Software Engineer · West Sussex, UK
Hello World, I'm Daniel Hadaway.
I build scalable software across .NET, mobile and the modern web.
Software Engineer with 10+ years shipping production systems — from C# / .NET microservices and cloud infrastructure to React front-ends and mobile apps. I take features from inception to monitoring in production.
- 0+
- Years shipping software
- 0
- Known bugs in prod*
- ∞
- Cups of coffee
- 0
- Dark theme, always on
* that we know of. Probably. Don't check.
01 — About
Engineering that ships and stays healthy in production.
I'm a software engineer with 10+ years building and shipping production software. I've worked across the full lifecycle — from hands-on engineering to leading teams as a technical lead — taking products from inception through to monitoring and support in production. Today I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Covertime.
My core is C# / .NET and .NET Core, deployed as Docker containers on Azure via infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD pipelines. I'm equally comfortable on the front end with React and Next.js and on mobile with React Native — and I care about clean architecture, automated testing (Playwright, xUnit, TDD) and code the next engineer can actually maintain.
Beyond the day job I keep shipping — a UK business directory with a .NET API and automated data pipeline, e-commerce storefronts, and multilingual marketing sites — because the fastest way I learn a technology is to put it in front of real users.
Beyond coding
Outside of engineering I'm a keen triathlete and martial artist (Tae Kwon Do), an amateur magician and photographer, and I fly FPV drones. I'm a big believer in continuous personal development — and I spend the rest of my time with my family.
- Triathlon training
- Tae Kwon Do
- Photography
- FPV drones
- Magic
- Family
Writing
Latest from the blog
Notes on shipping software — .NET, the modern web, architecture and automation.
02 — Featured work
Real products, shipped end to end.
A selection of production systems and side projects — from full-stack platforms to client sites.
Covertime
Temporary insurance — web platform and native mobile app.
Covertime sells instant, comprehensive short-term car, van and bike insurance. The product spans a high-traffic quote-and-buy website and a native mobile app that lets customers get covered in minutes, manage live policies and buy repeat cover.
My role: Senior Software Engineer and one of three engineers building the product end to end. I work across the .NET 8 back-end API, the Next.js web front-end and the React Native / Expo mobile app, and own cloud hosting and infrastructure on Azure.
- .NET 8
- ASP.NET Core
- EF Core
- PostgreSQL
- Next.js
- React Native
- Expo
- Stripe
- Azure
- Bicep
Darras Index
A scalable UK local-services directory — full stack, from scraper to API to web app.
Local UK businesses are hard to discover online. Darras Index is a searchable directory of ~1,885 businesses across 12 categories, with reviews, a job board, and a self-service portal for business owners — backed by an automated nightly pipeline that discovers and enriches new listings.
My role: Co-owner and Head of IT — I own the technology end to end across the whole stack: a .NET 10 Clean-Architecture API (CQRS with MediatR, Stripe payments, tiered job-board notifications), a Next.js 14 public site and owner/admin portal, and a TypeScript data-ingestion pipeline that dedupes, scores and imports leads.
- C#
- .NET 10
- ASP.NET Core
- EF Core
- PostgreSQL
- MediatR
- Stripe
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- React Query
- Clerk
- Azure
- Docker
Serendipity Life
A trilingual marketing site for a holiday-resort photographer.
A professional photographer needed a fast, multilingual (EN/IT/ES) brochure site to showcase packages and convert holiday-resort guests — with zero ongoing running costs and content she could edit herself.
My role: Designed and built the site end to end: a Vite + React 19 static front-end with content managed in Sanity CMS, custom i18n (EN/IT/ES), image optimisation to WebP, and a zero-cost contact flow (prefilled WhatsApp/email rather than a paid form service). The client edits everything herself — copy, prices, testimonials and photos (including the gallery) — in a hosted Studio, and each publish auto-rebuilds and redeploys the static site via a Sanity webhook, so there's no CMS at runtime and no ongoing cost. Deployed live.
- React 19
- TypeScript
- Vite
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Sanity CMS
- i18n
- Netlify
Popcorn Simulation Gaming
A playful fan hub for a family-friendly simulation-game streamer.
A cosy Train / Bus / Truck Sim streamer who raises money for charity through his streams needed one home for the channel — schedule, socials, community, a way to watch and a way to donate — that stays current on its own and has personality, not just another link-in-bio.
My role: Designed and built the site end to end and set up the GoFundMe fans donate through: a Next.js static export with a Cloudflare Worker that serves live YouTube data (latest uploads and thumbnails) at the edge, a Discord community section, an animated Framer Motion UI, and a handful of hidden easter eggs.
- Next.js
- React 19
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Framer Motion
- Cloudflare Workers
Split Lip Adventures
Rebuilding the home of a world-record-holding adventurer, from 2007-era site builder to modern web.
Split Lip Adventures chronicles Scott Butler — firefighter, adventurer and the first person to row across the Black Sea. His site ran on an old fixed-width website-builder platform: slow to load, dated to look at, and doing no justice to the stories behind it.
My role: Rebuilt the site from scratch as a Next.js app on Cloudflare Workers — adventures, an interactive expedition map, blog, books, interviews and speaking pages — with a dark, editorial design that puts Scott's photography and world records front and centre.
