Design Systems Engineer, Web Standards Pedant,
& Professional Cloud Shouter
Twenty years at the border of design and engineering. Still not picking a side.
About Me
I build the tokens, systems, and architecture that make everything else coherent. And I make the case, repeatedly, that front-end is a specialism and not a stepping stone.
Currently at Royal London leading design system architecture, with accessibility baked in throughout. Before that: AND Digital, cinch, Co-op, Auto Trader.
When I'm not arguing about standards, I'm usually on a hill somewhere in the Lakes, nursing an AeroPress, or finding excuses to use a camera I've had for years.
More about meOld enough to have opinions. Long enough to have earned them.
Agencies, in-house, big brands. Mostly spent convincing people that the foundations matter before the house falls down.
Obsessively, annoyingly, about the foundations
Tokens, naming conventions, cascade layers — the decisions nobody notices until they go wrong. That's the job I actually care about.
Accessibility isn't a checklist
Co-founder of a11yMCR. It's a quality baseline or it's nothing — bolting it on at the end is how you end up with an audit bill and a court case.
Thinking out loud
What Good Actually Looks Like
The conditions that allow accessibility to take root, what sustains it, and why even the organisations getting it right haven't solved it.
The Organisation That Never Prioritised It
Agencies that scope it out, enterprises that bury it in process, and the leadership layer above design and engineering that's been getting away with indifference for decades.
The Design Brief That Never Mentioned Disabled People
Accessibility failures start before a line of code is written. They start in briefs that don't ask the question, in crits that don't raise it, and in design leadership that has spent decades being rewarded for work that excludes people.
Where I've been & what I've done
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Now
Royal London current
Principal Design Systems Engineer
Leading design system architecture, token strategy, and design-to-code pipeline — with accessibility as a quality baseline throughout.
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Previously
AND Digital
Tech Principal – Front-end
Raising the bar for front-end craft and implementation-aware design thinking across client delivery teams.
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Previously
cinch
Engineering Practice Lead
Driving front-end standards and adoption across engineering — through influence, education, and trust rather than formal authority.
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Previously
Co-op
Lead Front-End Design Engineer
Lead engineer on the design system — building shared components, shaping contribution models, and helping teams ship consistently.
Senior or principal, design systems focused, Manchester or remote. If that's you, get in touch.
Get in touch