97% improvement) via micro-frontend + Vite migration
- Migrated legacy UI app integrated by 1,500+ downstream applications to modern stack with zero disruption
- Hired 3–4 engineers across disciplines; co-built structured interview rubric with TA team
- Promoted 2 direct reports; mentored 4–5 engineers who subsequently received promotions
- Consistent Officevibe scores: 8.5+ overall · 9.0+ relationship-with-manager
React 18TypeScriptModule Federation
TurborepoGraphQL/ApolloVitest/RTL
MSWAWSKubernetes
Claude CodeGitHub Copilot
Principal Software Engineer
Elsevier · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Led migration of a large monolithic frontend into 5 domain-split micro-frontend applications, improving deployment independence and team autonomy
- Architected and built a config-driven micro-frontend widget library adopted by 3 major Elsevier products serving millions of users, still in active production today
- Ran POCs introducing new tech stacks; mentored frontend engineers via pair programming
- Engaged in architectural discussions with tech principals across Data, Backend, and Quality
ReactTypeScriptGraphQL
ViteWebpackAWSKubernetes
Senior Software Engineer
Elsevier · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Built front-end infrastructure from scratch for a greenfield project (internal tooling + customer-facing product)
- Created micro-frontend library and reusable packages later adopted by 3 major products (millions of users)
- Designed reusable component patterns; ran POCs, workshops, and brown bags; led PR reviews and Scrum ceremonies
ReactTypeScriptRedux
GraphQLWebpackAWS
Lead Consultant / Senior Dev Engineer
HCL Technologies BV · for ING Bank · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Built and shipped the ING Beleggen investment app for iOS and Android using React Native, reaching 100,000+ users
- Maintained code quality through unit, integration, and snapshot testing
- Collaborated with UX and Product Owners on user-centric investment features
React NativeReact JSMobX
JestREST APIs
Senior UI Consultant
ThoughtWorks · Bangalore, India
- UK's largest travel retailer: Built a single-codebase web and mobile app skinned into 9 different themes for 9 UK train operating companies. This is my proudest technical achievement, a perfect example of config-driven architecture done right
- European investment bank: Built responsive frontend application for a leading European investment bank
- Led project architecture, guest checkout functionality, and reusable UI component library (used in responsive HTML emails)
React JSReact NativeRedux
AngularJSCSS ModulesAppium
Front-end Consultant
Deloitte Digital · Bangalore, India
- Developed mobile app for a major US insurance retailer (iOS + Android via Titanium Appcelerator)
- Built frontends for a multinational technology corporation and one of the largest US food & beverage chains
JavaScriptAngularJSjQuery
Titanium AppceleratorSASSBootstrap
// projects
Notable Work
Architecture decisions, open source, and platform-level work that had real impact at scale.
Internal @ Elsevier
AI Governance Platform, UI Centre of Excellence
A centralised, versioned AI governance platform and the single source of truth for AI-assisted development across the UI CoE. Built on a three-layer override architecture (Base, Stack, Repo) so universal rules, tech-specific conventions, and per-repo overrides all compose cleanly. Covers multiple stacks (React/TS, Java/Spring, Scala, Python, Terraform, Node) and works across Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and OpenAI Codex. Ships around 30 reusable AI skills as slash commands, with OWASP, WCAG 2.2, and testing guardrails built in. One-command bootstrap with symlink distribution so updates propagate via a simple git pull.
15+
Repos Consuming
3–4
Squads Adopted
~30
AI Skills Shipped
6+
Tech Stacks Covered
Internal @ Elsevier
DP-Nexus: Research Data Pipeline Platform
Operational frontend for Elsevier's research data pipeline. Module-federated micro-frontend (host shell + 5 remotes) where operations teams monitor data flow, trace lineage, triage quality with Red/Amber/Green status, and promote datasets. Config-driven low-code content explorer backed by Elasticsearch. Architected from the ground up.
100M+
Records Scale
5
MFE Remotes
80%
Test Coverage Gate
react-native-segmented-control-tab
Customisable segmented control tab component for React Native, supporting both iOS and Android. Widely adopted in the React Native open source community and one of the most popular components of its kind.
617★
GitHub Stars
116
Forks
ThoughtWorks Client
Themeable Travel App: 9 Brands, 1 Codebase
Built a highly themeable web and mobile application for the UK's largest travel retailer. A single codebase skinned into 9 different themes for 9 UK train operating companies. A showcase of config-driven architecture and component abstraction at scale, and my personal proudest technical achievement.
9
Train Operating Cos
1
Codebase
Internal @ Elsevier
Micro-Frontend Widget Library
Config-driven micro-frontend widget library architected at Elsevier, adopted by 3 major products serving millions of users. Embeddable across host applications without coupling, and still in active production use today.
3
Major Products
M+
End Users
HCL × ING Bank
ING Beleggen: Investment App
Consumer-facing investment app for ING Bank, built with React Native and shipped to the App Store and Google Play. Over 100,000 users trust it for their investment portfolio management.
100K+
Users
iOS+Android
Platforms
// metrics
Impact at a Glance
| Achievement | Metric | Context |
|---|---|---|
| AI governance platform adoption | 15+ repos · 3–4 squads | De-facto AI engineering standard for UI CoE · still growing |
| CI build time reduction | 50 min → <3 min (97%) | Micro-frontend architecture + Vite migration @ Elsevier |
| Legacy app migration | 1,500+ downstream integrations | End-of-life app modernised with zero customer disruption |
| Micro-frontend widget library | Millions of end users | Used by 3 major Elsevier products · active production |
| AWS cost optimisation | Significant operational savings | Elastic index optimisation + serverless FE migration |
| Data pipeline scale | 100M+ records | DP-Nexus platform handles subscriptions at this scale |
| ING Beleggen mobile app | 100,000+ users | React Native · iOS + Android |
| Themeable travel app | 9 train operating companies | Single codebase · 9 themes · UK's largest travel retailer |
| Open source library | 617 stars · 116 forks | react-native-segmented-control-tab |
| Team engagement | 8.5+ Officevibe score | Consistent across tenure as Engineering Manager |
| Manager relationship score | 9.0+ Officevibe score | Team-reported · bi-weekly 1:1s · psychological safety culture |
| Engineers mentored → promoted | 4–5 promotions | Engineers promoted after direct mentorship |
| Direct reports promoted | 2 promotions given | Under direct management |
// contact
Let's Connect
kiransinbox1@gmail.com
Best way to reach me
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/kiran-kalyankumar
GitHub
github.com/kirankalyan5
Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Open to remote & Amsterdam-area roles
Open to the Right Opportunity
I'm selectively open to conversations about senior engineering leadership, staff/principal IC roles, and freelance engagements. If you're building something ambitious and need someone who can lead, architect, and ship, I'd love to hear from you.
Engineering Manager / Software Engineering Manager
Staff Engineer / Principal Frontend Engineer
Senior Frontend Contractor (Freelance)