İlhan Bahar

IT Manager | Engineering Leader | Chapter Lead – Consumer Lending at ING

Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye

About

Engineering leader with 14+ years of experience driving digital transformation, software architecture, and automation in banking technology. Leading 3 teams and 20+ engineers at ING, I focus on scalable architectures, performance optimization, and building a culture of continuous learning and ownership. I believe true impact comes from combining technical depth, leadership clarity, and business vision and I aim to create systems and teams that grow stronger together. 🚀 Focus areas: Software Architecture | Digital Transformation | Leadership | Banking Technology | Code Quality | AI & Automation

Experience

  • ING Türkiye (Hybrid)
    • IT Manager | Consumer Lending Automation & Consumer Lending Digital Transformation Chapters
      Mar 2025 - Present · 1 yr 4 mos

      Engineering Manager in the Consumer Lending Department, leading a team with +20 direct report engineers. Architected and implemented an Engineer Metrics Framework that measures engineering contribution across quality, sustainability, and business impact dimensions, improving transparency and aligning engineering efforts with strategic business goals. Managed Products & Platforms : Personal Loan, Vehicle Loan, Mortgage Loan, Overdraft (KMH), After Sales, Credit Onboarding, Salary Onboarding, Turuncu / E-Turuncu, Turuncu Ekstra, Pre-Approved Processes, Instinct, KKB, LKS, KAPS, KKB Notification, Credit Card Application, Invex, E-İpotek, E-Terkin, Allocation, Decision Models

    • IT Manager | Consumer Lending Automation Chapter
      Nov 2023 - Mar 2025 · 1 yr 5 mos

      Manager of two teams under the Consumer Loans Department, overseeing 14 engineers as direct reports. - Converting the end-to-end database and .net legacy codes of the credit card application process to Java microservice architecture in approximately 10 months. - Conversion of legacy codes written in asp and database of the bank's individual KKB services into java microservices in a short period of 8 months and commissioning them smoothly in an organized manner with all consuming teams. - Led critical digital transformation initiatives, improving system efficiency and reducing dependencies within payment and loan systems. - Implemented rigorous code review processes, achieving high code coverage (>85%) and optimizing namespace structures to ensure maintainability and scalability. - Designed and deployed monitoring and alert systems from scratch, enhancing system reliability and operational efficiency. Managed Products & Platforms : Mortgage Loan, Salary Onboarding, Turuncu / E-Turuncu, Turuncu Ekstra, Pre-Approved Processes, Instinct, KKB, LKS, KAPS, KKB Notification, Credit Card Application, Invex, E-Ipotek, E-Terkin

  • VakıfBank (6 yrs 11 mos)
    • Software Architect | Credit Monitoring, Scoring and Non Performing Loan Departments
      Nov 2020 - Nov 2023 · 3 yrs 1 mo

      Driving technical excellence and team growth across multiple projects. - Mentor teammates through coaching and training - Design and support scalable software solutions across the stack - Lead architectural planning and ensure code quality via reviews - Continuously improve systems, processes, and development standards - Collaborate with VakıfBank stakeholders on key architectural decisions

    • Consultant Developer | Credit Monitoring Department
      Jan 2019 - Oct 2020 · 1 yr 10 mos

      Lead the team to resolve technical and operational challenges. - Design, develop, and maintain the Early Warning System in the .NET environment - Manage and implement incoming requests for existing systems - Step in to handle critical issues and ensure system stability

    • Senior Expert Developer | Credit Monitoring Department
      Jan 2018 - Dec 2018 · 1 yr

      Contributed to the Credit Monitoring & Tracking team under the Credit Monitoring Department, developing the bank’s Early Warning System, Credit Monitoring Pools, Credit Actions, and Legal Follow-up Screens. - Built high-performance enterprise applications using WPF and Oracle, meeting the bank’s complex technological requirements - Designed and developed user-friendly Legal Follow-up Screens with AngularJS 4.0, improving system functionality and usability

  • ING Türkiye (3 yrs 1 mo)
    • Senior Software Engineer | Retail Loans Department
      Nov 2015 - Dec 2016 · 1 yr 2 mos

      Worked in the development of infrastructure in the branch on Retail Loans. In addition; Xnext project scope, we convert Branch Screen made with Oracle Forms to Microsoft .Net Technology. I got quite an opportunity to dominate the Oracle database. - Paperless project across the branch drives revenue across the enterprise. Significant reductions per year more than a million pages. Project aims to make all paper works online. By means of the barcode system, providing easy access to all documents and correct archiving facilities.

    • Software Engineer | Retail Loans Department
      Dec 2013 - Nov 2015 · 2 yrs

      Develop applications that increase or facilitate credit sales. In addition, correction of incoming bugs. I've made improvements to Oracle Forms on the front end, whereas the business side is Oracle.

  • Software Developer at BILIN IT Consulting Ltd.
    Jan 2013 - Dec 2013 · 1 yr

    In the Humanist Software Project, I'm a software developer. It made use of one of the most programs in the human resources industry. We are working to develop. Human environment online. Additionally, we create custom modules for our clients.

  • Full Stack Engineer at Unipupil
    Aug 2012 - Jan 2013 · 6 mos

    Developing and maintaining the modules of an inter-university shopping site and taking actions regarding errors. As infrastructure, PHP and MySQL were used.