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Ed Henderson

  • Senior web / front end developer open to permanent, contract, consulting and fractional leadership opportunities
  • Fast ramp-up in existing codebases, with a focus on maintainable, accessible, performance-minded UI
  • Lead Front End Engineer specialising in React, TypeScript, accessibility and modern design systems, with recent UK Government (MHCLG) delivery experience
  • Best suited to existing products that need features finished, bugs untangled, UI stabilised and releases pushed over the line
  • Strong recent delivery across SaaS, public sector, data-heavy applications and global non-profit platforms
  • Comfortable dropping into unfamiliar codebases, following existing patterns and shipping without drama
  • BSc (Hons) Computer Science, Heriot–Watt University
  • Hands-on engineering leader open to permanent, contract and fractional leadership roles, with deep Front End roots and experience leading teams, mentoring engineers and shipping product in fast-moving environments
  • Strong fit for player-coach roles that combine technical credibility, high standards and people development
  • Experience spanning team leadership, hiring, mentoring, architecture and delivery across startups, SaaS and global organisations

Experienced Web Developer & Front End Specialist

Summary

Summary

  • Contract focus: Lead Front End delivery with React, TypeScript, JavaScript, Next.js, accessibility, design systems and complex UI delivery
  • Best fit: Finishing half-built features, stabilising existing apps, untangling UI bugs and shipping under time pressure
  • Low drama: Drop into an existing codebase, follow the patterns, improve what’s necessary and ship cleanly
  • AI-assisted: Uses AI coding tools day-to-day to move faster, not to skip understanding the code
  • Seasoned Front End Developer: Over two decades of hands-on experience delivering high-performance web applications
  • Modern Stack: React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS; strong experience with Headless CMS integrations
  • Global Experience: Played key roles in Agile teams across the UK, Europe, North America and Asia
  • Proven Success: Track record of delivering results for startups and Fortune 500 clients
  • Technical Leadership: Led the architecture and launch of award-winning applications
  • Standards & Performance: Championed web standards, optimised performance metrics and enhanced user experiences
  • Mentorship: Guided teams and individuals, successfully transitioning interns into full-time roles
  • Academic Mentoring: Industry mentor for an MSc dissertation at Queen Margaret University and career mentor for three mentees at Heriot–Watt University
  • Industry Contributions: Authored and technically reviewed multiple industry publications
  • AI-Augmented Workflow: Proficient with AI coding assistants and generative tools across the full development lifecycle
  • Hands-on Leadership: Player-coach experience spanning engineering management, technical leadership and delivery
  • People Development: Mentored engineers, supported career growth and helped interns transition into full-time roles
  • High-autonomy Environments: Comfortable operating with ownership, trust and minimal process while maintaining standards
  • Cross-functional Thinking: Strong collaboration with Product, Design and stakeholders to shape practical, user-centred solutions

Skills

  • React
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • Next.js
  • Tailwind CSS
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • REST APIs
  • GraphQL
  • Storybook
  • Playwright
  • Jest
  • Vitest
  • React Testing Library
  • Vite
  • Accessibility
  • WCAG
  • Performance
  • Core Web Vitals
  • Design Systems
  • SaaS
  • GOV.UK design system
  • Headless CMS
  • Contentful
  • Optimizely
  • Mapbox

Experience

Senior Front End Engineer

Saber AI

Manchester, UK

– Remote • Freelance
  • Delivered React and TypeScript features, production fixes and shared component improvements within a large-scale SaaS application
  • Improved accessibility, semantic HTML, testing stability and complex UI behaviour across forms and modal flows
  • Delivered front end features and production fixes in a large-scale SaaS application using React and TypeScript, working within an established design system
  • Improved accessibility, semantic HTML and component behaviour across complex UI flows, including modals and forms
  • Refactored shared UI components and stabilised unit and integration tests, reducing technical debt and improving delivery confidence

