Sarmad is available for hire

Sarmad Ali

Verified Expert in Engineering

Senior Software Developer

Oakville, ON, Canada

Toptal member since March 28, 2022

Expertise

Cloud Architecture AWS RDS Artificial Intelligence Java Git Amazon S3 JavaScript Linux AWS AWS IAM Android Python PostgreSQL Node.js Alexa RAG

Bio

Sarmad has 15+ years of software engineering experience and specializes in Python, Node.js, Go, Android, iOS, and cross-platform development. He is skilled in designing scalable architectures and secure mobile payments and banking apps with DevSecOps. Sarmad is highly proficient in LLMs, vector databases (Chroma and Pine Cone), LangChain, OpenAI Gym/GPT, Hugging Face models, Google Vertex AI, and big data concepts. He is committed to driving innovation and delivering exceptional results.

Portfolio

Pxlim Corp

Software Project Management, Team Building, Machine Learning, OpenAI Gym...

GrantMatch

Team Building, Management, Web Security, Natural Language Processing (NLP)...

Pelmorex

Kubernetes, GoLand, Python, Data Science, DevSecOps...

Experience

Programming Languages - 10 years
Android - 9 years
iOS - 8 years
DevSecOps - 6 years
Microservices - 6 years
Terraform - 5 years
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - 4 years
Data Science - 3 years

Availability

Part-time

Preferred Environment

MacOS

The most amazing...

...thing I've worked on is the leading iPhone weather app in Canada.

Work Experience

Independent Contractor

2020 - PRESENT

Pxlim Corp

Led brainstorming sessions with investment experts and financial technology engineers to plan an AI-based trading insights platform, resulting in a 10% increase in trading efficiency.
Collaborated with developers on financial technology projects, ensuring seamless teamwork and efficient delivery of technological solutions, resulting in a 20% reduction in project completion time and a 15% increase in client satisfaction scores.
Provided comprehensive software development, DevSecOps implementation, oversight, and team-building services to clients across diverse industries, resulting in the delivery of tailored solutions that met specific business needs and objectives.
Collaborated with a client to construct scraping infrastructure utilizing LLMs, LangChain, and MLOps, integrating seamlessly with existing systems to optimize applications and deliver valuable insights to users.
Partnered with clients to develop fintech solutions encompassing various banks and payment gateways, utilizing expertise in financial technology to deliver customized solutions aligned with specific business requirements.
Provided expert assistance to clients during legal procedures, offering essential technical insights for court cases, resulting in successful navigation of the technical aspects of legal proceedings and an increase in favorable outcomes for clients.
Collaborated with a client to navigate the App Defense Alliance CASA security certification process for email handling from Gmail and open-source mail servers, integrating deep learning and LLMs/GenAI technologies.

Technologies: Software Project Management, Team Building, Machine Learning, OpenAI Gym, DevSecOps, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Data Science, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Java, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker, Git, DevOps, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, Kubernetes, Helm, Argo CD, GitHub, GitHub API, Terraform, Python, TensorFlow, Kubeflow, Node.js, CentOS, NGINX, Redis, System Administration, Cloud, Training, HashiCorp, Continuous Deployment, Web Scraping, SQL, ETL, Big Data, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, GraphQL, React, TypeORM, Go, Fintech, Security, GitLab CI/CD, GitLab, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), AWS ALB, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Linux, DNS Debugging, Consulting, Leadership, AWS DevOps, CORS, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, Amazon Aurora, JavaScript 6, Ubuntu Server, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Document Management Systems (DMS), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), SecOps, AWS Lambda, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS, Monitoring, Blockchain, AWS Glue, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Cloud Architecture, Prometheus, Google Cloud SQL, Memorystore, DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), SPF, Email Delivery, Email Marketing, Email Design, Email Template Design, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), PgBouncer, GitHub Actions, Ansible, Heroku, Cloud Migration, Web Security, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Cloud Monitoring, Cloudflare, Google BigQuery, Observability Tools, VPN, TypeScript, Apollo, Apollo Client, Apollo Server, Azure DevOps, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Apache Kafka

Independent Contractor

2019 - PRESENT

GrantMatch

Collaborated with data engineers to develop AI-based data pipelines utilizing LLMs and deep learning models, resulting in enhanced data processing efficiency and accuracy. This collaboration led to informed decision-making and business insights.
Collaborated closely with security vendors and solutions to uphold web application security standards, ensuring robust protection against potential threats. This proactive approach resulted in overall system resilience.
Governed the cloud environment and implemented cost-saving tactics, leading to substantial reductions in cloud expenditures while maintaining optimal performance levels.
Conducted thorough project analysis and provided precise estimates for budgeting purposes, ensuring accurate financial planning and resource allocation.

