Adilson M. Bacelar

Technical Lead

Searchland, London, UK - all-in-one UK property and planning data platform

November 2024 - August 2025

• Designed and implemented an event-driven architecture using a dedicated message queue system to handle asynchronous background tasks such as customer data imports and bespoke report generation, improving system reliability and scalability.
• Led a comprehensive backend overhaul that significantly improved response times and enabled complex queries delivering much larger payloads, enhancing overall platform performance.
• Spearheaded strategic migration from GraphQL to tRPC, improving type safety and system performance while establishing robust development standards and best practices.
• Designed and delivered an industry-leading reporting tool that generates bespoke PDF and Word documents with customizable company branding capabilities.
• Architected sophisticated data enrichment functionality for purchased land registry titles, seamlessly integrating with letter-sending tools to streamline operational workflows.
• Mentored team members toward senior developer levels through structured fireside chats and collaborative discussions on their side projects, fostering continuous learning and professional growth.
• Managed the full feature lifecycle by involving all stakeholders from conceptualisation through private alpha and public beta releases, establishing a continuous positive feedback loop to deliver features aligned with user needs.

Lead React Native Engineer - Frontend

Aviva, London, UK - multinational insurance and pension provider

November 2023 - November 2024

• Established coding standards and best practices for React Native and TypeScript, ensuring team adherence to maintain clean, scalable code.
• Led technical workshops and code reviews, providing mentorship to improve team proficiency.
• Set technical direction and acted as key decision-maker for technical challenges, aligning solutions with business objectives.
• Supported sprint planning and delivery, balancing short-term goals with long-term technical health.
• Maintained application architecture focusing on scalability and performance.
• Collaborated cross-functionally with API, designers, and technical teams to ensure smooth project delivery.
• Facilitated onboarding of new engineers and communicated complex technical topics to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Principal Software Engineer - Frontend (Part-Time Consultant)

efitter, London, UK - digital shopping assistant aiming to reduce returns due to sizing

July 2022 - July 2025

• Led as the sole engineer in a startup, overseeing all aspects of product development.
• Migrated the core product—a Chrome extension—from vanilla JavaScript (Manifest V2) to TypeScript (Manifest V3) using modern build tools, including Vite.
• Established a CI/CD pipeline with GitHub Actions for automated testing and deployment to the Chrome Web Store.
• Developed bespoke internal tools, eliminating the need for costly third-party subscriptions.
• Currently building B2B offerings using Golang and Docker, powering backends for client-facing dashboards.
• Implemented logging and analytics systems for performance monitoring using the ELK Stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana).

Senior Software Engineer - Frontend

Wellcome Trust, London, UK - museum and library centred on medicine research

October 2022 - October 2023

• Developed developer-focused tools to enhance workflows within Yarn workspace monorepos.
• Improved collection discoverability by implementing global search and restructuring the search hub to increase user affordance.
• Managed and enhanced a mission-critical backend API, optimising Elasticsearch to ensure reliability and performance.
• Implemented AI-powered media transcription with speaker identification, enhancing search precision and user experience for research purposes.

Senior Software Engineer - Frontend

Adarga, London, UK - AI powered Research and Analysis SaaS company

June 2022 - August 2022

• Containerised and integrated React and TypeScript micro-UI components into a robust CI/CD pipeline using Docker and GCP, ensuring efficient testing and continuous deployment of web applications using micro-frontend architecture.
• Implemented optimised GraphQL endpoints for data retrieval in the second version of the application.
• Implemented a user interface that allowed for the handling of large and ever moving datasets, with a focus on performance and scalability.
• Implemented a user interface that properly emphasised the powers of natural language processing (NLP), machine learning (ML) and graph databases to provide a more accurate and relevant search experience.

Senior Full-Stack Developer

TELUS Health (Formerly LifeWorks), London, UK - HR services and technology SaaS company

July 2018 - June 2022

• Led a global team in migrating multiple applications from Angular to ReactJS, ensuring adherence to coding best practices.
• Contributed to all stages of the SDLC in an agile environment, from design to deployment.
• Implemented AAA WCAG accessibility standards across client-facing platforms, enhancing usability for individuals with disabilities.
• Developed a responsive email framework compatible with over 50 languages, increasing international user engagement across all used email clients.
• Created custom Cookie compliance/GDPR modules to ensure global legal compliance and build customer trust.

Full-Stack Web Developer

Commercial People, London - Residential and Commercial real estate challenger property portal

August 2017 - July 2018

• Developed user-friendly and responsive front-end interfaces for mobile and web applications using React and React Native, targeting multiple platforms, including web, iOS, and Android.
• Created a server-side rendered web app platform with SEO techniques, enhancing the visibility and reach of our products.
• Engineered a flexible PDF generator in Node.js, enabling efficient creation of lead-generating PDFs with customisable layouts.
• Led the development and integration of backend services to expand our platform's capabilities, connecting with property providers worldwide for up-to-date property listings.

Full-Stack Web Developer

RIE Studios, London - indie game development studio

May 2011 - August 2017

• Founding member of a games company, releasing a game on the Google Play Store.
• Drove design decisions and meticulously orchestrated player experience in a dynamic, cross-functional team.
• Coded gameplay mechanics in the Unity game engine using C#, ensuring precise execution.
• Contributed to a versatile team where adaptability and cross-functional collaboration were paramount.

Kimbundu

Technologies: React, NextJS, Tailwind, Typesense, Docker

Developed a language and culture preservation platform for Kimbundu, the Bantu language of Northern Angola, by spearheading the digitisation of a comprehensive Kimbundu dictionary and developing a language translation model using Neural Machine Translation techniques. Deployed the service on a self-hosted VPS, ensuring robust performance and infrastructure control, and integrated Docker for efficient containerisation. Optimised search functionality with Typesense to accommodate the unique characteristics of a language with nascent official writing standards, contributing to revitalising and protecting the Kimbundu-speaking community's linguistic and cultural heritage.

Myra Learning

Technologies: React, NextJS, Firebase, Styled Components, Typescript, Web3.Js, Solidity, Truffle Suite

Crafted and executed the creation of an expansive Web3 social networking platform leveraging React, Next.js, Firebase, Web3.js, and the Truffle Suite onto the Ethereum Rinkeby test network. Championed exploring and experimenting with emerging Web3 technologies to construct a dynamic digital landscape. Delivered a digital ecosystem enabling seamless user interaction, communication, and active involvement within the burgeoning NFT marketplace. This initiative reflects a proactive approach to embrace and harness the transformative potential of Web3 technologies in reshaping online interactions and commerce paradigms and how it can best integrate with the existing Web 2.0 landscape.

BA Games Design

London College of Communication, London

September 2011 - June 2013

ABC 3D Modelling and Animation

London College of Communication, London

September 2010 - June 2011