Design Systems Specialist – Available for hire

Hendrik Kettelhut

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01 – Experience

10+ years building products.
Five deep in systems.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Oct 2013 – Oct 2019

    Freelancer

    Senior UX/UI Designer

  • 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.

  • University of Applied Sciences Berlin

    B.Eng. Print and Media Technology

  • Berufliches Gymnasium für Technik Lüchow

    High school diploma (Abitur) with focus on Computer Science

04 – Certificates

Recognised expertise,
formally certified.

  • NN/g

    UX Certificate – Speciality recognition in UX Management

  • IHK

    AEVO license – Trainer license for apprentices (Ausbildereignungsprüfung)