Senior Front End Developer

Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

UK

– Remote • Contract
  • Provided frontend technical leadership for a UK Government AI housing initiative, advising on architecture, prototyping strategy and GOV.UK Design System adoption
  • Built accessible proof-of-concepts using Nunjucks, aligning with GOV.UK Service Standard, WCAG and public sector delivery constraints
  • Provided frontend technical leadership for a UK Government AI housing initiative, advising on architecture, prototyping strategy and GOV.UK Design System adoption
  • Built accessible proof-of-concepts using Nunjucks, aligning with GOV.UK Service Standard, WCAG and public sector delivery constraints

Development Lead / Technical Lead

Senior Front End Developer

Mastercard Foundation

Toronto, Canada

– Remote • Freelance
  • Delivered a large-scale multilingual platform for a global non-profit organisation using modern Front End tooling and Headless CMS architecture
  • Built performant, accessible UI using Eleventy, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js, Mapbox and ButterCMS
  • Orchestrated the planning and development of a complex multi-language, digital platform, part of a multi-agency team including UX designers and content strategists, focused on global non-profit audiences
  • Strategised and led the development of a user-friendly CMS, mentoring collaborators and increasing editor productivity while reducing content publishing time
  • Built on a modern JAMstack architecture with a Headless CMS (ButterCMS), Tailwind CSS, Eleventy, Mapbox, Alpine.js and Netlify for performant, scalable delivery

Senior Front End Developer

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

Copenhagen, Denmark

Hybrid • FTC

Technical Architect

CulturaGo

Johannesburg, South Africa

– , Remote • Freelance
  • Built and automated a scalable multilingual travel platform generating 120+ dynamic guides across multiple destinations and languages
  • Delivered performant Front End architecture supporting large-scale white-label deployment
  • Architected and developed My Trip Companion / Country Guides, automating the generation of 120 travel guides (each ~20 pages) in under 2 minutes, supporting 3 languages across 40 destinations
  • Scalable system architecture designed to support the addition of many more destinations and languages without compromising performance
  • White-label solution used by major players such as AXA, Visa, Mastercard, MetLife and Chubb for their customers

Senior Web Developer

Zello

Austin, TX, USA

– Remote • Freelance
  • Delivered JavaScript-heavy Front End builds with 100+ pages and 50+ reusable UI components using Eleventy and Tailwind CSS
  • Improved PageSpeed scores from below 50 to 95+ while leading localisation and Headless CMS improvements with Contentful
  • Led and executed three major JavaScript-heavy website builds using Eleventy, Sass and Tailwind CSS, expanding the site with over 100 new pages and developing 50+ reusable UI components, contributing to a 25% reduction in development time for new features
  • Elevated Zello’s PageSpeed Insights scores from below 50 to 95+, enhancing load times by 40% and user retention by 20%
  • Earned Contentful certification and led the migration to a fully localised Headless CMS, improving content manageability and localisation capabilities

Web Development Lead / Engineering Manager

Trickle

Edinburgh, Scotland

– Hybrid • Full-time
  • Recruited, line-managed and mentored a high-performing Front End team, lifting team productivity by 30% through coaching, feedback and clearer engineering direction
  • Operated as player-coach: owned Front End architecture for an award-winning SaaS application while supporting engineers to own delivery and technical decisions
  • Partnered with Product and Design leadership to align team priorities with company strategy
  • Shipped business-critical features (Anonymous Flares, threaded Comments, Analytics) with the team I built, increasing user engagement by 25%
  • Led the Front End architecture of an award-winning SaaS application, balancing hands-on delivery with team leadership
  • Recruited, managed and mentored a high-performing web development team, improving team productivity by 30% through coaching, feedback and clearer engineering direction
  • Worked closely with Product and Design while creating space for engineers to take ownership of delivery and technical decisions
  • Delivered key features such as Anonymous Flares, threaded Comments and Analytics, increasing user engagement by 25%

Senior Web Developer

Trickle

Edinburgh, Scotland

– Hybrid • Full-time
  • Developed a responsive React web application aimed at enhancing employee engagement and wellbeing through real-time conversations and individual support
  • Led the full lifecycle of feature development, from initial concept to design, UX, UI, prototyping, testing and final implementation

