AboutProjectsContact

Alicia Sykes

[email protected]

github.com/lissy93

London, UK

I'm a builder at heart. I care about clean, simple software that's fast, secure, accessible—and actually helps people. Over the years, I've led teams, shipped products used by millions, modernised ageing systems, and helped engineers grow. I believe in open source, protecting user privacy, and leaving things better than I found them. I like working with kind, curious people who want to do great work and have a little fun along the way.

Experience

loveholidays

Staff Software Engineer Nov 2024 - Present

  • Led accessibility strategy ahead of the European Accessibility Act by building lova11y, a site-wide scanning tool that logs and categorises violations into BigQuery and Looker, enabling measurable progress across teams.
  • Contributed to core web infrastructure (Kubernetes, Terraform), worked closely with vendors like Fastly and DataDome, and delivered improvements in site performance and reliability.
  • As learning champion, I created resources and pathways to foster continuous learning, mentoring, and upskilling across the engineering org.

AND Digital

Principal Engineer Aug 2022 - Oct 2024

  • Led architecture and development for a high-scale white-labelled mobile app for Frasers Group, achieving 1M+ downloads and a 4.8/5 rating on app stores (React Native).
  • Delivered strategic technical leadership across multiple client projects including Lloyds Bank and International SOS, driving large-scale migrations to modern, maintainable stacks.
  • Mentored and upskilled a team of 8–12 engineers through structured mini-projects, paired programming, and technical coaching, fostering a high-growth culture.
  • Established and hosted a bi-weekly engineering guild attended by 40+ engineers, sharing best practices in performance, accessibility, testing, and architecture.
  • Acted as a bridge between delivery and engineering excellence, ensuring long-term code quality and platform resilience without compromising speed.

Galaxy

VP of Frontend Engineering Jun 2020 - May 2022

  • Directed frontend engineering for Galaxy's flagship OTC trading platform, enabling over $1B in trading volume with enterprise-grade performance and reliability.
  • Architected and led a full-stack modernization of legacy codebases, improving app load times by 50% and significantly reducing tech debt.
  • Oversaw and scaled frontend engineering strategy, standards, and execution across multiple teams, including hiring, mentoring, and tech governance.
  • Partnered closely with product, design, and backend leadership to deliver high-quality features at speed, with a strong focus on user experience and stability.
  • Advocated for open standards, accessibility, and performance as core pillars of engineering success.

Freelance

Contract Software Engineer Lead Jan 2018 - Jun 2020

  • Acted as engineering lead on high-impact React Native projects including Shell Recharge, driving delivery from design to deployment across platforms.
  • Built a performant, scalable component library from scratch for a UK fintech startup, establishing strong frontend architecture and design consistency.
  • Delivered a full-stack IoT dashboard for Machine Max, visualizing real-time CO2 and idling metrics from edge devices (Raspberry Pi + cloud stack).
  • Consistently embedded in client teams as a trusted lead, providing architecture reviews, CI/CD pipeline improvements, and technical mentorship.

Accenture

Developer May 2014 - Jan 2019

  • Took lead on the 3D/AR work for the B&Q bathroom planner (Angular, A-Frame)
  • Lead a team of apprentices on the Accenture UKI Innovation Programme (Google Glass, React, D3.js)
  • Ran sessions on coding best practices, testing and observability for engineers across the business
  • Headed up the pair programming initiative within Accenture Digital and their clients
  • Also supported with the roll-out of Universal Credit (Java), Boots NHS Prescriptions integration (Node.js), E.ON Next Smart Meter portal (React) and the Post Office Kiosk Terminal

Education

Oxford Brookes

Computer Science (BSc)

1st Class Honors. Winner of Best Final Year Project Prize. President of Computing Society.

Skills

  • Frontend: React, Svelte, TypeScript
  • Backend: Go, Rust, Node.js, Python, Java, PHP
  • Mobile: Kotlin, Swift, React Native, Flutter
  • DevOps: Ansible, Kubernetes, Terraform
  • Obs/Mon: Prometheus, ELK stack, OpenTelemetry, Grafana
  • CI/CD: Argo CD, GitHub Actions
  • Cloud: Vercel, Netlify, GCP, Azure
  • Databases: PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis, MySQL, MongoDB

Achievements

  • Top 100 GitHub developer worldwide (70k+ stars)
  • 10M+ Docker pulls for my open-source projects
  • 10+ global hackathon wins, demonstrating rapid innovation
  • 1M+ lines of code authored, maintainer of 100+ repos, powering 1M+ annual unique users
  • 10k+ subscribers on DEV.to blog, and 5k+ followers on X, GitHub, LinkedIn
  • Top 1% contributor on StackOverflow

Awards

  • Open UK Honours List (2025) - Recognised for outstanding contributions to the tech and open-source sector
  • GitHub Accelerator Alumni - Selected among 10 developers (Microsoft M12 partnership) to launch AI-security tooling
  • Open UK Honours List (2024) - Honoured for leadership and impact in open-source communities
  • Best Comp Sci Project - Awarded by Oxford British Computer Society