Rodrigo Varela
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Toptal member since December 7, 2020
Rodrigo is a software engineer with over a decade of experience developing applications for various industries and working with teams around the globe. He has a computer science degree from Buenos Aires University and specializes in Android, Kotlin, Java, PHP, APIs, Bash, and databases. Rodrigo is a focused, organized, and productive developer who has led many teams, managed entire full-stack development projects, and excelled as a collaborative individual contributor.
Portfolio
Experience
Availability
Preferred Environment
Trello, Slack, GitHub, MacOS, Blockchain, Crypto
The most amazing...
...app I developed is the official companion Android app for Moment mobile lenses. It ranked top-five in the camera app category on Google Play for three years.
Work Experience
Back-end Engineer
Polybit Studio
- Took over an unfinished refactor to improve scalability and successfully finished Redis Cache integration and API redesign.
- Identified, tracked, and fixed bugs to prepare for production release.
- Helped build a plan for after-release development and features.
Firebase Developer
NSExtensions (via Toptal)
- Created a Node.js system using Firebase functions to provide endpoints facilitating information synchronization between NetSuite and Salesforce.
- Implemented scheduled jobs within the system to query the Salesforce API, ensuring the queried data is available to NetSuite-specific endpoints.
- Provided an endpoint that simplifies updating mappings used for business logic, preparing Salesforce data for easy consumption by NetSuite.
Firebase Engineer
NSExtensions (via Toptal)
- Developed a cloud-based, serverless solution from scratch for the company's shipping solution. Its architecture is primarily based on Google Cloud Run and Firebase functions.
- Built a React PWA app that utilized the services offered by the abovementioned architecture and deployed it into production for the company's main corporate client.
- Set up environments to handle corporate clients and a mass consumption app.
- Developed a simple back office for data analysis based on React-admin.
Firebase Expert
Converso
- Acted as a Firebase expert to help with chat messaging features. Quickly identified customer blocking points on a discovery call and set up a working plan.
- Researched the topic with conclusions on how to move forward.
- Detailed solutions in a PDF document to unblock customers, with supporting links to everything mentioned.
Senior Java Software Engineer
FUJIFILM
- Consulted with the company for six months on implementing a new document warehouse workflow visualization system meant to be built on top of their legacy platform.
- Designed a comprehensive solution, including the necessary data model, and implemented the foundational components and functionalities to provide a solid starting point for the team to continue the development process.
- Contributed to a rebranding project for an existing Angular front end application used by multiple clients, enabling multi-OAuth2 sign-on.
Firebase Developer
NS Extensions LLC (via Toptal)
- Developed a cloud-based serverless solution in Firebase to add specific functionality to a Netsuite setup used for shipping products on behalf of an important provider for a well-known fast food company.
- Initiated the development of QuickShipToday by creating a React application that would also use the same back-end infrastructure.
- Adapted the features to meet the evolving demands, incorporating necessary redesigns and adding support applications like a back-office and an integrated blog using Sanity.io.
Senior Full-stack Engineer Consultant
Digital Creators Pty Ltd
- Developed an app for a fitness startup focused on people with disabilities using Django, PostgreSQL, and React.
- Built a Node.js and Web3 React app for a fintech startup promoting sponsorship of low-income countries' sportsmen through NFTs.
- Created a health-related app via Firebase, Node.js, and React Native.
Senior Full-stack Engineer Consultant
Life Skills Group
- Performed code audit to create an improvement plan focused on reusability.
- Set up an npm repository linked to the company's Git codebase, enabling internal sharing of libraries. Used npm scripts to make the library-sharing process easier for developers.
- Conducted a complete redesign of the company's main database to support its growth trajectory. It involved performing functional analysis, designing database schemas, and providing tips for implementation.
- Applied general Git.js and software engineering best practices, providing consultancy when requested.
Principal Software Engineer
Bilue
- Contributed to several Android projects for one of Australia's leading health insurance providers.
- Integrated with a company team to help the leading developer transition to another project and helped build a new team.
- Tackled main screen tech-debt refactoring with app stabilization from an approximate 94% crash-free session rate to over 99.6%, biometrics login, PDF claiming, and digital payments using Braintree integration and NFC EFTPOS device communications.
Android Lead Engineer
Moment
- Built the Moment Android photography app to maximize the potential of Moment's adaptable lenses. Worked as a sole developer, developing the app from scratch.
