Cristian Wilgenhoff
Staff Engineer
Staff Engineer with 15 years of experience in JavaScript and TypeScript. I spent 6 years architecting global systems for Yum! Brands and Pizza Hut, handling millions of daily orders across multiple markets. I build high-throughput backend services and resolve the architectural rot that slows teams down. As a technical leader, I mentor engineers and foster engineering pride through hands-on IC work and high standards, prioritizing technical strategy over administrative line management.
Core Competencies
Backend & Platform
Temporal, Node.js, TypeScript, Nest.js, Express, GraphQL
Architecture
DDD, Hexagonal Architecture, System Audits, Roadmapping
Infrastructure
PostgreSQL, Redis, DynamoDB, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform
Leadership
Engineering Standards, Incident Management, Team Mentorship
Selected Experience
SweatPals
Jul 2025 – Nov 2025Staff Engineer
First Staff Engineer for an a16z-backed Series A fitness platform. Delivered a comprehensive architectural audit and stabilization roadmap, established the company's first dedicated Platform function, and acted as technical lead for critical P0/P1 incident responses.
Yum! Brands
Jul 2022 – May 2025Principal Software Engineer
Joined the Yum! global parent company to lead market integrations onto their high-performance payments platform. Built critical, high-throughput payment workflows for Cybersource and Adyen using Temporal to manage long-running 3D Secure (3DS) operations with resilient state management.
Pizza Hut Digital Ventures
Jun 2019 – Jul 2022Principal Software Engineer (Progression from Senior Engineer & Technical Lead)
Principal: Managed the transition of UK market requirements to the global architecture, including leading critical data migrations for store-to-customer localization.
Technical Lead: Mentored and led the engineering team supporting the UK market platform, balancing feature delivery with technical debt reduction.
Senior: Key contributor to event-driven platform expansion; selected for on-site market activation in India to integrate region-specific requirements for a successful launch.
Red Badger
Jun 2017 – Feb 2019Senior Consultant
Financial Services Consulting for Tier-1 UK banks (HSBC and Santander). Engineered microservices for complex enterprise environments, integrating with legacy fraud detection systems, DB2 databases, and LDAP security protocols.