Hands-on leadership.

Hey, I’m Julian, IT Manager, technologist, and lifelong builder. I lead development teams and turn complex technical challenges into clear, workable solutions. My background as a developer still shapes how I think, decide, and lead every day.

I started out building software driven by curiosity and a desire to understand how things really work. Over time, that hands-on foundation grew into broader responsibility: from development to product ownership, and eventually leading teams working on high-traffic platforms for international partners.

Today, I focus on creating clarity for teams by aligning technology with business goals, improving time-to-market, and removing unnecessary complexity. By staying close to the craft and exploring new technologies, I help teams make better decisions and deliver real business value together.

Let’s Connect
BUILDING
WITH PURPOSE.
Years in Tech
People led
Decisions made 😉

Countless Coffee

My Philosophy. I believe simplicity is the result of technical excellence applied with purpose. I focus on bridging solid engineering with real business value, together with the team, by staying curious and up to date. Because clarity wins. Every time.

More than code and systems.

My focus

My work sits at the intersection of people, technology, and business. I help teams navigate complexity by creating clarity in goals, responsibilities, and technical direction.

By aligning strong engineering practices with real business needs, teams can make better decisions, improve time-to-market, and deliver value in a way that scales.

Let’s Collaborate

I focus on leading development teams through clarity rather than control. By setting clear direction, encouraging trust, and staying close enough to the work, I help engineers take ownership and deliver with confidence, without micromanagement.

Team clarity

Ownership & trust

Technical credibility

Sustainable standards

I help translate business goals into concrete technical direction. By making trade-offs explicit and aligning priorities early, teams can move faster while still building solutions that make sense long-term.

Business alignment

Clear trade-offs

Stakeholder communication

Pragmatic decision-making

Value over complexity

By staying hands-on, I keep a strong understanding of the challenges teams face. This allows me to reduce friction, ask better questions, and support problem-solving in a practical, grounded way.

Systems thinking

Reducing complexity

Prototyping & experimentation

I focus on improving how teams ship software, balancing speed, quality, and sustainability. The goal is consistent progress, faster feedback loops, and delivery that supports both short-term needs and long-term stability.

Feedback loops

Incremental delivery

Long-term maintainability

Learning by building.

Pet projects & experiments

Projects I build alongside my day-to-day role to stay close to the craft, explore new ideas, and continuously sharpen how I help teams solve real technical and business challenges.

SAAS
Sentimemo

Sentimemo explores how technology can help people maintain meaningful connections through thoughtful reminders, context, and small actions. The project combines product thinking, simplicity-first design, and AI-assisted workflows to turn human intent into gentle, timely nudges without becoming noisy or overwhelming.

Web product
Quiz Playground

QuizPlayground is a lightweight quiz product built for a specific occasion. Users can either play the quiz directly in the browser or download a printable version to use offline. The experience is intentionally simple, focusing on clear questions, smooth flow, and reliable use, whether played digitally or on paper.

CLARITY OVER COMPLEXITY.

Process

Whether it’s a technical challenge, a delivery bottleneck, or a broader business goal, this is how I help teams move from complexity to progress.

1. ALIGN

We start by understanding the real problem, technical, business, and human. By aligning goals, constraints, and expectations early, teams avoid rework and can focus on what actually matters.

2. clarify

Next, we translate goals into clear technical and organizational direction. This includes making trade-offs explicit, defining responsibilities, and agreeing on what “good” looks like, so teams can move forward with confidence.

3. BUILD

With clarity in place, teams build, test, and iterate. Short feedback loops and pragmatic decisions help maintain momentum while keeping quality, scalability, and long-term impact in mind.

4. REFINE

Delivery is not the end. We reflect on outcomes, learn from what worked and what didn’t, and continuously improve systems, processes, and collaboration to make the next cycle smoother and faster.

1. align

We start by understanding the real problem, technical, business, and human. By aligning goals, constraints, and expectations early, teams avoid rework and can focus on what actually matters.

2. clarify

Next, we translate goals into clear technical and organizational direction. This includes making trade-offs explicit, defining responsibilities, and agreeing on what “good” looks like, so teams can move forward with confidence.

3. BUILD

With clarity in place, teams build, test, and iterate. Short feedback loops and pragmatic decisions help maintain momentum while keeping quality, scalability, and long-term impact in mind.

4. REFINE

Delivery is not the end. We reflect on outcomes, learn from what worked and what didn’t, and continuously improve systems, processes, and collaboration to make the next cycle smoother and faster.

Want to see how this translates into real outcomes?

LET’S SHARE IDEAS.

Contact

Whether you want to exchange ideas, talk about technology and leadership, or share thoughts on building better systems, I’m always open to a good conversation.

If you reach out, I’ll do my best to respond within a couple of days, assuming I’m not debugging something I swore would take five minutes or aligning a few priorities.

© 2026 Julian van der Giesen