Design Systems Specialist – Available for hire
Hendrik Kettelhut
01 – Experience
10+ years building products.
Five deep in systems.
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Aug 2023 – Aug 2025
Yara International
Design Lead
- Scaled the design team from 1 to 5 designers within one year, improving delivery velocity and overall product quality
- Enforced a UX workflow that eliminated bottlenecks, restored schedule reliability, and prevented deadline overruns
- Decreased design inconsistencies by 80% through system adoption and embedding consistent design practices
- Defined and implemented a regional design system aligned with the global platform, enabling local product teams to design consistently
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Oct 2020 – Jul 2023
Yara International
Senior Designer (Design Systems)
- Generated and rolled out 40+ reusable components as a Team of One and drove adoption across Yara's digital products
- Fertilise Design System was adopted as the official design system for a full product rebranding
- Hired, managed, and developed the first design systems intern into a full-time contributor
- Integrated 80+ components from a regional system into the new global 'System of systems'
- Enabled collaboration and heightened contribution rate by 60% through standardised workflows
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Dec 2018 – Sep 2020
Yara International
Senior Product Designer
- Built and scaled a web component library with 40+ components, establishing shared quality standards
- Reduced design–engineering handoff issues by 70% by replacing fragmented UI with a unified style guide
- Designed and launched the first mobile app MVP, contributing to higher engagement and adoption
- Increased sign-up rates by 38%, retention by 40%, and conversions by 30% through product and flow redesign
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Oct 2013 – Oct 2019
Freelancer
Senior UX/UI Designer
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Aug 2012 – Sep 2013
Webguidez Entertainment GmbH
Screen Designer
02 – Competencies
Systems thinking
across every layer.
Leadership
Design Leadership Team Building and Scaling Strategic Influence Mentorship and Coaching
Design System
Design Governance System-Level UX Cross-Product Consistency Design–Engineering Collaboration Org-level adoption mechanics Contribution Workflows
03 – Education
Self-taught first.
Formally trained second.
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University of Applied Sciences Berlin
B.Eng. Print and Media Technology
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Berufliches Gymnasium für Technik Lüchow
High school diploma (Abitur) with focus on Computer Science
04 – Certificates
Recognised expertise,
formally certified.
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NN/g
UX Certificate – Speciality recognition in UX Management
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IHK
AEVO license – Trainer license for apprentices (Ausbildereignungsprüfung)