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Biniam Kassahun
Verified Expert in Engineering
Back-end Developer
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Toptal member since November 1, 2022
Bio
Biniam is a senior back-end engineer with deep expertise in Python, Node.js, and PHP. He specializes in architecting high-performance APIs and real-time WebSocket services that drive user productivity and business efficiency. With a proven track record of guiding projects from concept through delivery, Biniam consistently delivers scalable, secure, and maintainable solutions that form the backbone of modern applications.
Portfolio
Padilla & Associates, Inc.
PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), jQuery...
Gluon Technologies
Angular, Flutter, Laravel, PHP, Docker, Docker Compose, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL...
NWICode
Angular, PHP, TypeScript, API Integration, Docker Compose, Docker, NGINX...
Experience
- Python - 8 years
- Laravel - 7 years
- PHP - 7 years
- TypeScript - 6 years
- FastAPI - 4 years
- Node.js - 4 years
- MongoDB - 4 years
- NestJS - 2 years
Preferred Environment
Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Cursor AI, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Linux, Python, TypeScript, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker
The most amazing...
...product I've built is a cloud-based high-throughput audio and video fingerprinting platform for ad agencies to track ad viewing time on TV and radio.
Work Experience
Senior Back-end Developer
2023 - 2025
Padilla & Associates, Inc.
- Architected and rebuilt the legacy platform using the Yii 2 framework, designed a modular and scalable back end, and successfully migrated core features.
- Contributed over 4,300 hours modernizing and maintaining a complex legacy system; led the design and full implementation of a new back-end architecture to enhance performance, scalability, and long-term maintainability.
- Developed and maintained legacy and modern web applications using PHP, MySQL, and jQuery, delivering key features and improvements.
- Identified and fixed system bottlenecks through advanced troubleshooting, query optimization, and the introduction of effective caching strategies.
Technologies: PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), jQuery, SOLID Principles, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Yii 2, SaaS, Full-stack, Cursor AI, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), CSS, Jira, Containerization, Docker, Docker Compose, REST, Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, Back-end Architecture, Back-end Development, Database Management, CI/CD Pipelines, Full-stack Development, SDKs, Back-end APIs, Data Processing, Document Parsing, Software Architecture, RESTFul APIs
Software Engineer
2021 - 2023
Gluon Technologies
- Engineered large-scale, high-performance systems like Media Analytica (Analytics.et), designed for heavy computation, fast data processing, and scalability—handling millions of records with resilient cloud architecture.
- Built and maintained back-end systems using NestJS, Laravel, FastAPI, and front-end apps with Next.js, leveraging modern AI-assisted tools like Cursor IDE and GitHub Copilot to accelerate development, enforce code quality, and improve team velocity.
- Developed robust, industry-grade back-end APIs with authentication, role-based access control, versioning, rate limiting, and security best practices, ensuring scalability, maintainability, and compliance with modern engineering standards.
- Designed a distributed media analytics platform with microservices for real-time audio fingerprinting, matching, and ad tracking across TV and radio. Included stream ingestion, fingerprinting, user and channel management, and billing services.
Technologies: Angular, Flutter, Laravel, PHP, Docker, Docker Compose, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL, Node.js, HTML, CSS, API Integration, PhpStorm, WebStorm, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), MongoDB, Mongoose, DevOps, REST APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), HTML5, Linux, Architecture, NestJS, REST, Flask, Chart.js, GraphQL, Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), GitHub Copilot Chat, OpenAI, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), React, Next.js, Django, Back-end Development, Back-end Architecture, Prisma, ChromaDB, Database Management, Microservices Architecture, Large Language Models (LLMs), Machine Learning, CI/CD Pipelines, NoSQL, DocumentDB, Redux Toolkit, GitHub Actions, Full-stack Development, SDKs, Back-end APIs, Document Parsing, Data Pipelines, Software Architecture, Data Engineering, Technical Leadership, RESTFul APIs, SQLAlchemy, Firebase, Cloud Firestore, Jest, WebRTC
Software Developer
2021 - 2022
NWICode
- Developed and deployed a fully-responsive mobile application using Ionic 4, leveraging HTML, CSS, and TypeScript to ensure a seamless, user-friendly experience across devices.
