Marko Bender
Verified Expert in Engineering
SQL Developer
Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia
Toptal member since January 8, 2020
Besides being a team player who excels in end-to-end projects, Marko is an engineer who’s passionate about new technologies, data, and the cloud. At Microsoft, he worked with the SQL Server and Azure SQL Database Managed Instance. Recently, Marko has gotten into freelancing and signed onto a project where he developed a real estate search engine.
Portfolio
Experience
- SQL - 8 years
- .NET - 7 years
- C# - 7 years
- .NET Core - 7 years
- Azure - 7 years
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) - 6 years
- Python - 5 years
- OpenAI GPT-4 API - 2 years
Preferred Environment
Git, TFS, Slack, Teams, Visual Studio, Windows, Visual Studio .NET, Google Cloud, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN)
The most amazing...
...thing I've developed was a bot that handled production management work that was previously done by my peers and saved hundreds of hours of work.
Work Experience
AI - RAG Engineer
Pearl of the North HF (5611151680)
- Built a RAG AI chatbot using GPT APIs and a custom knowledge base.
- Built the custom knowledge base by leveraging RAG embedding APIs and Pinecone vector database.
- Designed mechanisms to prevent exploitation and DDoS attacks.
Senior AI and Full Stack Engineer
Fonoa
- Implemented a RAG AI solution for the client using custom APIs and a 3rd party tool.
- Contributed to a fast-paced fintech startup specializing in tax automation for major internet companies, including Uber, Booking, Remote, Bolt, and Netflix.
- Collaborated closely with engineering teams from top-tier clients, fostering an environment of continuous learning and innovation.
- Developed a scalable, real-time system that enabled clients to easily and precisely report financial transactions to country-specific tax authorities.
- Upheld high standards of responsibility and diligence, recognizing the potential for a significant impact on customers due to financial data sensitivity and the importance of maintaining system stability.
- Implemented a complex integration with the Egyptian tax authority, showcasing adaptability and problem-solving skills.
- Introduced a novel digital signing algorithm that secured a competitive market advantage by ensuring customer data confidentiality and eliminating third-party sharing.
- Advocated for improved processes and automation of frequently performed tasks, increasing team efficiency by reducing time spent on repetitive manual work.
- Persistently drove progress and integrated best practices from Microsoft's approach to enhancing the startup's daily operations and overall performance.
- Used the following technology for the project: .NET Core, C#, Go, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, and GCP.
Senior Back-end Software Engineer
Logikraft
- Worked on technology previously unknown to me, quickly learned it, and successfully completed the project.
- Worked on a fully functional software solution from start to finish and provided a polished product.
- Owned architectural decisions by separating numerous components, splitting them into separate assemblies concerning dependencies.
Full-stack Engineer
Ecom Solutions
- Implemented several new features on an existing system that brought real business value and drove the organization forward.
- Implemented a solution for the client with several tools and APIs.
- Made sure that the system was constantly being polished and improved on all fronts, apart from new work, being engaged in improving the codebase and the processes.
- Worked as a true full-stack engineer: I handled things ranging from a fairly complex back-end service ecosystem to the public-facing API, the front-end database, and external integrations and operational issues.
Lead Software Engineer
Design Management Services
- Built a modern cloud-based WPF application that integrates well with the old technology (PDF, Excel documents, and VB scripts) legacy systems by having an API layer for them.
- Built out Azure infrastructure and an installer for the desktop part of the application. Set up an easy and intuitive deployment and update system that ensures all updates are pushed without disturbing the client's work.
- Took a deep dive into a new industry that was unfamiliar to me before the project. Learned extensively about the industries' terms, processes, and rules, which enabled me to incorporate this new knowledge into the app we were building.
Full-stack Developer
Nadji.rs
- Developed a real estate search engine in Serbia that gathers listings from all over the web, structures the data, and displays it to users for easier searches.
- Implemented web scraping, data analysis, and parsing, including parsing unusable HTML documents and creating structured, well parsed, and formatted relational data.
- Created sophisticated algorithms for finding duplicates by looking at the listing data, description, and images with a high tolerance for noise (different sizes, formats, watermarks, and so on.).
Software Engineer
Microsoft
- Implemented revolutionary backup-restore solutions for SQL Azure Managed Instance, some of which weren't possible in the cloud before.
- Developed a set of microservices for automatic cluster provisioning and management.
- Performed in a dynamic, agile environment with high autonomy and independence, which empowered me to take the initiative and responsibility for my work.
- Communicated efficiently with external teams from around the globe and various cultural backgrounds.
- Used TFS and Git for source control and a range of tools for effective work tracking, production monitoring, and communication and synchronization with the team.
Freelance Software Developer
Independent Work
- Built an AI solution for tracking and recognizing hand-written digits in a video in Python.
- Intensively worked with Bootstrap, vanilla JavaScript, and jQuery.
- Built REST APIs in two environments: Java Spring and Hibernate and .NET and Entity framework.
- Used relational databases (SQL Server and MySQL) in most of my projects and developed a solid understanding and expertise.
- Worked with serious clients and developed reliability and trustworthiness in my work.