Technologies: Team Building, Management, Web Security, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Data Pipelines, Scrapy, Web Scraping, SpaCy, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Java, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker, Git, DevOps, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, GitHub, Terraform, Python, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), TensorFlow, Kubeflow, Node.js, CentOS, NGINX, Redis, System Administration, Cloud, Training, HashiCorp, Continuous Deployment, SQL, ETL, Big Data, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, GraphQL, React, TypeORM, Fintech, Heroku, Security, GitLab CI/CD, GitLab, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), AWS ALB, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Linux, DNS Debugging, Consulting, Leadership, AWS DevOps, CORS, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, Amazon Aurora, JavaScript 6, Ubuntu Server, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Machine Learning, SecOps, AWS Lambda, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS, Azure, Monitoring, AWS Glue, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Cloud Architecture, Google Cloud SQL, Memorystore, DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), SPF, Email Delivery, Email Marketing, Email Design, Email Template Design, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), HAProxy, PgBouncer, GitHub Actions, Ansible, Cloud Migration, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Cloud Monitoring, Cloudflare, Google BigQuery, Observability Tools, VPN

Tech Lead

2017 - PRESENT

Pelmorex

Improved product quality by utilizing DevSecOps practices and mentoring different individuals about DevSecOps technologies.
Preached clean architecture and clean code to different individuals and implemented different projects to give hands-on experience, which resulted in improved automated test coverage and faster development.
Improved Android application performance by using StrictMode, Systrace, Firebase performance, and other Android profiling tools.
Performed POCs with Kubernetes, Istio, and other cutting-edge technologies and shared the learnings with different teams, resulting in company-wide adoption of these technologies.
Led a team of developers focused on building cross-platform microservices in a polyglot environment using Python, Go, TypeScript, Node.js, and C++.
Helped with hackathon planning and participated by developing a solution to tag photos automatically using machine learning on mobile devices with TensorFlow.
Implemented a content recommendation solution using data from Google Analytics to train a machine learning model along with a cross-platform solution using Fluter to reuse 70% of the code.

Technologies: Kubernetes, GoLand, Python, Data Science, DevSecOps, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, TypeScript, Node.js, React, Flutter, Jenkins, Jenkins Job DSL, Jenkins Pipeline, Apache Airflow, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Terraform, Helm, Istio, Elastic, Logstash, Kibana, Artifactory, Sonar, CircleCI, Scrum, Kanban, Ruby, PHP, Docker, Gradle, Fastlane, Android SDK, iPhone SDK, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Java, Android, Kotlin, Android Architecture, RxJava, Functional Reactive Programming, Git, DevOps, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, Argo CD, GitHub, GitHub API, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), TensorFlow, Kubeflow, CentOS, NGINX, Redis, System Administration, Cloud, Training, HashiCorp, Continuous Deployment, Web Scraping, SQL, ETL, Big Data, PostgreSQL, JavaScript, GraphQL, TypeORM, Go, Amazon EKS, Security, GitLab CI/CD, GitLab, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), AWS ALB, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Linux, Service Meshes, DNS Debugging, Grafana, Consulting, Leadership, AWS DevOps, CORS, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, Amazon Aurora, JavaScript 6, Elasticsearch, Ubuntu Server, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Argos, SecOps, AWS Lambda, Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS, Release Management, Azure, Monitoring, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Cloud Architecture, Prometheus, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), HAProxy, PgBouncer, GitHub Actions, Ansible, Cloud Migration, Web Security, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Cloud Monitoring, Google BigQuery, Observability Tools, VPN, Polyglot Persistence, Apollo, Apollo Client, Apollo Server, Apache Kafka

Mobile Engineer | Principal Associate

2015 - 2017

Capital One Canada

Developed new features and fixed bugs for mobile servicing apps, using practices like test-driven development and acceptance test-driven development for Capital One Canada iOS and Android apps.
Conducted TDD with unit testing, integration testing, and functional testing using JUnit, XCTest, PowerMock, Mockito, and OCMock.
Worked closely with DevOps to achieve continuous integration and continuous delivery goals.
Contributed to innovative ideas during multiple hackathons in the fintech space.

Technologies: Terraform, Jenkins, Jenkins Pipeline, Jenkins Job DSL, Android SDK, iPhone SDK, Mobile Payments, Near-field Communication (NFC), Amazon Alexa, JUnit, Spring Cloud, Microservices, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Java, Android, Kotlin, Android Architecture, RxJava, Functional Reactive Programming, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker, Git, DevOps, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, GitHub, GitHub API, Python, Node.js, NGINX, Redis, New Relic, Cloud, HashiCorp, Continuous Deployment, SQL, ETL, JavaScript, Go, Fintech, Linux, DNS Debugging, Grafana, AWS DevOps, CORS, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, Amazon Aurora, JavaScript 6, Ubuntu Server, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Release Management, Azure, Monitoring, Cloud Architecture, HAProxy, Ansible, Cloud Migration, Observability Tools, VPN, TypeScript

Mobile Application Developer

2012 - 2015

Pelmorex

Streamlined deployment and quality assurance processes by developing and integrating test automation programs and continuous integration tools.
Strengthened developmental methodologies by introducing code quality and standards documentation.
Created, delivered, and maintained scalable system architecture to support real-time push notifications for mobile applications.
Developed code fixes and enhancements for inclusion in future application releases.
Led a group of engineers in the design and development of mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms.
Collaborated with product owners, graphic designers, and developers to design, build, and test mobile applications and services.

