Kevin Muthiani, Developer in Nairobi, Kenya
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Kevin Muthiani

Verified Expert  in Engineering

DevOps Engineer and Back-end Developer

Location
Nairobi, Kenya
Toptal Member Since
February 18, 2022

Kevin is an engineering graduate with over four years of software development experience as a back-end developer and DevOps engineer. He has worked on database design and software architecture, REST API implementation, and maintenance of various software solutions ranging from crowdsourcing to video conferencing. Competent in Docker and AWS Cloud solutions and experienced on the Google Cloud Platform, Kevin is also knowledgeable about creating and maintaining GitLab CI/CD pipelines in AWS.

Portfolio

Cloudways Ltd
Python, Django, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Cloud Functions...
LimaTech
Python, Django, Elasticsearch, Database Design, PostGIS, PostgreSQL, REST...
LimaTech
Docker, NGINX, Docker Swarm, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), AWS CLI...

Experience

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

Linux, PyCharm, Docker, Postman

The most amazing...

...thing I've designed and developed is a secure, fault-tolerant, and scalable REST API for a crowdsourcing and data analysis application.

Work Experience

Senior Back-end Developer

2022 - 2023
Cloudways Ltd
  • Developed and maintained Django REST APIs hosted on GCP, bridging a managed cloud platform web application with a GKE back end.
  • Implemented enhancements to asynchronous operations, leading to smoother processes and an improved user experience.
  • Collaborated with team members to troubleshoot and solve technical issues, improving the platform's stability.
  • Developed reusable modules, saving time and effort for fellow teammates.
  • Proposed and championed the adoption of additional code best practices, resulting in improved efficiency and easier maintenance.
  • Assisted with onboarding new developers on the project and provided technical support as needed.
Technologies: Python, Django, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Google Cloud Functions, Google Cloud SQL, Google BigQuery, PostgreSQL, Django REST Framework, Pytest, Terraform, REST, REST APIs, Google Cloud Datastore, GitHub, Google, PubSubJS, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Google Cloud Storage, Google APIs, Mixpanel, Cloudflare, Apache Avro, Redis, Swagger, Git, GraphQL, Architecture, Microservices, RESTful Microservices, Unit Testing, ETL, Infrastructure as Code (IaC)

Lead Back-end Developer

2021 - 2022
LimaTech
  • Prepared back-end engineering plans, which included back-end architecture, database schema, and time estimates for implementation by the team.
  • Led the implementation of REST APIs for an agricultural collection and analytics application, a crowd-sourcing platform, and a sales and distribution application.
  • Oversaw the resolution of bugs automatically reported on Sentry or raised by the QA team.
  • Reviewed code for more than 200 merge requests within the back-end team.
Technologies: Python, Django, Elasticsearch, Database Design, PostGIS, PostgreSQL, REST, REST APIs, APIs, JSON, Docker, Redis, Celery, Git, Linux, GitLab, Back-end, Swagger, Django REST Framework, Django Ninja, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), OAuth, Databases, Python API, Architecture, Leadership, Team Leadership, RESTful Microservices, Microservices, Django ORM, OpenAPI, Sentry, SQL, RDBMS, Software Architecture, Unit Testing

DevOps Engineer

2020 - 2022
LimaTech
  • Configured and maintained a high availability six-node staging Docker Swarm cluster on AWS to support 5+ applications behind an Nginx reverse proxy.
  • Provisioned and managed a CloudFront CDN for a public website hosted on AWS S3. Set up an automated CI/CD pipeline for the website using Gitlab CI and AWS CLI.
  • Set up and maintained automated CI/CD pipelines into Docker clusters or CloudFront distributions using Gitlab CI, Docker, and AWS CLI.
  • Developed an Ansible playbook to install and configure a Docker Swarm cluster on provisioned Linux machines.
  • Managed an organizational Zimbra mail server hosted on Linode.
  • Deployed and managed an on-premise Linux machine to host various applications using Citrix XenServer.
Technologies: Docker, NGINX, Docker Swarm, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), AWS CLI, Amazon Lightsail, Amazon EC2, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, Elasticsearch, Redis, DigitalOcean, Amazon CloudFront CDN, Certbot, SSL, AWS Certificate Manager, Linux, Zimbra, XenServer, PyPI, Ansible, DevOps, Sentry, Bash, Shell, YML, CI/CD Pipelines, Amazon Web Services (AWS), OpenVidu, RDBMS

Junior Back-end Developer

2019 - 2021
LimaTech
  • Developed portions of REST APIs using the Django REST framework (DRF) for four projects, including a project management application, a building security monitoring system, and a video-conferencing application.
  • Tracked and resolved bugs assigned to me on Sentry or through the internal project management system.
  • Developed portions of asynchronous mobile SMS notifications. Integrated with a 3rd-party API to a local telecommunications provider.
Technologies: Python, Django, Elasticsearch, Docker, Redis, Celery, REST APIs, Git, Docker Compose, Linux, GitLab, Sentry, Back-end, Swagger, REST, APIs, JSON, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, Django REST Framework, Video Streaming, SMS, OTP, Databases, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Auth, RESTful Microservices, Microservices, Django ORM, OpenAPI, Channels, WebSockets, Video Conferencing, OAuth 2, SQL, RDBMS, Unit Testing

Software Engineer Intern

2019 - 2019
e.KRAAL Innovation Hub
  • Developed a Django REST API for an ELK-based network monitoring and anomaly detection system.
  • Prepared Bash scripts for internal use in the installation and configuration of Packetbeat and Winlogbeat.
  • Trained machine learning models to detect network traffic anomalies.
Technologies: Django, ELK (Elastic Stack), Bash, Elasticsearch, Kibana, Git, GitLab, Machine Learning, REST, APIs, REST APIs, Microservices, RESTful Microservices, Beats, Back-end, Django ORM

Qazzi Crowd Sourcing

This crowdsourcing solution collects and analyzes various products' prices in different retail outlets. The information is customized for data subscribers or analysts and used to aid shoppers in the price comparison.

