
Nikolay Kazmin
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Sofia, Bulgaria
Toptal member since December 29, 2020
Nikolay holds a master’s in computer science from ETH Zurich and has 15+ years of full-stack web development experience. Before founding his own company, he worked with GuideStar, a major US nonprofit brand. Passionate about Rails and React, he co-founded and led Domestina, a cleaning services marketplace with 170,000+ bookings. Later, Nikolay joined scale-up Cypher Learning to enhance its platform and support its IPO plans.
Portfolio
Experience
- CSS - 16 years
- JavaScript - 16 years
- MySQL - 15 years
- Ruby - 15 years
- Ruby on Rails (RoR) - 15 years
- Bootstrap - 14 years
- GitHub - 12 years
- React - 8 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
GitHub, RubyMine, Windows 10
The most amazing...
...web app I've developed is Domestina (Domestina.bg/en). It connects clients with cleaning companies and has more than 170,000 bookings to this date.
Work Experience
Full-stack RoR Senior Developer
CYPHER LEARNING INC.
- Acted as a technical product manager for Cypher Learning’s largest client, translating their needs into scalable features for all customers and implementing the solutions.
- Implemented time tracking to analyze student engagement across classes and content.
- Worked on the website design overhaul, leading the development of customizable site colors for each client.
- Enabled teachers to create custom PDF report cards with student information.
- Enhanced the permissions system to support cascading roles.
- Implemented class periods, securing the company's biggest deal in the Middle East.
- Introduced periodic games in the system's gamification engine.
- Developed a new Google Drive assignment type, allowing teachers to distribute copies of a document stored in their drive to each student.
- Integrated Microsoft Excel to support a new report format.
CTO and Co-founder
Domestina
- Created the software and database designs for the web app from scratch at the start of the company.
- Led the implementation and continuous evolution of the web app using Ruby on Rails.
- Enforced good practices in the development team, which included mandatory tests, code reviews, code styling, CI, automated deployment with Capistrano, and server management with Ansible.
- Recruited two other software engineers and trained them to become an integral part of the development team.
- Led the transition of the front end from jQuery to React; also implemented the booking process with a complicated but very easy-to-use interface.
- Integrated the Braintree payment system and developed automatic payments as well as an internal accounting and invoicing system both for Domestina and its contractor partners.
- Integrated Viber messaging for instant communication with clients and partners.
- Implemented a huge website redesign in 2019 using React more extensively and modern CSS features.
- Helped with product development by implementing "Jobs to be Done" interviews with clients and proposed numerous improvements to the product.
- Created an admin interface for our contractor partners with Materialize CSS and Ruby on Rails.
Senior Software Developer
GuideStar
- Managed the technical part of the transition from Philanthropedia to GuideStar.
- Developed the improved GuideStar's company profiles with Philanthropedia data.
- Built integrations with third-party platforms including Salesforce.
- Contributed to the development of the main website development using C# and ASP.NET MVC.
Senior Software Developer
Philanthropedia
- Developed the back end and front end of the website using Ruby on Rails, jQuery, and CSS.
- Integrated PayPal payments and created an accounting system for the company.
- Integrated Philanthropedia's data into GuideStar and oversaw the technical transition after Philantropedia was acquired.
Experience
Domestina
http://www.domestina.bgI started the project on day one and for the past two years, I have been the sole software engineer for all development activities.
Education
Executive MBA (EMBA) in Business Administration
American University In Bulgaria - Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Master's Degree in Computer Science
ETH Zurich - Zurich, Switzerland
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
Jacobs University Bremen - Bremen, Germany
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Braintree API, React, REST APIs
Tools
RubyMine, GitHub, RSpec, Figma
Languages
CSS, Ruby, HTML, SQL, JavaScript, C#
Frameworks
Ruby on Rails (RoR), Bootstrap, Materialize, ASP.NET MVC
Paradigms
Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Design Patterns, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Storage
MySQL, Databases, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server
Other
Software Engineering, Full-stack, Back-end, Team Leadership, eCommerce, Presentations, Finance, Strategy, Negotiation, Leadership, APIs
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