- Forged a team of developers across the globe, collaborating remotely on the product features. At the peak time, we were four developers across three time zones.
- Developed live image processing features, such as histogram, waveform, video bitrate setup, anamorphic de-squeezing, focus peaking, highlight clipping, shadow clipping, FPS, bitrate, and resolution configs based on device capabilities.
Senior Android Developer
UBank
- Implemented Firebase as the primary tracking tool for crashes, enabling the team to gather production information to fix complex, device-specific bugs.
- Maintained the application while developing the architecture for the app redesign and helped the company set up a team.
- Managed and implemented a security code compliance project on the underlying technology for VISA mobile payments.
Android Developer
Love Agency
- Contributed to the development, codebase maintenance, and improvements for Australia's number one Android betting app—the agency's most important client.
- Developed an Android smartwatch and companion app from scratch targeting fall and seizure detection.
- Oversaw a quality assurance process, increasing code coverage from 0% to 50%.
Android Head Developer
Tachanfil
- Extracted newspaper information from the app and moved it into a back-end API service.
- Converted the app layout function from a static to a dynamic approach, enabling the automatic resizing of layouts when adding, removing, and updating newspaper content.
- Developed features like content sharing, newspaper sortings per user-based category, and back-end selections.
- Set up and configured GitHub as the code management platform for the project and designed policies for new developers joining the team.
Senior Software Engineer
Freelance
- Connected SIGRES, a ship residual and waste management system, to an Oracle database using Hibernate before going live on Argentina's national maritime ports.
- Configured dependency injection with Spring and introduced the first tests to the project. Established a TDD process, enabling developers to continue improving it.
- Implemented an AFIP system integration for the Argentine Taxation Office, enabling login with special privileges.
Support Manager
FDV Solutions
- Assisted with building a support area to handle all the projects related to legacy support and establish best practices to tackle them.
- Built an internal team of developers willing to tackle this.
- Documented processes for onboarding, conflict resolution, project documentation, and Agile project tracking.
Project Lead
FDV Solutions
- Implemented Scrum processes, incorporating the client into team meetings and discussions, resulting in a successful engagement.
- Incorporated showcases for clients as a way to demonstrate completed work before conducting retrospectives.
- Unified the project information in Jira as a single point of failure (SPOF).
Senior Java Developer
FDV Solutions
- Created a graph to visualize the time of day and drink inputs for ENDWI, an alcohol consumption tracking app endorsed by the Texas government in the United States.
- Developed a Play Framework web back-end application for GSM geolocation used by Colombian post nets.
- Tracked and fixed bugs using Jira as a reporting tool.
Technical Lead
Odea srl.
- Helped organize a remote team for YPF, a petrol company and Odea's main client. The team was in charge of the main product for gas and petrol delivery tracking.
- Played a crucial role in analyzing, designing, and developing the GasTracker system to identify the origins of gas for sale. Provided infrastructure consulting and configuration management.
- Conducted pulse meetings to manage maintenance, upgrades, and architectural improvement projects.
Developer Analyst
MercadoLibre
- Accomplished a long-overdue points migration from v2 to v3 over the MercadoPago, a LATAM payments solution. Used PL/SQL scripts for overnight execution, monitored results daily, and tweaked the process as needed.
- Implemented a search algorithm based on query matches against a category tree, using a weight algorithm solution, for the MercadoClics platform.
- Assisted with the company's transition from Waterfall to Agile project management methodologies.
Developer Analyst
Syscope
- Managed web-based projects from end to end, ensuring direct communication with clients.
- Developed an open-source PHP component for a CakePHP framework to easily add language translations to websites, managed from the back end.
- Advanced rapidly to working on PHP production projects for clients after starting with zero PHP experience.
Java Developer
Modhelus
- Conducted unit tests to improve the front-end web system coverage while working as a trainee through my university internship program.
- Joined the back-end team and developed tree structure-based solutions for complex performance problems.
- Used the same tree-based solution for generating reports in CSV format.
Experience
DSLR Professional Camera App for Android
https://www.shopmoment.com/Main achievements:
• Designed and built a fully Android native Camera2 API Kotlin app from scratch. It included core camera and video functionalities, such as flash modes, timers, ISO and shutter speed, white balance, and focus.