Experience
Microsoft SQL Azure Managed Instance
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-managed-instanceAs the project was revolutionary in its field, my team and I faced many previously unknown challenges but overcame each of them. I worked on developing backup and restoring features for the service and a set of microservices for automatic cluster provisioning and management.
ISDN Network Server
Ecom Solutions
Design Management Service Project Management Software
http://dms.ecoReal Estate Search Engine
Subtitle Translation Using GPT
The work included:
• Used GPT to do the actual translation
• Batching input into chunks of appropriate size and format for GPT
• Implementing output validation logic and sophisticated retry mechanism using different GPT parameters to achieve a perfect result.
GPT and Midjourney Integration
The result is being able to generate 200+ images in a matter of seconds automatically, which is great for cases when a rough idea exists, but additional creativity is needed.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Software Engineering
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences - Novi Sad, Serbia
Skills
Libraries/APIs
REST APIs, Entity Framework, React, API Development, Google Maps API, Google API, Beautiful Soup, Social Media APIs, Sockets, Amazon API, jQuery, Vue, GitHub API, Shopify API
Tools
Visual Studio, Slack, TFS, Git, Visual Studio .NET, Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Teams, Azure Logic Apps, GitHub, ChatGPT, GoLand, Terraform, Shopify Plus, Azure App Service
Languages
Transact-SQL (T-SQL), XML, C#, Python, C#.NET, SQL, XSD, HTML, CSS, Active Server Pages (ASP), HTML5, XPath, Python 3, Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, GraphQL
Frameworks
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), .NET, .NET Core, .NET 5, Selenium, ASP.NET, ASP.NET Core, Bootstrap, ASP.NET Web Forms, ASP.NET Web API, ASP.NET Identity, IdentityServer 4, .NET 3, .NET 7, .NET 6, Scrapy, Flask, Spring Boot, Spring, Hibernate, Windows PowerShell, Redux, ASP.NET Core MVC, ASP.NET MVC, MVC Razor, Angular, gRPC, Serverless Framework, .NET 4
Paradigms
Microservices, Continuous Deployment, Agile, REST, Microservices Architecture, Scalable Application, Agile Software Development, Scrum, B2B, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Continuous Integration (CI), Back-end Architecture, Automation, Hosting, Serverless Architecture, API/Services Architecture, Test-driven Development (TDD), Unit Testing, Web Architecture, Web Application Architecture, Cross-platform, RESTful Development, Test Automation
Platforms
Windows, Azure, Azure Service Fabric, Windows UI, Amazon, Shopify, NopCommerce, Azure Functions, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oracle, Azure PaaS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Kubernetes, Docker, PagerDuty, Linux, Heroku, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Application Platform
Storage
Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Databases, MySQL, Databases, SQL Server 2014, Azure SQL, MongoDB, PostgreSQL, NoSQL, Data Integration, JSON, Database Architecture, Google Cloud, Google Cloud SQL, Datadog, Redis, Database Migration, ANSI SQL, RDBMS, Database Management Systems (DBMS), Redis Cache, SQL Server 2016, Database Integration, Azure Blobs, Azure Cloud Services, Database Testing
Other
Teams, Scraping, Web Scraping, RESTful Microservices, Cloud, Machine Learning, Data Scraping, XML Web Services, Integration, Third-party APIs, eCommerce, APIs, Web Applications, Full-stack, Web Development, ASCII, DLL, WebSockets, Hardware Drivers, API Integration, RESTful Services, Microsoft Stack, Software Architecture, Architecture, Software Development, Chatbots, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Data Engineering, Data Science, OpenAI GPT-3 API, Mathematical Finance, Mathematical Programming, Slack App, Lambda Functions, Leadership, Front-end, Data Encryption, Encryption, AI Design, Stable Diffusion, ChatGPT API, API Design, CRM APIs, Business Services, Back-end, Scalable Architecture, Data Visualization, Data Analysis, Data Analytics, Data Migration, Technical Leadership, Data Structures, Business to Consumer (B2C), Web Platforms, Online Payments, CI/CD Pipelines, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Data Architecture, Solution Architecture, Payment APIs, Algorithms, Networking, SaaS, Front-end Development, OpenAI GPT-4 API, Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3 (GPT-3), C# Operators, Vector Data, Middleware, Messaging, Engineering, Engineering Management, Team Management, Cloud Architecture, Software Design, System Architecture, Data Feeds, Back-end Development, Scalability, Performance, SOAP, Applications, Incident Management, System Administration, Networks, Firewalls, Systems Analysis, Security, Cross-platform App Development, Chrome Extensions, Technical Consulting, Regular Expressions, Serverless, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Full-stack Development, Windows 10, eCommerce APIs, Integration Testing, Chatbot Conversation Design, Back-end Performance, Large Language Models (LLMs), OpenAI, Vector Databases, Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Mapping, Software Engineering, Microsoft Azure, JSON REST APIs, Third-party Libraries, Platform as a Service (PaaS), UI Components, Internet Information Services (IIS), Web Crawlers, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Vectors, Message Bus, App Integration, System Design, Software Development Management, eCommerce Analysis, Store Scraping, Scalable Web Services, Software, RESTful Web Services, System Architecture Design, Amazon FBA, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)
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