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Alex Kiura

Backend Engineer • DevOps & Infrastructure Engineer • Nairobi, Nairobi County, KE
Python
Amazon Web Services
SQL
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Full-Time Roles
Contracts
SWE with 8+ years of experience collaborating with remote teams. Interested in backend development, databases, distributed systems and ML.
Alex is a builder and a lifelong learner who cut his teeth scaling distributed systems, building APIs and data pipelines. He has worked with high-growth startups like Mantium AI, BuyPower Inc., The Zebra, and Andela. Projects include deploying machine learning models that allow creators to extract insights and translate documents, tractor management and scheduling APIs, insurance comparison APIs; each of which has scaled to serving millions of daily user requests. He also enjoys writing technical articles 1. https://mrkiura.dev/articles 2. https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/authors/author.akiura

Projects

Rizz ORM

Rizz ORM is a lightweight Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) system designed to provide a Pythonic interface for interacting with SQL databases. It allows developers to define their database schema in Python code and perform database operations without writing raw SQL queries.See More

asgi-cors-middleware

Python package that allows whitelisting of urls on ASGI applications making it possible to perform cross origin requests from the browser.See More

Lovetest

lovetest is a Python test runner designed to simplify the process of running and reporting on unit tests. It allows you to specify which test files or functions to run, and which to skip. Features - Run specific test files or individual test functions. - Skip specific test files or individual test functions. - Detailed test reports including pass, fail, and error counts.See More

Work History

(

Consultant

(Various organizations)Oct 2022 - Present • 2 yrs• Provided outsourced AWS Platform Engineering services to Old Mutual (SA). • Reduced BuyPower Inc's AWS RDS cost by 52% while keeping CPU utilization under 50% by optimizing instances and slow SQL queries • Authored Open Source projects like gpt-n-chat-ui, Lovetest, Rizz, Rizz ORM, Teke. • Contributed to Open Source projects like Llama-index, Ollama. • Served as an Expert reviewer for GC Africa's Catalysing Equitable AI Use to Improve Global Health call for proposals.
M

Senior Software Engineer

MantiumJul 2021 - Oct 2022 • 1 yr 4 mos Jul 2021 — Oct 2022 Built the user interface for extracting text and translating documents using React and TypeScript. Built a REST API using FastAPI for a low code platform that allows training, deploying and inference for machine learning models like GPT-J, GPT3. Set up a CI/CD tunnel on Gitlab and a kubernetes cluster on AWS with Terraform Recommended and led the effort to migrate to tilt.dev from Docker Compose for local container orchestration which shaved 25 minutes off the loading time for the local container cluster. Reviewed code, software design docs and architecture proposals to ensure solutions are bug free, scalable and conforms to team standards and stylistic conventions.
C

Lead Engineer

CoverHuntSep 2019 - Jul 2021 • 1 yr 11 mosMigrated the entire frontend app to using React hooks. Used Apollo client to query and mutate the GraphQL API. Designed, built and scaled an async insurance price comparison engine using Django, Ariadne and Python 3 to handle > 1m requests a day. Optimised the Postgres production database to reduce the time to query for vehicles from an average time of 60.45 seconds to 0.74 seconds. Implemented GraphQL subscriptions for real time payment updates which reduced server load by eliminating the need to keep polling the GraphQL API. Achieved 100% test coverage on the frontend and backend codebases. Migrated the CI platform from bitbucket to Circle CI. Implemented mobile payments which improved conversion of Kenyan users by 50%.
A

Senior Software Engineer

AndelaApr 2018 - Mar 2020 • 2 yrsLed the backend team building out the Asset Management application using FastAPI, SQLAlchemy and React. Reduced the setup time for local environments from 3 hours to 30 minutes by containerising the Django API using Docker, helm and Kubernetes. Reduced bugs and increased code quality by introducing unit and integration testing for API services using pytest, selenium. Built custom authentication backends for Django services to use Google Social Auth. Overhauled and customized Django’s default admin to add custom analytics for the operation department heads. Developed continuous integration and deployment (Circle CI and Jenkins) for development projects and production applications. Ensured code quality and mentored junior developers by performing code reviews. Worked with product owners to perform requirement analysis and create tasks for the team.
A

