Darren is available for hire
Hire DarrenDarren Buttigieg
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Lija, Malta
Toptal member since November 29, 2022
Bio
Darren is a Python engineer with a background in astrophysics and mathematics, specializing in turning complex, research-driven problems into reliable production software. He works across back-end systems, data pipelines, and scientific computing — from petabyte-scale data ingestion infrastructure to numerical solvers, simulation systems, and pipelines built directly from academic literature. He is most effective where the problem is genuinely hard and standard approaches don't apply.
Portfolio
Freelance Clients
Python, MATLAB, Mathematica, Fortran, C++, Web Scraping, Selenium, Scraping...
Onna
Python 3, Docker, Kubernetes, RabbitMQ, Grafana, Prometheus, Redis, Linux...
Sherpa
Python 3, Flask, Swagger, SQLAlchemy, JavaScript, Postman, Git, Python, JSON...
Experience
- Scientific Computing - 9 years
- Python - 9 years
- Numerical Methods - 9 years
- Physics - 8 years
- Mathematics - 6 years
- Back-end Development - 4 years
- REST APIs - 3 years
- Web Scraping - 2 years
Preferred Environment
MacOS, Linux, PyCharm, Python 3, Python
The most amazing...
...experience is arriving at a problem that seems unsolvable — and finding a solution anyway. I work best where the answer has to be built from first principles.
Work Experience
Software Developer
2018 - PRESENT
Freelance Clients
- Designed and evolved a multi-year economic index platform ingesting decades of global news data across thousands of sources, translating Baker-Bloom-Davis academic methodology into production-grade, reproducible infrastructure.
- Built a configuration-driven indexing framework enabling non-developers to define new indices across sources, languages, regions, and time resolutions without modifying code.
- Implemented resilient scraping and ingestion pipelines with structured logging, retries, fault recovery, and validation, supporting large-scale historical backfills across thousands of news sources.
- Implemented a full multi-compartment Hodgkin-Huxley neuron model from academic literature, including ion channel dynamics, axial currents, extracellular stimulation, and Forward/Backward Euler solver modes.
- Built ODE/PDE solvers for SIR/SIRV epidemiological models, predator-prey dynamics, and arterial blood flow systems using finite difference methods and FEniCS.
- Implemented numerical linear algebra algorithms from first principles — Cholesky factorization, LU decomposition with partial pivoting, Gauss-Newton, and Broyden optimization — with rigorous testing.
- Built a probabilistic tennis match simulator using real ATP/WTA datasets, modeling service points, win probabilities, and full match outcomes across multiple player matchups.
- Implemented a Bitcoin wallet from cryptographic primitives (ECDSA, SHA-256, RIPEMD-160, Base58Check) without third-party cryptographic libraries.
- Delivered scientific data analysis and visualization pipelines using NumPy, SciPy, and Matplotlib, producing publication-quality figures for research-driven clients.
Technologies: Python, MATLAB, Mathematica, Fortran, C++, Web Scraping, Selenium, Scraping, FEniCS, SciPy, Numerical Methods, GitHub Copilot, Cryptography, Agent-based Modeling, Computational Neuroscience, Data Engineering, ETL, ETL Pipelines, Data Processing, Data Analysis, Data Mining
Software Developer
2020 - 2022
Onna
- Contributed to 20+ third-party API connectors supporting data ingestion at billions of files, multi-petabyte scale for eDiscovery and compliance use cases.
- Designed and implemented a Slack Connect sync feature—the platform's most complex connector—reducing API call volume, minimizing rate limiting, and improving sync speed.
- Implemented observability tooling across the connectors codebase—metrics, dashboards, and diagnostics—enabling pre-launch bug detection across multiple releases.
- Built and maintained Grafana dashboards providing detailed visibility into connector performance, API call volumes, response status codes, and data sync sizes.
- Improved CI/CD pipelines and expanded test coverage across the connectors codebase, reducing integration risk and improving deployment confidence.
- Refactored back-end services across the connectors codebase to improve readability, testability, and long-term maintainability.
- Contributed to a decoupling effort, breaking microservices from a monolith, improving system modularity, and independent deployability.
