Hands-on & web development
Production code, written properly. I build alongside your team in C#, .NET and Python, and craft fast, accessible websites and web apps with modern frameworks, all with the tests, docs and pipelines to match.
Hi there.
I'm a freelance software engineer and architect. For over twenty years I've helped organisations build software that's quick to change and calm to run, from global banks in London to a major record label and a national sports body. These days I work remotely with teams around the world.
If you've got a legacy system that needs untangling, an API strategy that needs shape, or a product that needs building properly, I'd love to hear about it.
- 20+years designing and building software
- 10+organisations helped, from London to Auckland
- 1senior engineer, start to finish, no hand-offs
Trusted by teams at
- Legal & General Investment Management/
- BlueBay Asset Management/
- Commerzbank/
- Credit Suisse/
- Bank of America Merrill Lynch/
- Calyon/
- ABN AMRO/
- Royal Bank of Scotland/
- Universal Music/
How I can help
Senior engineering, without the full-time hire
Bring me in for a focused piece of work or embed me in your team for the long haul. Either way, you get someone who has seen what good looks like in some of the most demanding engineering environments around.
Architecture & modernisation
Untangling legacy monoliths into clean, well-bounded services. I use Domain-Driven Design and Clean Architecture to give systems a shape the whole team can reason about.
APIs & integration
Designing APIs people actually enjoy consuming. Contract-first OpenAPI and AsyncAPI specs, event-driven messaging, and industry models like BIAN where they fit.
Cloud & platform engineering
Moving workloads to AWS or Azure without the drama. Infrastructure as code, GitOps release flows, and the observability you need to sleep through the night.
AI-assisted delivery
Putting tools like Claude Code and Copilot to work in real teams, including regulated ones. Custom skills for design, generation and review that lift quality as well as speed.
Delivery & ways of working
Sensible branching strategies, versioning, GitOps, DORA metrics and agile rituals that earn their place. Small changes that compound into a calmer, faster team.
Selected work
A few things I've built with clients
Systems where getting it wrong is expensive and downtime isn't an option. Here's a flavour of how I've helped.
Clear direction
Legal & General Investment Management · Investment management
Set the technical direction for a flagship platform
Brought in Clean Architecture and Domain-Driven Design, and shipped a cloud-based service that users genuinely loved. Then mapped out a practical path for breaking up the monolith.
Lower costs
BlueBay Asset Management · Asset management
Cut costs and gave people hours back in their day
Brought a costly third-party capability in-house, then rebuilt key workflows so they took a fraction of the time. The new tools caught on quickly because they made everyday work easier.
Faster
Credit Suisse · Investment banking
Made a struggling platform fast enough to grow
Blasted performance bottlenecks, and made the heavy calculations run in parallel. With that headroom, the platform could take on significant new business.
On time
Commerzbank · Investment banking
Modernised a dated application and hit a hard deadline
Rebuilt an ageing desktop application around a modular design. Its configurable architecture then let us deliver a whole suite of new features quickly, and on time.
Also in the back catalogue
- Bank of America Merrill LynchReal-time reporting and analytics for a fast-moving business
- CalyonResilience and reliability for a client-facing application
- ABN AMROMessaging, automation and workflow systems
- Royal Bank of ScotlandAccess control and compliance tooling
- Universal MusicPlanning and release management for new products
- New Zealand Rugby UnionA player management system used by hundreds of thousands of members
Personal projects
Things I build for fun
Away from client work I like shipping small, polished products of my own. They're a good place to try new ideas end to end.
Working together
Simple, honest, and no surprises
- 01
We have a chat
A relaxed half hour on a video call, at a time that suits your time zone, to understand where you are, what is getting in the way, and what good looks like for you.
- 02
I map the terrain
A short discovery to look at the code, the architecture and the team. You get a clear, honest write-up and a plan you can act on.
- 03
We build it together
I work alongside your people rather than around them, and leave behind the docs, standards and confidence to keep going without me.
About me
Engineer by trade, curious by nature
I wrote my first commercial code in 1997, building an intranet for a travel company while studying at the University of Auckland. A few years later I moved to London and spent the next two decades there, working with global banks, asset managers and a major record label on systems where reliability really mattered.
Along the way I've been the developer deep in the code, the lead rebuilding a front end, and the principal engineer setting direction for twenty people.
These days I'm back home in Auckland, running Tahu as my independent practice and working remotely with teams from the US to the UK. I like work with real stakes, teams that care about craft, and leaving a codebase a little kinder than I found it.
- AWS Solutions ArchitectAssociate · Amazon Web Services
- AWS DeveloperAssociate, plus Cloud Practitioner
- TOGAF Enterprise ArchitectureFoundation · The Open Group
- Certified ScrumMasterScrum Alliance
The toolkit
Languages & frameworks
- C#
- .NET
- ASP.NET Web API
- EF Core
- Python
- SQL
- PostgreSQL
- SQL Server
Cloud & ops
- AWS
- Azure
- Kubernetes
- Docker
- Terraform
- GitHub Actions
- Datadog
- Kong Konnect
Architecture
- DDD
- Clean Architecture
- CQRS
- Event-driven
- OpenAPI
- AsyncAPI
- GraphQL
- Kafka
Ways of working
- TDD
- BDD
- Trunk-based
- GitOps
- DORA metrics
- Scrum
- TOGAF
Good questions
Things people usually ask
What kinds of engagement do you take on?
Fixed-scope pieces like an architecture review or API design, and longer contracts embedded in your team. Happy to shape something that fits.
Do you work remotely?
Yes, it's how I work best. I'm based in Auckland and work with teams in the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. My mornings overlap with the US afternoon, so there's a daily window for live calls, and work keeps moving while you're offline. I hold both British and New Zealand citizenship, and I'm used to bridging time zones.
Do you only work in finance?
No. A good chunk of my career has been in banking and investment, so I'm comfortable with high stakes, tight deadlines and regulation. But I've also built systems for a record label and a national sports body, and good engineering travels well. I enjoy any problem with real complexity behind it.
What happens after I get in touch?
I'll reply to set up a short call. No pitch deck, no pressure. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so and point you to someone who is.
Let's talk
Got a project in mind? Let's build it together.
Wherever you're based, tell me a little about what you're working on and where you'd like it to be.