- Next.js
- React 19
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Cloudflare Workers
Tiny Tails Pet Care
A fast brochure site for a home-visit pet-sitting business.
A local pet-care business was paying for a slow Squarespace site. They needed a fast, cheap, easy-to-update presence covering services, pricing and reviews across three towns.
My role: Built a React 19 + Vite site with content managed in Sanity CMS, image optimisation, and contact via prefilled WhatsApp/phone/email. The owner edits everything herself — text, services, pricing, gallery photos, reviews and terms — in a hosted Studio, and each publish auto-rebuilds and redeploys via a Sanity webhook, keeping the site fully static with no runtime CMS. Deployed on Cloudflare Workers.
- React 19
- TypeScript
- Vite
- Tailwind CSS v4
- Sanity CMS
- Cloudflare Workers
Skin Defence
Work In ProgressA full e-commerce storefront for a UK handmade-skincare brand.
Skin Defence is a UK company making handmade, natural skincare products. The site is a complete online store — a product catalogue with shop-by-concern filtering (acne, anti-aging, rosacea/sensitive), a 'create your own product' builder, an interactive skin-type quiz that recommends products, a skincare blog, and cart / account / checkout flows.
My role: Built the storefront end to end: a Next.js / React + TypeScript front-end covering product browsing, the custom-product builder, the skin-quiz recommendation flow, blog and basket/account journeys — deployed on Azure App Service.
- Next.js
- React
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- Azure App Service
Work in progress — this is an early preview, not the finished site.
03 — Work with me
Need a website?
I also build fast, custom websites for small businesses, startups and freelancers — built from scratch, quick to load, and easy to update yourself.
Free first chat, no obligation.
04 — Skills
A full-stack toolkit.
Grouped by where I spend my time — backend-heavy, but comfortable across the stack.
Backend
- C#
- .NET 8 / .NET Core
- ASP.NET Core Minimal APIs
- EF Core
- MediatR / CQRS
- Microservices
- REST APIs
Frontend
- React
- Next.js
- Angular
- Astro
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- TanStack Query
- React Hook Form + Zod
Mobile
- React Native
- Expo
- expo-router
- NativeWind
- Zustand
Databases
- PostgreSQL
- SQL Server
- Redis
- Oracle / PL-SQL
- Azure Data Warehouse
Cloud & DevOps
- Azure App Service
- Bicep (IaC)
- Docker
- Azure Pipelines / DevOps
- CI/CD (YAML)
- OpenTelemetry
- AWS
Testing
- Playwright
- xUnit
- Jest
- SpecFlow
- TDD
Tools & Practices
- Git
- Scrum / Agile
- Stripe
- Microsoft Entra ID / OAuth
- Sentry
- Braze
- PostHog
- Sanity CMS
05 — Experience
10+ years, mostly in production.
Jan 2025 — Present
Senior Software Engineer · CovertimeCurrent
- One of three engineers building a customer-facing insurance product end to end — a Next.js web app, an Expo / React Native mobile app, and a .NET 8 back-end.
- Build .NET 8 minimal APIs with EF Core and PostgreSQL, Redis caching and Stripe payments, secured with Microsoft Entra ID.
- Ship the mobile app (expo-router, Zustand, NativeWind) with Braze push notifications, in-app payments and analytics.
- Own cloud hosting and infrastructure on Azure: App Service + Container Registry, Bicep IaC, and Azure Pipelines CI/CD with deployment-slot swaps and OpenTelemetry observability.
Jul 2024 — Dec 2024
Software Engineer · Railpen
- Built integrations against the Bloomberg API to surface financial data.
- Developed front ends in Angular backed by .NET minimal APIs.
Jul 2022 — Jul 2024
Technical Lead · Tempcover
- Led the Direct-to-Consumer team responsible for 67% of business operations, owning systems end to end from inception to production monitoring.
- Built new C# / .NET microservices, hosted as Docker containers on Azure using Infrastructure as Code.
- Established YAML CI/CD pipelines and an automated API & UI testing strategy with Playwright and SpecFlow.
- Championed observability with New Relic and Raygun, and drove insight from Azure Data Warehouse and Power BI.
- Led recruitment, onboarding and the technical growth of the team.
Dec 2019 — Jul 2022
Senior Software Engineer · Tempcover
- Line-managed and led a team of five developers, running Agile/Scrum ceremonies across multiple teams.
- Delivered the customer-account project (repeat policy purchases), lifting policy conversion to 37%.
- Planned and executed extraction of the monolith into microservices.
- Primary responder for diagnosing and fixing P1 incidents, and refined the incident process.
Mar 2019 — Dec 2019
Software Engineer · AJW
- Built React web products for customer self-service, order and transaction management.
- Integrated customer ERP systems with AJW systems on AWS, working with Oracle databases via PL/SQL.
Jul 2015 — Feb 2019
Software Engineer · Tempcover
- Full-stack engineer; sole developer implementing hourly policies front-end to back-end.
- Built web services, managed releases and handled underwriter rating and BAU fixes.
Education
BSc Computer Science
University of Chester · 2012 — 2015
06 — Contact
Let's build something.
I'm open to roles and interesting problems. The fastest way to reach me is email or LinkedIn.