As the lead back-end developer for the project, I was tasked with overseeing software development to meet REST API requirements. The API was developed using Django Ninja (Python) and JSON Web Token (JWT) for user authentication.

I primarily worked on data models and API endpoints for authentication, data, billing, and product modules. I also configured the PostgreSQL database, Redis broker for async Celery workers, and Elasticsearch search and analytics containers on AWS. Integrated the API authentication service with a Google Identity Platform.

Additionally, I configured DevOps GitLab CI/CD pipelines with code quality checks, unit testing, the building of Docker images, and deployment to an AWS Cloud Docker swarm cluster behind the Nginx reverse proxy. Finally, I prepared a fault-tolerant production environment.

Horizon Sales and Distribution Solution

This project assists consumer goods manufacturers and wholesalers in managing distribution and sales to retailers.

I oversaw software development to meet REST API requirements. The API service was developed using the Django REST framework (Python) and OAuth for user authentication.

I primarily developed the roles, dispatching, and accounting API modules. Then I configured PostgreSQL, Redis cache and broker, and Elasticsearch analytics containers on AWS. Additionally, I configured DevOps GitLab CI/CD pipelines completed with code quality checks, unit testing, the building of Docker images, and deployment to AWS.

Ofisini

A centralized office management tool for a software development organization with an Angular-based front-end website and Django REST back end.

I worked as a back-end and DevOps developer on the tool, which comprised various modules such as project management, accounting, asset management, space bookings, and rota scheduling.

The project management module (core) featured a Web UI for planning, tracking, and discussing milestones, user stories, and bug tickets on a multi-stage board. This was integrated with a self-hosted GitLab instance to track related git branches, commits, and releases automatically.

Baraza Video Conferencing

This video-conferencing solution helps shift toward working from home, as was the case for many public and private organizations during 2020, all in a bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I was part of the back-end software development team tasked with developing a REST API back end using Django REST framework (Python), PostgreSQL for data storage, and JWT for authentication.

I installed and configured an OpenVidu server using Docker Compose on Azure to communicate with the back end and web microservices on AWS. Also, I programmed asynchronous tasks using Redis as a Celery message broker for mobile notifications, such as meeting schedules and OTPs for signup and password reset, through integration with a third-party telecommunication provider API. As a co-DevOps engineer for the project, I managed GitLab CI/CD pipelines that facilitated deployment to the AWS Cloud.
2014 - 2019

Bachelor's Degree in Telecommunications

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology - Nairobi, Kenya

OCTOBER 2022 - PRESENT

HashiCorp Certified: Terraform Associate

HashiCorp

FEBRUARY 2022 - PRESENT

AWS Certified Solutions Architect

Udemy

FEBRUARY 2021 - PRESENT

Google Cloud Platform

Google Africa Developer Training Program

JULY 2020 - PRESENT

Linux Administration

Udemy

MAY 2020 - PRESENT

Docker Mastery: With Kubernetes and Swarm

Udemy

NOVEMBER 2015 - PRESENT

Certified Public Accountant I

KASNEB

Languages

Python, SQL, Bash, GraphQL

Frameworks

Django, Django REST Framework, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), OAuth 2, Swagger

Libraries/APIs

REST APIs, Python API, Django ORM, Auth, PubSubJS, OpenAPI, Google APIs

Tools

Docker Swarm, PyCharm, Docker Compose, Git, GitLab CI/CD, Sentry, GitLab, Zimbra, Certbot, Shell, Terraform, Pytest, GitHub, Apache Avro, Postman, Celery, NGINX, AWS IAM, AWS CLI, Amazon CloudFront CDN, PyPI, Ansible, Kibana, ELK (Elastic Stack)

Paradigms

REST, Database Design, DevOps, Microservices, Unit Testing, ETL

Platforms

Docker, Linux, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon EC2, OTP, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kubernetes, Azure, Amazon Lightsail, XenServer, Mixpanel

Storage

JSON, PostgreSQL, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Databases, RDBMS, Elasticsearch, Redis, PostGIS, Google Cloud SQL, Google Cloud Datastore, Google Cloud Storage

Other

APIs, Back-end, YML, SSL, Django Ninja, RESTful Microservices, SMS, CI/CD Pipelines, Architecture, Google Cloud Functions, Google BigQuery, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Cloudflare, Software Architecture, Google, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Video Conferencing, WebSockets, Channels, OpenVidu, AWS Certificate Manager, Machine Learning, Beats, Leadership, Team Leadership, Video Streaming, OAuth, Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Public Finance, Taxation, Economics

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