Available for new projects

Hi, I'm

Raf Willems

Freelance Senior Mobile Engineer | AI Enthusiast & R&D Explorer | Technology Coach

Freelance Senior Mobile Engineer with over 10 years of hands-on experience designing and delivering scalable, complex mobile ecosystems for organisations such as Johnson & Johnson, VRT, Proximus, and Bol.com. Deeply enthusiastic about the rapid advancements in AI — from generative models to agentic workflows — and actively conducting personal R&D to stay ahead of the industry. Equally passionate about coaching and mentoring: whether guiding a junior developer through their first architecture decision or helping a full team adopt more sustainable, AI-augmented ways of working. Brings a rare combination of deep cross-platform engineering expertise, a genuine curiosity for emerging technology, and the communication skills to translate complex concepts into daily practice.

FounderWRMobile · 2018 – Present

Combines freelance assignments with targeted R&D and side projects. Continuous investment in personal development for innovation and practical testing of new technologies.

CoachTraining For Warriors Beerse · 2025 – Present

Coaching groups through physical and mental transformation — from building lasting habits to unlocking motivation. Regularly presents on sports science and nutrition topics. Continuously refining facilitation and behavioural-change techniques that transfer directly to professional mentoring.

Lead Mobile Developer [Freelance]

Jan 2023 – Early 2026

Digiti (Project: Johnson & Johnson)

Owned the frontend architecture of the Care4Today/Polyphonic applications as a freelance lead in a strictly regulated healthcare environment. Drove architectural decisions in collaboration with security architects, backend teams, and business stakeholders. Championed code quality and ran technical syncs across an Agile delivery team.

Senior Mobile Application Developer [Freelance]

Nov 2018 – Dec 2022

icapps

Operated as a versatile senior profile across Kotlin (Android), .NET (Xamarin), Flutter, and React Native stacks. Co-architected and delivered a complex logistics application for Ampere (Bol.com), including real-time GPS integration and offline-first data strategies. Provided cross-team support and problem-solving for the React Native 'Slim naar Antwerpen' project.

Kotlin Developer [Freelance]

Jul 2018 – Nov 2018

VRT

Delivered high-impact features for Belgium's largest media apps (VRT NWS & Sporza), including Picture-in-Picture video playback and live election-result visualisations. Introduced and rolled out push notifications across the VRT app suite.

Mobile Application Developer

Dec 2017 – Jul 2018

UBench International

Built and shipped cross-platform features in React Native for iOS and Android within an on-site Agile team. Strengthened expertise in hybrid mobile development and native platform bridging.

Mobile Solutions Engineer

Oct 2015 – Nov 2017

Yambla

Owned the full lifecycle of Yambla's mobile applications across iOS and Android. Shipped cross-platform solutions using React Native, working remotely with a distributed team. Gained deep experience in mobile architecture, app store deployment, and end-to-end product delivery.

Android Development Trainer

Aug 2015 – Oct 2015

Cevora/Cefora (via EASI)

Designed and delivered intensive Android development training (Java) for career-changers in the VDAB second-chance programme. Turned complex programming concepts into accessible, hands-on course material — an early expression of a lasting passion for coaching and teaching.

Mobile Developer & Technical Consultant

2012 – 2015

EASI

Progressed from intern to full-time Native Android Developer, establishing a deep foundation in mobile architecture and design. Gained broad consulting exposure, including legacy enterprise systems, and developed strong analytical skills translating client requirements into technical solutions.

Warrior Workout Tracker

Mobile Application Development

Where passion meets skill — a cross-platform workout tracker built in Flutter, available on iOS, Android, and the web. Designed and developed end-to-end: architecture, UI/UX, backend integration, and store deployment. A personal project that fuses a love for fitness with deep mobile engineering expertise.

AI Research & Development

Research & Development (R&D)

Actively exploring the cutting edge of AI — from training custom LoRA models on personal datasets with Stable Diffusion, to integrating local LLMs via Ollama, to experimenting with agentic coding workflows. This ongoing R&D keeps skills sharp and ensures first-hand understanding of the tools reshaping software engineering.

Art of Breathing

Mobile Application Development

Independently designed, built, and published a mobile app for guided breathing exercises using Flutter. Handled the full product lifecycle — from concept and UI/UX design through App Store submission and user feedback iteration. A complete full-stack v2 rewrite is in progress — featuring a refreshed design, expanded exercise library, and a modern, streamlined user flow.

Infrastructure & Home Automation

Infrastructure

Setup and management of a local server with Home Assistant, integrating sensors and hardware into a smart home environment.

100miles4autism

Charity/Web Development

Developed and sponsored a fully functional website with articles and live coverage to raise funds for charity.

AI & Innovation

AI-Augmented Development & SDLC IntegrationGitHub Copilot, Cursor, AntigravityAI Agents (coaching, instructing & code review)Local LLM integration (Ollama)Prompt engineering (development, testing, review)Generative AI R&D (Stable Diffusion, LoRA fine-tuning)

Engineering & Methodology

Agile ScrumDevOpsTest-Driven Development (TDD)CI/CD (Azure DevOps, Jenkins)Mobile Architecture & scalability

Coaching & Communication

1-on-1 developer mentoring & career coachingCo-creating sustainable workflowsGroup facilitation & workshops for technical and non-technical audiencesTranslating complex matters into daily practice

Tech Stack

Flutter (Dart)React Native (JS/TS)KotlinSwift.NETPythonNode.js

Cloud & DevOps

FirebaseAzure DevOpsJenkinsCI/CDGitHub Actions

Master of Engineering (Industrial Engineer)

Groep T

Focus: Major Internet Computing

Bachelor of Engineering

Groep T

Focus: Electronics-ICT

Graphic Design

Centrum voor Avondonderwijs

Focus: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign

Languages

DutchNative

EnglishHighly fluent (Professional Working Proficiency)

FrenchGood knowledge

Let's Connect

Looking for a freelance senior mobile engineer, AI-savvy tech lead, or experienced coach? Let's talk.

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