Product & Integration Architect I love to solve puzzles

Product Architect

Backbase Sep 2022 - Present · 3+ years

Architecting Grand Central (Backbase's integration platform) and building SyncHub from scratch. I present technical architectures to banking C-levels, guide engineering teams through complex integrations, and figure out MCP adoption strategy. The work is part design, part firefighting, part teaching - making fragmented banking systems behave like they were built to work together.

Consultant / Owner

It's René Jul 2015 - Present · 10+ years

My consultancy. Started it so I could pick which problems to solve and which companies to work with. Ran it full-time for years across multiple Dutch banks and enterprise clients. Currently dormant while I'm at Backbase, but it represents 10+ years of professional autonomy and flexibility.

Solution Architect

International Card Services (ICS) Sep 2020 - Aug 2022 · 2 years

Two years architecting credit card processing systems at one of the Netherlands' largest card processors. Designed integrations with SaaS platforms, handled security and compliance requirements. In payments, things either work or they don't - learned to account for that in every design decision.

Enterprise IT Response Team

Shell May 2016 - Dec 2020 · 4+ years

Four years on Shell's technical response team. The people you call when production is down and nobody knows why. On-call expert consulting for projects across the organization. Complex production issues that crossed teams, technologies, and continents. Learned to solve problems that span multiple systems and decode cryptic symptoms into actual root causes under pressure.

Technical Team Lead & Solutions Architect

DigiB Apr 2019 - Mar 2020

Led technical teams through digital transformation projects. Architect and team lead. Designed solutions bridging legacy systems and modern expectations while keeping everyone aligned. Kept the team focused through complexity.

Solution Architect - Mobile Banking

ABN AMRO Bank Jun 2017 - Nov 2018 · 1.5 years

Returned to ABN AMRO in a more senior role. Designed mobile banking architecture and AWS cloud infrastructure. Built CI/CD pipelines for native mobile teams. Helped teams adopt public cloud and DevOps practices. Proof-of-concepts for next-generation banking apps serving millions of users. This is also where I learned the valuable lesson of having a rollback plan - locked 800K users out of their banking app once. Measure three times before you cut.

Mobile Software Engineer

DS TAGS (BagTag) Feb 2016 - Dec 2016 · 11 months

Electronic baggage tags for airline check-in. Architected and developed native mobile applications and SDKs for Android and iOS, integrated with cloud services and BagTag hardware. Mobile development meets IoT and airline systems.

Solution Designer - Mobile Native

ABN AMRO Bank Jan 2014 - Jun 2016 · 2.5 years

Mobile Native team at ABN AMRO. Designed and implemented native banking applications for iOS and Android. Mobile architecture patterns, security implementations, user experience optimization. First time working under financial services requirements.

Experienced Mobile Software Engineer & Innovation Pioneer

CGI (formerly Logica) Mar 2011 - Aug 2015 · 4.5 years

Four years as lead mobile developer and innovation specialist across multiple clients and security domains. Built the first WADA Whereabouts app for the World Anti-Doping Agency. Worked on Google Glass and wearables (2011-2015, when this stuff was still new). Rotated between banking, energy, defense, and public sector - each with different security clearance requirements.

• Shell (Jan 2013 - Aug 2015 · 2.5 years): Mobile Application Specialist reviewing native apps for performance, bugs, and security vulnerabilities. Liaised with security office. Handled mobile architecture decisions.
• ING (Apr 2014 - Oct 2014 · 7 months): Static Software Reviewer doing banking security compliance using Fortify Static Code Analyzer. Secure code patterns for financial applications.
• Facilicom (Jan 2012 - Mar 2012 · 3 months): iOS project for facility management solutions.
• NATO C3 Agency (Sep 2011 - Jan 2012 · 5 months): Database Engineer on Cyber Defence infrastructure with high security clearance. Defense systems with strict security constraints.

Three years developing Point of Sales solutions, cashless payment systems, and embedded Linux controllers. Multi-language development. C, C++, C#, Java, SQL. Whatever the hardware needed. First professional role. Learned how hardware and software interact at the lowest levels. Timing issues and memory constraints you can't handwave away.

My graduate internship project on payment terminal development. Hardware validation, software development, and integration testing all rolled into one intense learning experience. Did well enough that they offered me my first professional role right after. Sometimes the best interview is six months of actually doing the work.

My first taste of Chess. A .NET development internship focused on application development and integration. Early exposure to what professional software engineering actually looked like beyond textbooks and classroom projects. Clearly made an impression, since they brought me back for my graduate internship.

Voluntary software engineering for 5+ years. Developed web applications and backend systems. Real-world development experience outside formal employment.

First professional software engineering role. Six months developing industrial instrumentation software in Delphi.