• Built a team of remote developers across the globe to tackle real-time image processing.
• Incorporated complex features like histograms, photographer analytics, and focus peaking using low-level RenderScript and OpenGL code embedded in the app.
Android Apps for On-demand Valet Parking Service
https://drop.car/We built a Java app using a shared Gradle module with all the core functionality to maximize code sharing, building both apps in the same project.
The application was a success for these reasons:
1. We successfully built an MVP showing the location tracking for both apps and the core valet request functionality.
2. From there, based on the proposed architecture, we could quickly grow by adding more functionalities and sharing as much code as possible.
3. All the core functionalities were thoroughly tested only once, guaranteeing the quality of the trunk of the app.
4. We left the main architecture clearly documented for future tech leads to improve it.
Web App MVP to Reverse Engineer
I reverse-engineered the state government site to extract the information the architect needed and developed a small Django Python web app to automate the reports as an MVP. This short freelance engagement gave her what she needed for her business.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
University of Buenos Aires - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Certifications
Blockchain A-Z: Learn How to Build Your First Blockchain
Udemy
Skills
Libraries/APIs
React, Node.js, Retrofit, REST APIs, Stripe, Square API, Stripe API, OpenGL, Camera2 API, Django ORM, RxJava
Tools
Git, Android Studio, Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Subversion (SVN), Jenkins, CircleCI, Apache, Visual Studio, GitHub, Slack, Trello, Jira, GIS, GitLab, GitLab CI/CD, Figma, Prisma, NGINX
Languages
Java, Kotlin, PHP, JavaScript, TypeScript, XML, Bash, Python, HTML, CSS, Swift, C, SQL, C++, Python 3, C#
Frameworks
Spring, Hibernate, CakePHP 2, OAuth 2, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Spring Boot, Android SDK, Flask, Laravel, Next.js, Material UI, Jest, Core Bluetooth, Angular, Express.js, RenderScript, Apache Struts 2, Play, JSF, Django, CakePHP, Apache Struts, Django REST Framework, Flutter, AngularJS, Redux, Tailwind CSS, React Native, Symfony
Paradigms
Agile, Microservices, REST, Web Architecture, Back-end Architecture, Continuous Integration (CI), Mobile Development, Testing, Unit Testing, Requirements Analysis, UX Design, Asynchronous Programming, App Development, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), Database Design, Stress Testing, Microservices Architecture, UI Design, Scrum, DevOps
Platforms
Android, Firebase, Linux, Mobile, Buildkite, Twilio, Sanity Studio, MacOS, Drupal, Oracle, Web, iOS, Django CMS, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Docker, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Blockchain, Salesforce, CentOS 6
Storage
MySQL, JSON, Databases, NoSQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle PL/SQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Cloud, Redis, MongoDB, Amazon S3 (AWS S3)
Industry Expertise
Project Management, Web Design
Other
Software, Project Analysis, Project Tracking, Languages & Storage, Code Architecture, Architecture, Mobile Architecture, APIs, Software Release Management, Release Management, Data Architecture, Requirements, Story Mapping, Google Play Development, Mobile App Development, Firebase Hosting, CI/CD Pipelines, Software Architecture, Back-end, Technical Hiring, Source Code Review, Code Review, Task Analysis, Team Management, Debugging, Authentication, Interactive UI, API Integration, Web Development, Accounts, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Software Design, Leadership, Payment APIs, Software Engineering, Technical Leadership, Planning, Front-end, User Experience (UX), Data Analysis, Front-end Development, Back-end Development, JSON REST APIs, Scripting Languages, Security, Scaling, Mobile Apps, HTTP, TCP/IP, UDP, QA Testing, QA Automation, Full-stack, Firebase Cloud Functions, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), PWA, Serverless, Square Payment Gateway, Bluetooth, Wearables, CTO, Startups, Interviewing, Workflow, Real-time Data, Reporting, CRM APIs, JavaScript Libraries, ACH, Stripe Payments, eCommerce, Scalability, Finance, Cloud Infrastructure, Video Streaming, User Interface (UI), Responsive Design, Logistics, Firebase Instance ID, Service Workers, Game Development, API Design, Android Wear, Gantt Chart, Reverse Engineering, BrainTree, Internet of Things (IoT), Distributed Systems, WebSockets, Crypto, Okta, NetSuite
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