Lead Developer — CBTW · via STEPHANZYCH
Brussels, Belgium · 2023 – Present
Hands-on lead developer in the technical team that came out of the Cherry Pulp integration, currently four to five engineers. I develop day to day across PHP-based web applications and platforms while leading technical direction and modernising how the team builds and ships software.
Fullstack development & architecture
- Develop and maintain web applications across PHP, database, API and frontend layers
- Own architecture and technical decisions across concurrent projects: stack choices, project structure, and backend / API / frontend boundaries
- Work with PHP and MariaDB in containerised project environments, alongside JavaScript and TypeScript frontend code
- Support legacy applications while progressively introducing more structured development and deployment practices
- Maintain and evolve internal project foundations and tooling originally built at Cherry Pulp and still used within CBTW
- Work across distributed international teams, including enterprise environments using Microsoft internal tooling and AWS
Engineering practices & delivery modernisation
- Introduced a shared Docker local development environment using Traefik, PHP, MariaDB and phpMyAdmin as the common baseline for projects
- Building GitLab CI pipelines and secured containerised deployment on AWS Lightsail, replacing manual and FTP-based deployment and moving off Laravel Forge
- Define technical standards, development conventions and code review practice, and drive their adoption across teams
- Adding observability with Grafana, Prometheus and Loki
- Roll out new tooling project by project alongside ongoing client delivery, with legacy workflows and the new pipeline currently running side by side
Co-Founder / CTO / Head of Frontend — Cherry Pulp
Brussels, Belgium · 2013 – 2024 · acquired by CBTW in 2023, transition completed in 2024
Co-founded Cherry Pulp and helped grow it into a digital agency of around 20 people building custom websites, digital platforms and web applications. I remained hands-on throughout, working across PHP backends, APIs, JavaScript frontends and the infrastructure used to develop and deploy them.
PHP & fullstack delivery
- Delivered 200+ web platforms and digital products across WordPress, Laravel and JavaScript-based architectures
- Designed and implemented web platforms using WordPress and Laravel backends, APIs and JavaScript frontends
- Owned technical delivery of short-cycle web projects, using WordPress for small- to medium-complexity platforms and Laravel applications where the problem justified it
- Designed a modular delivery approach around Docker, WordPress with Bedrock, structured conventions and custom Forge / Lightsail deployment workflows
- Defined application structure and backend / API / frontend boundaries across client projects
- Established reusable boilerplates, conventions and CLI tooling that made project setup faster and long-term maintenance more predictable
Technical ownership & team
- Helped grow the company from 4 to 20 people
- Supported and mentored development teams, up to 10–12 developers at peak
- Led technical scoping, estimation and client-facing technical advisory through discovery and delivery
- Took part in technical hiring and onboarding
- Defined technical standards and development conventions across the company
Representative clients: Unicef · Oxfam · Engie · Delhaize · Telenet · KBC Brussels · Latour & Petit · Cefic · Business Europe · Clear Channel · Monizze · Solidaris · eFarmz · RTL · RTBF