- Designed and implemented a robust calendar management and notification system with real-time updates and reminders, integrated into both the mobile app and back end.
- Integrated Stripe for seamless payment and subscription processing, enabling recurring billing and improving the company’s revenue streams.
- Refactored and optimized the existing PHP back end, Dockerized the environment for smoother deployments, and deployed on Amazon EC2, resulting in significant improvements in speed, scalability, and maintainability.
- Developed REST APIs and interactive data visualizations using Chart.js, delivering insightful analytics features while following modern DevOps best practices for continuous integration and deployment.
Technologies: Angular, PHP, TypeScript, API Integration, Docker Compose, Docker, NGINX, PostgreSQL, Ionic 4, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Stripe, Adobe, DevOps, REST APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), HTML5, REST, Chart.js, Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, Back-end Development, ChromaDB, MongoDB, FastAPI, RabbitMQ, React, NestJS, Next.js
Tech and Innovation Team Lead
2016 - 2022
Great Commission Ministry of Ethiopia
- Architected a highly scalable, event-driven system using Node.js, leveraging RabbitMQ for asynchronous message queuing. This design ensured high throughput and resilience, capable of processing millions of messages without failure.
- Engineered a comprehensive member management module, functioning as a central CRM. This included features for digital membership requests, detailed user profiles, and automated membership card generation.
- Built an integrated, multi-channel communication hub allowing administrators to send bulk and scheduled announcements via SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp, dramatically improving engagement and outreach efficiency.
- Designed and scaled Turumba, a SaaS instant messaging automation tool that processed millions of messages with timezone-aware scheduling and drip-feeding capabilities.
Technologies: Angular, PHP, Node.js, TypeScript, Python, REST APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Data Structures, HTML5, Linux, Architecture, NestJS, FastAPI, SaaS, Full-stack, RabbitMQ, DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, GraphQL, MySQL, CI/CD Pipelines, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), OpenAI, Vertex AI, WebSockets, REST, Flask, Chart.js, Amazon EC2, Amazon RDS, Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), React, Next.js, Django, Back-end Development, ChromaDB, Prisma, Microservices Architecture, Redux Toolkit, GitHub Actions, Full-stack Development, SDKs, Software Architecture, Technical Leadership, Data Pipelines, SQLAlchemy, Jest
Software Engineer
2017 - 2021
Agelgel Technologies
- Developed a cloud-based SMS gateway called Negarit that served hundreds of thousands of users and millions of SMS.
- Designed and developed over 10 software solutions for NGOs and governmental organizations.
- Developed a back-end API using Laravel as a web framework.
- Created an admin web portal using the Angular web framework.
Technologies: PHP, TypeScript, Laravel, Angular, Python, REST APIs, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Architecture
Experience
Media Analytica
I designed and developed Media Analytica, with Python, an audio and video content processing technology and it's built on top of a robust and scalable microservices-based architecture, with commercial tracking, music royalty tracking, broadcast content categorization, audio transcription, and client-side audio recording as its core features.
Negarit SMS
Negarit is one of the first SaaS platforms I designed and developed to streamline the sending and receiving messages across various instant messaging channels, including SMPP, WhatsApp, Telegram, and mobile SMS—all from a centralized portal. Hundreds of users actively use it to send and receive millions of messages across these platforms.
