Alex van der Heijden headshot

Hey, I’m

Alex van der Heijden

Software engineer building agents @ Maki

About

I build software with a product lens: thoughtful systems, clear interfaces, and teams that can move quickly without sacrificing quality.

I’m a software engineer who likes building useful things with a strong product instinct: clear problem framing, pragmatic execution, and systems that can scale with real teams.

I’m especially energized by work that sits between disciplines. I enjoy moving between product thinking, engineering detail, and team design to make outcomes feel both solid and human.

  • “Software engineer who loves building products for people”
  • “Interested in the intersectionality of disciplines with software”
  • “Love building scalable solutions and efficient teams”
  • “Baker, gamer (favorites are Celeste and TFT)”

You can find me on GitHub, LinkedIn, and X.

Timeline

Nov 2025 → Present

Software Engineer @ MakiPeople

Paris, France

Currently leading a new product.

  • Currently leading a new product.
  • Designing agentic systems with a strong product and UX focus.
  • Defining early architecture and team workflows for fast iteration.

Focused on shaping both the product direction and technical foundations with a bias for clarity, speed, and maintainability.

Aug 2024 → Sep 2025

Software Engineer @ Doppel

New York City, USA

Engineer #15; technical lead for the product team; led client-facing aspects of executive protection product.

  • Engineer #15
  • Technical lead for the product team
  • Led client-facing aspects of executive protection product
  • Designed and built multi-tenancy and permission system from scratch

Worked closely with product and customers, translating fast-moving requirements into robust implementation patterns.

Sep 2020 → Aug 2024

Software Engineer @ Teladoc Health

New York City, USA

Worked across Clinical, Integrations, and Care Plan/Care Team; helped improve release cadence by building a key microservice.

  • Clinical team → Integrations team → Care Plan & Care Team
  • Led the mental health integration into the core product
  • Built the company’s first microservice to increase developer productivity and release cadence from 1+ months to multiple times a day

Contributed across multiple domains, with emphasis on integration quality, developer velocity, and reliable delivery.

Highlights

Baking experiments

Applying engineering-style iteration to recipes: constrained variables, quick feedback, better results.

A personal reminder that good systems thinking transfers well beyond code.

Designing scalable teams

Aligning architecture and team structure so delivery speed improves as scope grows.

Patterns for ownership boundaries, review loops, and systems that lower coordination cost.

Building agentic systems

Designing practical agent workflows with clear user affordances and measurable outcomes.

Small experiments to make autonomous behavior useful, legible, and safe in product contexts.

Now

I’m currently focused on building agentic product experiences and improving the operational loops around them.

Outside work, I’m iterating on baking experiments and spending time on games that reward precision and patience.