Senior Front End Engineer

Sherpa

  • Malta
  • London, England
– Hybrid • Full-time
  • Provided Front End consultancy for an InsurTech startup’s first release and collaborated with an international team on major launches
  • Implemented key production features and optimised data flow between Front End and Back End systems
  • Oversaw UX and UI design enhancements, including a new subscription feature, and collaborated with Product and Design teams to refine the user experience

Senior Software Engineer

Neon Labs

San Francisco, CA, USA

– On-site • Full-time
  • Mentored and transitioned two interns into full-time engineers, supporting their ramp into production work
  • Owned the Front End development and release process end-to-end, including coding standards, style guides and the Component Library
  • Architected and launched Neon Pro (JAMstack) in 3 months, generating $200k+ in revenue within the first year
  • Partnered with Product, Marketing and Design teams on customer-facing demos of Neon’s Machine Learning, AI and Computer Vision capabilities
  • Architected, built and launched Neon Pro, a revenue-generating JAMstack web app, in 3 months, generating $200k+ in revenue within the first year
  • Collaborated with Product, Marketing and Design teams to create a feature-rich demonstration of Neon’s Machine Learning, AI and Computer Vision capabilities
  • Established coding standards, style guides and a Component Library, taking ownership of the Front End development and release process
  • Mentored and transitioned two interns into full-time roles
  • Architected and launched Neon Pro, generating $200k+ revenue within its first year
  • Owned Front End development standards, component library and experimentation initiatives including Optimizely A/B testing

Earlier experience available on request, including leadership and senior engineering roles at Trickle, Sherpa, POPSUGAR and Skyscanner.

Manager, Engineering & Technical Lead

POPSUGAR

  • San Francisco, CA, USA
  • Shanghai, China
– On-site • Full-time
  • Managed engineering teams across two continents (San Francisco, Shanghai), aligning delivery and quality across timezones and cultures
  • Player-coach across video and offshore operations, combining hands-on engineering with line management and day-to-day mentoring
  • Led cross-team coordination and hiring decisions in a fast-paced media environment while maintaining high engineering standards
  • Delivered POPSUGAR TV on time and under budget — a business-critical launch with hard deadlines
  • Managed and led engineering teams in San Francisco and Shanghai, overseeing video and offshore operations across multiple locations
  • Served as a player-coach, combining hands-on engineering with people leadership, mentoring and day-to-day team support
  • Helped align delivery, team coordination and technical execution while maintaining high standards in a fast-paced media environment
  • Delivered POPSUGAR TV on time and under budget, ensuring efficient use of resources and meeting critical deadlines

Senior Software Engineer

POPSUGAR

San Francisco, CA, USA

– On-site • Full-time
  • Led high-profile projects generating $2M+ in annual revenue, with a focus on full-stack and Front End development, enhancing site performance and user experience
  • Pioneered improvements in semantic markup, performance and SEO through the integration of structured Microdata
  • Initiated and led the organisational transition to Sass and Web Standards, reducing CSS file size by 30% and improving maintainability by 40% through the establishment of coding standards and style guides

Earlier experience available on request, including front end and full-stack engineering roles at Skyscanner, Royal Bank of Scotland, ASMALLWORLD and Computershare.

Education

BSc (Hons) Computer Science

Heriot–Watt University

Edinburgh, Scotland

  • Second Class Upper Division (2:1)
  • Merit Award (2nd Year)

Publications

Author

  • Jack Draws Anything – published in the UK (), Brazil () & Republic of Korea (), ISBN: 9781444907476

