Chris Kellet

Introduction

I am a technology leader, architect, and startup founder with over 20 years’ experience shaping engineering organisations, delivering complex digital platforms, and driving strategic technology initiatives. My work spans ecommerce, cloud-native transformation, and high-scale digital systems — but my focus is always on business outcomes, organisational capability, and long-term technology strategy.

I believe in lean teams, rapid iteration, and strong architectural foundations that enable companies to innovate quickly and operate with confidence. My leadership style blends technical depth with clear direction, pragmatic decision-making, and a commitment to empowering high-performing teams.

Badger Commerce – A Platform Built for Scale and Flexibility

In 2014, I founded Badger Commerce, an enterprise-grade ecommerce platform designed to empower businesses of all sizes. The platform combines:

• A scalable SaaS webstore engine
• A full POS platform with in-person payments
• Customer service tooling and support UIs
• Back-office systems for fulfilment, CMS, and catalogue enrichment

It runs efficiently in large cloud environments but can also operate on a Raspberry Pi, enabling edge commerce and offline-first store experiences that sync seamlessly when online.

As an early Stripe adopter, I integrated Apple Pay, Stripe Terminal, 3DSv1/v2, Payment Links, and Stripe Connect long before they became widely adopted.

Kedos Consulting – Architecture, Strategy & Large-Scale Delivery

In 2010, I founded Kedos Consulting, a boutique consultancy specialising in ecommerce architecture and digital transformation. I’ve led high-impact programmes for major brands, including:

• Tesco – Architected the Tesco Direct ecommerce platform and call-centre tooling.
• Vodafone – Led architecture for the Vodafone Group’s international ecommerce platform.
• O2 – Directed architectural teams across Hybris, Adobe AEM, and OVC POS.
• Yankee Candle – Delivered a global ecommerce audit and strategic roadmap.
• Evans Cycles – Assessed platform health, hosting, and engineering practices.
• Wickes – Principal Architect for 5+ years. Led a major organisational and platform separation, designed a new OMS and carrier management system, and rolled out a new in-store UI to 230+ stores.
• Wehkamp – Currently leading the migration from a single-company legacy stack to a multi-brand Wehkamp Retail Group architecture.

These engagements combine deep technical design with strategic leadership, organisational shaping, and long-term technology planning.

Core Competencies (Leadership + Technology)

Strategic Technology Leadership

• Technology vision & multi-year roadmap creation
• Organisational design, team structure & engineering culture
• Leading engineering groups of 80+ (architects, engineers, QA, product)
• Executive/board-level communication & alignment
• Delivery strategy, governance & stakeholder management
• Cost optimisation, vendor strategy & platform simplification

Enterprise Architecture & Digital Platforms

• High-scale ecommerce (B2C/B2B/multi-brand)
• Platform separation, modernisation & cloud migration
• Microservices, event-driven and serverless architectures
• Multi-company and multi-tenant designs
• Edge computing & offline-first systems

Cloud, Kubernetes & DevOps

• Kubernetes platforms: EKS, GKE, self-managed clusters
• GitOps: Flux, Argo CD
• Infrastructure as Code: Terraform, Pulumi, CloudFormation
• AWS: API Gateway, DynamoDB, S3, EC2, Kinesis, EKS/ECS, SNS/SQS, CloudFront, IAM
• Google Cloud: GKE, Cloud DNS, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, Artifact Registry
• Cloudflare: Zero Trust, Workers, KV, R2, D1, Queues, Pages
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, CircleCI
• Observability: Prometheus, Grafana, CloudWatch, ELK

Search & Discovery

• Solr, Elasticsearch
• Typesense, Algolia
• Bloomreach, Klevu
• Indexing pipelines & relevance optimisation

Commerce Platforms & Ecosystems

• commercetools (MACH), SAP Hybris, ATG
• Kibo Commerce, Magento, Shopify
• OMS design & orchestration
• Payments, checkout, promotions, catalogue services
• Digital asset workflows (Cloudinary, DAM systems)

Business Impact

I focus on delivering measurable commercial outcomes. Examples include:

• £500,000 annual savings by redesigning Wickes’ Digital Asset Management platform
• £300,000 annual savings via a serverless OMS microservices architecture
• Significant CSAT improvement following the design and rollout of curbside collection
• Improved scalability, stability and cost efficiency across multiple ecommerce platforms
• Modernisation of organisational structures and engineering ways of working

My approach blends strategic leadership, technical insight, and a strong understanding of business priorities.

Leadership & Collaboration

I excel in environments where technology and business strategy intersect. I work closely with executives, boards, and cross-functional teams to:

• Set direction
• Clarify priorities
• Remove ambiguity
• Establish strong architectural foundations
• Create teams that deliver autonomously and effectively

I also mentor engineers, architects and emerging leaders — helping them develop judgement, autonomy, and strong engineering practices.

Early Career & Education

I graduated with a First-Class Honours degree in Computer Science from Loughborough University.

I began my career at Portaltech, delivering ecommerce programmes for brands including Royal Mail, Bulgari, Premier Farnell, Thistle Hotels, Long Tall Sally, bol.com, and Johnson & Johnson.

During this period, I specialised in ATG and Hybris, building deep experience in enterprise ecommerce platforms.

Personal

I live in Surrey, UK, with my wife and our two children. Outside of work, I enjoy travelling, exploring new ideas, and spending time with my family.

Get in Touch

If you’re looking for a technology leader who can accelerate delivery, modernise your platforms, and build a high-performing engineering organisation, I’d love to connect.

➡ Email: chris@chriskellet.com

➡ LinkedIn

➡ X