Turumba
https://turumba.net/I designed and developed a message automation system called Turumba, which uses Negarit messaging API to automate messaging through different messaging ports such as SMPP, WhatsApp, Telegram, and mobile SMS. Some of the message automation services rendered by Turumba are:
• Menu-based navigation on contents
• Drip message
• Scheduled group messaging
• Mentor-based conversation room
• Menu-based navigation on contents
• Drip message
• Scheduled group messaging
• Mentor-based conversation room
Hulentenawi
https://hulentenawi.com/A learning platform built for organizations to create their own courses to be used by their specific group of users and I was a back-end developer and DevOps engineer for the project.
The platform is built for Android, iOS, and web users to enroll in any of the courses provided by their organization.
The platform is built for Android, iOS, and web users to enroll in any of the courses provided by their organization.
BGI Website
https://bgiethiopia.comBGI is the Ethiopian large-scale brewery and beverage production wing of Castel Group, operating internationally in over 53 countries. I optimized and improved BGI's corporate website by integrating the admin panel, enabling them to manage and administer the contents and services of its website. To transform their static website into dynamic content, I used Vanilla JS to integrate to admin panel portal API, where I built the admin panel with Laravel and Angular frameworks.
HoPR Web and Mobile System
https://pub.hopr.gov.et/HoPR is a comprehensive digital system built for the Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives. It includes mobile applications for both iOS and Android, as well as an admin web portal for managing content and services. I led the end-to-end design and development of the platform, utilizing Flutter for the mobile apps, Laravel for the back-end API, and Next.js for the admin portal.
Guzo Transport
Guzo is an online bus ticket booking and purchasing platform designed to serve multiple bus transportation associations to sell their tickets online. My role was to design and build the back-end system, including database design and payment service integration with the local banks.
I was in charge of building a Telegram bot that users could use to book and purchase seats. I provided the API for the front-end development teams.
I was in charge of building a Telegram bot that users could use to book and purchase seats. I provided the API for the front-end development teams.
Education
2012 - 2016
Bachelor's Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Addis Ababa University - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Certifications
JUNE 2022 - PRESENT
Introduction to TensorFlow for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning
Coursera
JUNE 2022 - PRESENT
Convolutional Neural Networks
Coursera
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, React, Telegram Bot API, REST APIs, Back-end APIs, TensorFlow Deep Learning Library (TFLearn), FFmpeg, Stripe, jQuery, Chart.js, TensorFlow, SQLAlchemy, WebRTC
Tools
RabbitMQ, Docker Compose, GitHub, PhpStorm, PyCharm, WebStorm, Mongoose, Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS), Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), NGINX, Adobe, IBM Content Manager, Jira, Prisma, Redux Toolkit
Languages
Python, PHP, TypeScript, HTML, JavaScript, SQL, Java, GraphQL, HTML5, Python 3, CSS3, CSS, C++
Frameworks
Laravel, Angular, Django, NestJS, Express.js, Next.js, Flask, Flutter, Ionic 4, Yii 2, Jasmine, Redux, AngularJS, Tailwind CSS, Jest
Paradigms
Microservices, DevOps, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), REST, Back-end Architecture, Microservices Architecture
Platforms
Docker, DigitalOcean, Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS Lambda, Amazon EC2, Linux, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), MacOS, Ubuntu, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Patreon, Vertex AI, Firebase
Storage
MySQL, MongoDB, RDBMS, Redis, PostgreSQL, NoSQL, Data Pipelines, SQLite, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Database Management, Cloud Firestore
Other
Back-end, APIs, Front-end, SOLID Principles, API Integration, Telegram Bots, Data Structures, Architecture, Cursor AI, FastAPI, SaaS, Full-stack, CI/CD Pipelines, WebSockets, Amazon RDS, Back-end Development, DocumentDB, Full-stack Development, Data Processing, Document Parsing, Software Architecture, RESTFul APIs, Content Management Systems (CMS), Bots, Data Engineering, Technical Leadership, Neural Networks, Machine Learning, Apollo, Librosa, OpenAI, Containerization, GitHub Copilot Chat, Web Content Management System (WCMS), ChromaDB, Large Language Models (LLMs), GitHub Actions, SDKs
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