My Background
At HEMA (Dutch retail, 700+ stores, 6 countries), I’ve been Principal Engineer and Solution Architect since 2021. I architected their new order management platform and its incremental migration. The migration started with small order samples in low-risk markets and expanded from there. I also built their UI Design System. Teams build custom product features on it, and HEMA is now rolling it out across their ecommerce platform.
HEMA needed automated RFID inventory management running within 10 weeks, in time for their autumn collection. I designed the integration architecture and the data exchange specifications with external suppliers, then guided the development team through implementation.
For seven months I was also interim Backend Chapter Lead. I handled hiring and developer 1-on-1s while HEMA was still setting up the chapter.
At NATO, I spent seven years as a software developer across two stints (2008-2012, 2018-2021), working on large, long-lived systems where reliability matters and every change needs care.
At KPMG, I spent six years building applications for finance, education, and government clients: educational content platforms, financial compliance applications, and government portals. I designed and developed them full-stack. I also introduced CI/CD, Git workflows, and automated deployments at organizations that were still building on developer machines, and coached their teams to maintain these themselves.
How I Work
Understand first, then build. Before designing anything, I make sure I understand the business problem, the constraints, and the goals. A solution that fits those is one the organization can keep running.
Build capability, not dependency. I build development libraries, design systems, CLI tools, and CI/CD pipelines that teams adopt as their own. The tools I built at HEMA are now organizational standards, maintained by teams across the company.
Simple over clever. Complexity should be a conscious choice, not an accident. I aim for fewer technologies that fit together over many that each solve one problem.
Direct and honest. I’d rather have a difficult conversation early than let problems compound. That means challenging assumptions, pointing out blind spots, and explaining technical problems in business terms.
Identity
My visual identity comes from my Indonesian heritage. My great-grandmother ran a batik factory in Indonesia. Batik makers work in layers: they apply wax, dye the cloth, and repeat, with each layer depending on the one before.
I work the same way. I prefer deliberate solutions over quick fixes, and I build systems in layers, making sure each one is solid before adding the next.
Interested in working together? Contact me to discuss your situation.