Technologies: Android SDK, iPhone SDK, ActiveMQ, REST APIs, C++, Python, Jenkins, Maps, GIS, Java, Android, Android Architecture, RxJava, Functional Reactive Programming, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Git, DevOps, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, GitHub, NGINX, Cloud, Continuous Deployment, SQL, JavaScript, Linux, CORS, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Monitoring, HAProxy, VPN

Mobile Application Developer

2012 - 2012

Tenthline

Provided continued maintenance and development of bug fixes and patch sets for existing enterprise content management-based web and mobile applications.
Integrated an enterprise content management system Alfresco and document scanning system Ephesoft.
Helped develop iPhone and Android applications that allowed users to view and search organized scans of paper documents.
Developed an iPhone and Android application for a SaaS model that provides appointments and patient record management.

Technologies: Java, Alfresco, Android, iOS, Agile Software Development, Ephesoft, Git, Web Applications, CI/CD Pipelines, GitHub, SQL, JavaScript, Linux, Document Management Systems (DMS)

Experience

The Weather Network | Apps

Android, iPhone, and web apps built using Java/Kotlin, Swift/Objective-C, React, and back-end microservices built using Node.js, Go, and Python using DevSecOps principles and technologies. All applications were built with proper automated testing and following clean code and architecture principles.

Capital One Mobile Apps

Android and iPhone apps for the Capital One Canada, along with the back end written in Swift and Java/Kotlin using DevSecOps technologies. The apps were developed with clean code and clean architecture principles.

The Weather Network | Android App

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pelmorex.WeatherEyeAndroid

The Weather Network Android app uses Kotlin and Java with many integrations and in-house APIs. I acted as the tech lead for the team working on this platform. I led different initiatives to improve the UX and performance of the application and worked on various features that resulted in growth in daily active users.

Education

2005 - 2009

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science

Hazara University - Dhodial, Pakistan

Skills

Libraries/APIs

Node.js, RxJava, TensorFlow, Apollo Client, REST APIs, Jenkins Pipeline, Jenkins Job DSL, React, SpaCy, Retrofit 2, GitHub API

Tools

Jenkins, Terraform, Git, GitHub, NGINX, HashiCorp, Amazon CloudFront CDN, AWS IAM, AWS CloudTrail, Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Helm, Istio, Amazon EKS, GitLab, Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), Grafana, Amazon CloudWatch, PgBouncer, Observability Tools, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Alfresco, ActiveMQ, GIS, GoLand, Apache Airflow, Elastic, Logstash, Kibana, Artifactory, Sonar, CircleCI, Gradle, Fastlane, OpenAI Gym, Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS), GitLab CI/CD, AWS Glue, Amazon Simple Email Service (SES), Ansible, VPN

Languages

Java, Python, TypeScript, Kotlin, JavaScript, GraphQL, Go, SQL, JavaScript 6, C++, Ruby, PHP, Swift, Objective-C

Paradigms

DevSecOps, DevOps, Continuous Deployment, Agile Software Development, Microservices, Functional Reactive Programming, ETL, Azure DevOps, Scrum, Kanban, Management

Platforms

Android, Kubernetes, Docker, Amazon EC2, Amazon Web Services (AWS), New Relic, AWS ALB, Linux, AWS Lambda, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Kubeflow, CentOS, Heroku, Azure, iOS, Ephesoft, Amazon Alexa, MacOS, Blockchain, Apache Kafka

Storage

PostgreSQL, Redis, Amazon S3 (AWS S3), Amazon Aurora, Elasticsearch, MongoDB, Data Pipelines, Distributed Databases, Google Cloud SQL, Polyglot Persistence

Frameworks

Android SDK, iPhone SDK, JUnit, Flutter, Scrapy, Dagger 2, Express.js, SPF

Other

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), CI/CD Pipelines, Training, Security, Consulting, Leadership, CORS, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), SecOps, Amazon RDS, Monitoring, Cloud Architecture, Cloud Monitoring, Data Structures, Programming Languages, Machine Learning, Web Security, Web Scraping, Android Architecture, Web Applications, Argo CD, System Administration, Cloud, Big Data, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Service Meshes, DNS Debugging, AWS DevOps, Ubuntu Server, Document Management Systems (DMS), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Release Management, Email Marketing, Email Design, Email Template Design, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), HAProxy, GitHub Actions, Cloud Migration, Cloudflare, Google BigQuery, Apollo, Apollo Server, Calculus, Statistics, Web Development, Networking, Maps, Mobile Payments, Near-field Communication (NFC), Spring Cloud, Data Science, Software Project Management, Team Building, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Coroutines, iPhone, TypeORM, Fintech, Distributed Systems, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Argos, Prometheus, Memorystore, DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Email Delivery

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