Safa is available for hire
Hire SafaSafa Orhan
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Location
Konya, Turkey
Toptal Member Since
August 17, 2021
Safa is an Android development specialist with experience in creating quality software for more than a decade. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering and has been making a living by developing Android apps since 2013. After graduating from the top university in his country, he's worked in startups, tech agencies, and corporates and contributed to apps used by millions. Safa currently helps his clients build well-architected Android apps and teaches Android development on the side.
Portfolio
Cactus School
Android, Kotlin
Wayfair
Kotlin, Android, RxJava, Room, Retrofit, Model View ViewModel (MVVM), Projects...
Re:Coded
Android, Java
Experience
Availability
Part-time
Preferred Environment
Android Studio
The most amazing...
...thing I've created is an online school where people can become great software engineers.
Work Experience
Founder and Lead Instructor
2020 - PRESENT
Cactus School
- Created an introductory-level online Android development course for Udemy called Android Course for Extreme Beginners and got 20,000+ students enrolled.
- Gave for-profit one-on-one mentorship and private coding lessons to 30+ people and helped them become successful Android developers.
- Created fully functional educational projects and a unique curriculum to teach Android development.
Technologies: Android, Kotlin
Android Engineer II
2018 - 2020
Wayfair
- Helped develop the store-front apps of Wayfair that has 10,000,000+ downloads with a team of 40+ Android developers across two continents.
- Developed an internal tablet app from scratch using bleeding-edge technologies such as MvRx, automated unit and UI testing, and CI/CD support.
- Led an open-source Android UI library for Wayfair and developed most of it.
- Delivered internal and public-facing Android development workshops to help the community grow.
Technologies: Kotlin, Android, RxJava, Room, Retrofit, Model View ViewModel (MVVM), Projects, Jenkins, Unit Testing, Automated UI Testing
Android Trainer
2018 - 2018
Re:Coded
- Delivered in-person Android lectures to 20 international individuals for six months.
- Created regular quizzes and project assignments for the students to complete.
- Touched the lives of many people and helped them switch careers into software engineering.
Technologies: Android, Java
Lead Android Developer and Project Manager
2017 - 2018
Bilgetech
- Led an Android team developing apps for clients in the urban mobility vertical.
- Developed, maintained and bug-fixed five Android apps with active users.
- Managed a car retail system and oversaw the technical requirements, front-end and back-end development in general.
- Built and published open-source libraries that help E2E testing APIs.
- Created a fully functional API testing suite using Postman tests, custom-built mobile apps, and self-hosted mail servers.
- Held regular company-internal tech talks to create a healthy company culture and published recordings of these talks on YouTube.
- Wrote technical blog posts to improve the PR of the company and build a company culture.
Technologies: Android, Java, Google Maps SDK, Node.js, NPM, Git
Co-founder
2016 - 2017
Mobile Monsters
- Co-founded a mobile app agency to create quality apps for clients.
- Oversaw the requirement analysis, design, and development process as a whole.
- Designed and developed Android apps, Vue.js admin panels, and Express.js APIs.
- Created offers, contracts, and invoices and dealt with the overall process of managing other freelancers.
Technologies: Android, Requirements, Vue, Express.js, Node.js, Sketch
Software Developer
2009 - 2017
Various Projects
- Learned programming by developing console applications using the C language and the Turbo C IDE.
- Experimented with numerous technologies and fields of software development.
- Studied computer engineering and developed various projects with various technologies.
Technologies: C#, SQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, C, C++, PHP, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Verilog, Prolog, Racket, Smalltalk, WordPress
Head of Mobile Development
2016 - 2016
Erasmusinn
- Developed a real estate Android app from scratch where people can find housing abroad.
- Coded a real-time chat module into the Android app with audio-visual message support.
- Oversaw the feature planning, user story mapping, and product development of the iOS and Android apps.
Technologies: Android, Requirements
Android Developer
2015 - 2015
Sellsnap
- Maintained an Android app where users can buy and sell second-hand goods.
- Added features to and re-dressed the app to make it fit with the Material Design guidelines.
- Refactored the parts of the codebase to make it more maintainable.
Technologies: Android, Java
Android Developer
2014 - 2015
Freelance Work
- Developed various Android apps for clients as a freelancer.
- Teamed up with other freelancers to be able to get and deliver bigger projects.
- Learned about freelancing and developing Android apps in general.
Technologies: Android, Java
Junior Android Developer
2013 - 2013
Metrekare
- Helped develop an Android app for a real estate startup in Istanbul.
- Maintained, added features, and fixed bugs in the Android app.
- Learned about startups and Android development in general.
Technologies: Android, Java
Experience
Cactus School
https://cactus.schoolAn online school where I teach Android development and software engineering in general.
I create audiovisual and project-based educational materials and give private and group lessons to help my students reach their true potentials.
I create audiovisual and project-based educational materials and give private and group lessons to help my students reach their true potentials.
Wayfair Mobile Application
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wayfair.wayfairWith the Wayfair app, you’ve got all things home right at your fingertips. It’s your on-the-go furniture store so you can get home office essentials with a single swipe, plan your home renovation when inspiration strikes, and create a registry that travels with you–all in one app.
I was one of 40+ talented Android engineers who developed and maintained this app with 10,000,000+ downloads.
I was one of 40+ talented Android engineers who developed and maintained this app with 10,000,000+ downloads.
Warehouse Companion
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wayfair.partners.scanThe Warehouse Companion helps Wayfair partners gather and view valuable data on their outgoing orders and enable them to catch issues with shipment earlier by giving visibility into where an order is right now and when it was shipped.
Tech Support App
An Android tablet app developed for a networking hardware company that allows teams in the office to coordinate the field operations teams.
The field operation team members are assigned tasks according to their GPS locations and need to complete certain tasks by visiting clients.
The tasks, including taking a photo of specific documents or validating they delivered a piece of equipment to a client, are presented step by step to the field operations teams and verified by the office teams.
The app was designed to create as much interactivity as possible. For example, when field employees closed the app or moved to the background, the office could notice that and push warnings and messages to ensure the quality of the work.
The field operation team members are assigned tasks according to their GPS locations and need to complete certain tasks by visiting clients.
The tasks, including taking a photo of specific documents or validating they delivered a piece of equipment to a client, are presented step by step to the field operations teams and verified by the office teams.
The app was designed to create as much interactivity as possible. For example, when field employees closed the app or moved to the background, the office could notice that and push warnings and messages to ensure the quality of the work.
Education
2012 - 2017
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Engineering
Boğaziçi University - Istanbul, Turkey
Skills
Libraries/APIs
RxJava, Retrofit, Google Maps SDK, Node.js, Vue
Tools
Android Studio, Jenkins, NPM, Git, Sketch, Figma
Languages
Kotlin, Java, C#, SQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C, C++, PHP, Verilog, Prolog, Racket, Smalltalk
Platforms
Android, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, WordPress
Paradigms
Model View ViewModel (MVVM), Unit Testing
Frameworks
Express.js
Other
Software Engineering, Computer Science, Projects, Room, Automated UI Testing, Requirements, Strapi
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