Technologies: Python 3, Docker, Kubernetes, RabbitMQ, Grafana, Prometheus, Redis, Linux, Agile Software Development, APIs, Git, Jenkins, Pytest, Python, JSON, Asyncio, REST APIs, Slack API, Dropbox API, Office 365 API, Zoom, API Integration, Data Integration, Jenkins Pipeline, Data Visualization, Dashboards, OAuth 2, CI/CD Pipelines, FastAPI, Back-end, Back-end Development, ETL, ETL Pipelines, Data Processing, Data Science, API Architecture, Data Analysis, Data Mining
Python Developer
2016 - 2017
Sherpa
- Co-authored a mathematical research paper proposing a novel approach to quantifying and scoring risk across multiple categories, working directly with the founding team.
- Implemented the mathematical scoring models from the research paper into production Python code, with careful attention to numerical stability and model validity.
- Built and documented a REST API exposing the scoring platform to the front end, enabling client-facing delivery of risk assessment results.
Technologies: Python 3, Flask, Swagger, SQLAlchemy, JavaScript, Postman, Git, Python, JSON, SQL, APIs, REST APIs, API Integration, Pandas, Back-end, Back-end Development, Numerical Methods, API Architecture
Experience
Automated News Scraping System for Economic Indicator Generation
Designed and maintained a large-scale Python platform for constructing daily and monthly economic indices from decades of global news coverage. Independently translated academic methodologies (including Baker-Bloom-Davis-style indices) into production-grade, reproducible software.
Built a fully config-driven indexing framework (JSON/CSV), enabling non-developers to define new indices across sources, languages, regions, time resolutions, and keyword regimes without code changes. Implemented resilient web-scraping pipelines with structured logging, retries, and fault recovery to support large historical backfills across thousands of sources.
Developed a robust, object-oriented Selenium automation framework with assertable, retryable actions and explicit state validation. Extended core methodologies with source-importance weighting, cross-source normalisation, and alternative formulations to improve empirical stability. Evolved the system over multiple years from a research prototype to a production-grade research infrastructure.
Built a fully config-driven indexing framework (JSON/CSV), enabling non-developers to define new indices across sources, languages, regions, time resolutions, and keyword regimes without code changes. Implemented resilient web-scraping pipelines with structured logging, retries, and fault recovery to support large historical backfills across thousands of sources.
Developed a robust, object-oriented Selenium automation framework with assertable, retryable actions and explicit state validation. Extended core methodologies with source-importance weighting, cross-source normalisation, and alternative formulations to improve empirical stability. Evolved the system over multiple years from a research prototype to a production-grade research infrastructure.
Connector Integration for a Knowledge Discovery App
Built an app using Python, Docker, Kubernetes, Redis, and RabbitMQ. I was part of the back-end team in the connectors section, which dealt with integrations with third-party APIs, retrieving the data specified by the customer coming through the front end. I stored the relevant fields in the appropriate format in the database.
Risk Assessment Score Calculation
Co-authored a mathematical paper delineating the algorithm for calculating an individual's insurance risk assessment score. I worked together with another mathematician while also being on the software development team. I liaised with the CEO, CTO, COO, and the rest of the development team to design the equations and algorithms in line with the needs of the company.
Travel Mapper
Developed a React application that provides users with a highly interactive way of creating travel maps. Users can add multiple transportation modes and additional features as part of the same journey. I am the sole contributor working on this ongoing project.
Education
2014 - 2016
Master's Degree in Astrophysics
Leiden University - Leiden, The Netherlands
2010 - 2014
Bachelor's Degree in Mathematics and Physics
University of Malta - Malta
Skills
Libraries/APIs
NumPy, REST APIs, Slack API, Matplotlib, Asyncio, Dropbox API, Office 365 API, Leaflet, SciPy, SQLAlchemy, Jenkins Pipeline, Pandas, React, FEniCS
Tools
Pytest, LaTeX, Adobe Lightroom, Grafana, Git, Mathematica, Postman, Zoom, Algorithm Design, GitHub Copilot, RabbitMQ, Jenkins, MATLAB, Adobe Photoshop, Plotly
Languages
Python 3, Python, HTML, JavaScript, Fortran, C++, SQL
Storage
JSON, Redis, MySQL, Data Integration
Frameworks
Selenium, Flask, Swagger, OAuth 2
Paradigms
Agile Software Development, ETL, Agent-based Modeling, API Architecture
Platforms
MacOS, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Mapbox
Other
Scientific Computing, APIs, Mathematics, Physics, API Integration, Back-end, Back-end Development, Numerical Methods, Data Visualization, Dashboards, FastAPI, Web Scraping, Scraping, Data Engineering, ETL Pipelines, Data Processing, Data Analysis, Data Mining, Prometheus, CI/CD Pipelines, Maps, Cryptography, Computational Neuroscience, Data Science
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