Senior software engineer.
Builder. Founder.
I'm Jad — a Lebanese-Belgian senior software engineer, former CTO/co-founder and founder based in Cardiff. For 12+ years, I've built, launched and improved production software across startups, consulting, product teams and high-traffic platforms. I'm currently building WeGrow, helping independent local businesses get found, trusted and contacted online.
I'm a senior, product-minded engineer with a founder's instincts. I think in systems, users, trade-offs and outcomes — not just in code.
I care about building the right thing, not just building things right.
I've built products from zero, led engineering as a startup CTO, worked inside high-traffic product platforms, and helped teams turn vague ideas into working software. I can go deep as an individual contributor, lead technical direction when needed, and stay calm in ambiguity.
The work I'm proud of has one thing in common: it was useful, it shipped, and it held up under real conditions.
Technical depth, product instinct,
and the discipline to ship.
Senior engineering judgement
Pragmatic technical decisions. Knowing what to build, what to skip, what to refactor, and what to leave alone.
Product-minded execution
Turning vague business needs into clear plans, then into working software users actually reach for.
Building from zero
Co-founded and shipped products from a blank page — Sportsession, now WeGrow. Comfortable with the messy first version and the path from prototype to production.
Founder & technical leadership
Former co-founder and CTO. I bring ownership across product direction, technical decisions, delivery, team context and the unglamorous work that makes software hold up.
Production systems & reliability
High-traffic platforms, release safety, observability, performance, testing discipline. The unflashy work that keeps things running.
Modernising without reckless rewrites
Improving legacy systems incrementally — paying down risk and unlocking momentum while the business keeps moving forward.
Technical breadth: My work spans backend, frontend, cloud, APIs, CI/CD, CMS/platform work, performance and SEO — with search/discovery and AI-assisted delivery as specialist strengths, not the whole story.
WeGrow
My current founder-led venture — one chapter of a longer engineering story.
Helping local independent businesses get found, trusted and contacted online — through simple websites, local business pages and enquiry-focused improvements.
WeGrow exists because the businesses that hold neighbourhoods together — the barber, the family restaurant, the local trades — often don't get a fair shot online. The platforms reward those with budget, not those doing real work. WeGrow tries to close that gap with honest tools and clear results.
Looking for a senior engineer.
I'm selectively open to senior engineering or technical leadership roles where the work is meaningful, the team cares about quality, and the problem is worth solving. I bring startup pragmatism, mature engineering discipline and product judgement from different kinds of teams, products and constraints — and I value good judgement, direct communication and thoughtful execution over theatre.
Speak to me about a role- 01Senior IC with former CTO and co-founder experience
- 02Comfortable leading technical direction without needing a title
- 03Startup pragmatism paired with mature engineering discipline
- 04Works across frontend, backend, cloud, platform and product
- 05Calm delivery under pressure — production reliability, release safety
- 06Product-aware — comfortable with trade-offs, ambiguity and stakeholders
- 07Writes clear docs, decisions and implementation plans
Custom work, when the fit is right.
Separate from WeGrow, I take on a small amount of custom engineering and product work for founders and teams who want a senior partner — not just hands.
Product discovery & technical planning
Turn a vague idea into a buildable plan with honest trade-offs.
MVPs and prototypes
Get a real, working version into users' hands quickly — without painting yourself into a corner.
Websites & web apps
Modern, fast, accessible, and built to last beyond launch week.
Integrations & automation
Connecting systems so the team stops doing work the software should be doing.
Technical audits & production readiness
A clear-eyed look at what's risky, what's wasteful, and what to do next.
Search & discovery, where relevant
Ranking, relevance, metadata, faceting — helping users find the right thing.
A career built across different kinds of pressure.
Different teams, different stacks, different stakes — startups, product organisations, consulting, marketplaces, high-traffic e-commerce, legacy systems, cloud products, founder-led work. The throughline has stayed the same: useful software, made with care, for people who'll actually use it.
How I work, in six lines.
Off the keyboard: running, boxing, family, community. I won a charity fight last year and raised funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians and relief in Lebanon. Resilience, justice and discipline aren't slogans here — they're the shape of the work.
- 01Build what is useful.
- 02Problem first, tools second.
- 03Simple systems beat clever systems.
- 04Keep things understandable.
- 05Own the outcome.
- 06Move with discipline.
Tell me what
you're building.
Senior roles, technical leadership, consulting, custom work, founder collaborations, or a thoughtful conversation about a problem worth solving — I read everything that lands in my inbox.