James Kavanagh

Tech Lead

Cloud-ready backend engineering: horizontally scalable, high-availability distributed platforms.

About

I'm a Tech Lead with experience in backend development, specialising in horizontally scalable, high-availability platforms built primarily on .NET, Redis, Kafka and SQL Server. I guide engineering teams in defining specifications, domain models, performance-focused APIs and fault-tolerant distributed services. My leadership centres on enabling collaboration, setting clear technical direction, and ensuring architectural decisions keep evolving with business requirements, aligning system design with long-term strategy while holding a high bar for delivery across an international team.

Experience

GBE Technologies / NYRA Tech
Yongin-si, South Korea · Remote · 2018 - Present
Tech Lead
2025 - Present
  • Designed high-availability asynchronous services within the Solution Architecture team.
  • Led technical decision-making and cross-stream collaboration between stakeholders, APAC engineering teams and shared services.
  • Improved operational resilience through unified observability standards: structured logging, Prometheus, CI enforcement and Cloud Events.
  • Delivered a controlled content-management and integration framework for third-party vendors, reducing risk in non-single-source integrations.
  • Coordinated migration from TeamCity scheduled deployments to cloud-ready CI/CD pipelines via Azure DevOps and Docker.
Senior Backend Developer
2022 - 2024
  • Designed and implemented user enrolment and identity-validation services across multiple regulatory jurisdictions.
  • Re-architected the backend platform for horizontal scalability, replacing singleton-bound logic with stateless distributed components.
  • Served as sole Java developer in APAC, maintaining and refactoring core Spring services supporting asynchronous client workflows.
  • Assisted with APAC team establishment and onboarding in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Backend Developer
2018 - 2022 · Dublin, Ireland / Seoul, South Korea
  • Supported exchange-service development and external partner integrations.
  • Maintained .NET applications and SQL Server environments within an international development team.
  • Developed Docker-based micro-applications and Azure web functions for automation and operational improvement.
Trident Trust Fund Services
Yongin-si, South Korea · Remote · Freelance · 2022 - 2023
Backend Developer
  • Worked closely with a product manager in Malta to translate client requirements into delivery.
  • Developed custom SQL-backed portfolio reporting for stocks, cryptocurrency and mixed assets.
  • Implemented GDPR / PII compliance controls for investor reporting and regulatory visibility.
  • Provided ad-hoc development to enhance portfolio analytics, reporting workflows and compliance support.
Custom House Global Fund Services
Dublin, Ireland · 2016 - 2018
Full-Stack Developer
  • Built financial and security reporting features using .NET and SQL Server.
  • Optimised reporting performance by designing custom SQL stored procedures for core business applications.
  • Developed automated reporting to support SOC 1 audit compliance and cut manual workload for the global Application Support team.
  • Redesigned Git / TFS workflows to improve version control, traceability and release stability; introduced Jira Service Desk to formalise change management.
  • Onboarded new development staff through technical training and documentation.
Showoff
Wicklow, Ireland · 2015
Android & iOS Application Developer
  • Developed an Android application for health and vaccination tracking.
  • Built an iOS group-payments app with early Apple Pay adoption, ahead of its Ireland launch.
Stuart Insurances
Dublin, Ireland · 2013 - 2014
Network & Support Technician
  • Maintained Active Directory / Exchange: user, account and mailbox management.
  • Assisted migration from Windows Server 2003 to 2012 and upgraded network infrastructure.
  • Handled remote troubleshooting and diagnostics.

Systems & Capabilities

Backend & Data

.NET / C#Java / SpringRedisKafkaSQL Server

Architecture

High-availabilityHorizontal scalingDistributed systemsStateless servicesDomain modellingPerformance APIs

Cloud & Delivery

Azure DevOpsDockerCI/CDPrometheusCloud EventsStructured logging

Leadership

Technical directionSprint planningCross-stream refinementOnboarding

Exploratory

Local LLMs (Qwen / DeepSeek)Secure agent workflows

Education

B.Sc. Networking Applications & Security Technological University Dublin 2015
Networking Technologies Technological University Dublin 2014

Contact

Emailjames@jkavanagh.dev
LinkedIn/in/jamesmkavanagh
LocationYongin-si, South Korea