Technical Reviewer

Licences & Certifications

Freelance

  • Human–AI Interaction Design @ Cornell – shipped a robust Jekyll site from provided designs, with reusable templates and fast, accessible pages
  • JT Stonemasonry – simple Nunjucks-based website for local stonemason
  • A Little Space for Parents – added mobile-only features and set up analytics to guide content decisions
  • Wavefinity – delivered a complete overhaul and rework of their Hugo site, improving structure, maintainability and performance
  • Crash Override – developed three Hugo-based websites (Ocular, Chalk and H4X0R), ensuring consistent branding, optimised performance and responsive design
  • – led the rebranding of corporate website, optimising 340+ multilingual pages for performance and responsiveness using Hugo and translating complex Figma designs into dynamic, interactive components with Tailwind CSS
  • – revitalised website performance, achieving 98–100 PageSpeed Insights scores by overhauling HTML, CSS and JavaScript; significantly improved SEO and accessibility while maintaining the existing design
  • TM3 – optimised Core Web Vitals and enhanced performance for over 200 Hugo-powered pages
  • FlipOut – developed responsive templates from Figma designs, focusing on SEO and cross-browser compatibility
  • Diffblue – resolved template issues in Jekyll & CloudCannon, improved template functionality and streamlined form field collection and existing processes
  • 0x4447 – implemented new design on their Jekyll site, notably improving PageSpeed Insights scores
  • Goons of Balatroon – built a Hugo-based gallery dynamically generating 10,000 individual asset pages with consistent metadata, structured markup and performance at scale
  • The Crypto Lawyers – enhanced Core Web Vitals for their Jekyll website, improving performance and user experience
  • VoltPool – executed the Front End build in accordance with provided Figma designs
  • Edinburgh Flooring Services – tailored design and build based on client’s specific requirements, with additional roles in SEO, IT support and as Webmaster
  • Jack Draws Anything – led the design and build of a 600+ page Jekyll site, also serving as Webmaster

Teaching & Mentoring

Industry Mentor

MSc Dissertation Project · Queen Margaret University

Edinburgh, Scotland

– Present Remote • Part-time
  • Providing weekly mentoring to an MSc student building a website prototype for an Edinburgh-based theatre company
  • Advising on Front End architecture, design-to-production workflow and modern web tooling
  • Engaged under the supervision of Dr Dave Wood, Programme Leader of the new BA(Hons) Digital and Graphic Design

Career Mentor

Heriot–Watt University

Edinburgh, Scotland

– Present Hybrid • Part-time
  • Supporting three mentees in long-term career planning through Heriot–Watt University's Career Mentoring Programme
  • Sharing industry insights and professional experience to help mentees navigate career decisions, CV development and interview preparation
  • Facilitating connections within the web development industry through professional network contacts

Skills

  • JavaScript
  • TypeScript
  • ES6
  • HTML
  • Cross-browser development
  • Single Page Application (SPA)
  • Responsive web design
  • Web Components
  • SVG
  • Accessibility / A11Y
  • W3C
  • WCAG
  • Microdata
  • Back End API integration
  • REST API
  • JSON
  • Stripe SDK
  • GraphQL
  • Webhooks
  • MySQL
  • SQL Server
  • SQL
  • PHP
  • Mentoring
  • Project Management
  • Line Management
  • Hiring
  • Performance Feedback
  • SDLC
  • I18N
  • L10N
  • Agile
  • Scrum
  • Coding Standards
  • Pull Requests
  • Leadership
  • Effective Communication
  • Problem Solving
  • Adaptability
  • Team Collaboration
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Empathy
  • Decision Making
  • Time Management
  • Continuous Learning
  • Negotiation
  • Attention to Detail
  • Cultural Awareness
  • Client Relations
  • Innovative Thinking

Interests & Hobbies

  • Solving complex technical problems
  • Getting kids coding
  • Speaking at local schools
  • Front End technologies
  • Usability
  • Rugby
  • Golf
  • Basketball
  • Go Karting
  • Paddleboarding
  • Tennis
  • Gym
  • Movies
  • Video Games
  • Reading

Additional Information

  • Scottish / British Citizen
  • Basic proficiency in German
  • Open to permanent, contract, consulting and fractional leadership opportunities
  • Open to permanent, contract and consulting opportunities; immediately available for remote UK contract work
  • Open to permanent, contract and fractional engineering leadership roles