Software Engineer

AndelaFeb 2016 - Apr 2018 • 2 yrs 3 mosBuilt a pair programming platform using Django and React which reduced time spent on blockers from an average of 1 day to 3 hours. Built a Meter Data pipeline API for a client using Flask, and Zappa that supported event collection and retrieval of device and geolocation data for over 500,000 water meters. Built a customer data search engine API with Flask improving turnaround times for customer service queries which increased NPS from 29 to 44. Built a performance evaluation and skills management system using AngularJS and NodeJS.

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
Recently Active
SWE with 8+ years of experience collaborating with remote teams. Interested in backend development, databases, distributed systems and ML.
Alex is a builder and a lifelong learner who cut his teeth scaling distributed systems, building APIs and data pipelines. He has worked with high-growth startups like Mantium AI, BuyPower Inc., The Zebra, and Andela. Projects include deploying machine learning models that allow creators to extract insights and translate documents, tractor management and scheduling APIs, insurance comparison APIs; each of which has scaled to serving millions of daily user requests. He also enjoys writing technical articles 1. https://mrkiura.dev/articles 2. https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/authors/author.akiura

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call

Top talent is on Pangea

You are viewing Alex's profile as a guest. Book a free call with our team to discuss your options for hiring fractional workers on Pangea's industry-leading talent marketplace.

Alex Kiura

Backend Engineer • DevOps & Infrastructure Engineer • Nairobi, Nairobi County, KE
Python
Amazon Web Services
SQL
Available for hire fromNegotiable
Full-Time Roles
Contracts

Projects

Rizz ORM

Rizz ORM is a lightweight Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) system designed to provide a Pythonic interface for interacting with SQL databases. It allows developers to define their database schema in Python code and perform database operations without writing raw SQL queries.

asgi-cors-middleware

Python package that allows whitelisting of urls on ASGI applications making it possible to perform cross origin requests from the browser.

Lovetest

lovetest is a Python test runner designed to simplify the process of running and reporting on unit tests. It allows you to specify which test files or functions to run, and which to skip. Features - Run specific test files or individual test functions. - Skip specific test files or individual test functions. - Detailed test reports including pass, fail, and error counts.

Work History

(

Consultant

(Various organizations)Oct 2022 - Present • 2 yrs• Provided outsourced AWS Platform Engineering services to Old Mutual (SA). • Reduced BuyPower Inc's AWS RDS cost by 52% while keeping CPU utilization under 50% by optimizing instances and slow SQL queries • Authored Open Source projects like gpt-n-chat-ui, Lovetest, Rizz, Rizz ORM, Teke. • Contributed to Open Source projects like Llama-index, Ollama. • Served as an Expert reviewer for GC Africa's Catalysing Equitable AI Use to Improve Global Health call for proposals.
M

Senior Software Engineer

MantiumJul 2021 - Oct 2022 • 1 yr 4 mos Jul 2021 — Oct 2022 Built the user interface for extracting text and translating documents using React and TypeScript. Built a REST API using FastAPI for a low code platform that allows training, deploying and inference for machine learning models like GPT-J, GPT3. Set up a CI/CD tunnel on Gitlab and a kubernetes cluster on AWS with Terraform Recommended and led the effort to migrate to tilt.dev from Docker Compose for local container orchestration which shaved 25 minutes off the loading time for the local container cluster. Reviewed code, software design docs and architecture proposals to ensure solutions are bug free, scalable and conforms to team standards and stylistic conventions.
C

Lead Engineer

CoverHuntSep 2019 - Jul 2021 • 1 yr 11 mosMigrated the entire frontend app to using React hooks. Used Apollo client to query and mutate the GraphQL API. Designed, built and scaled an async insurance price comparison engine using Django, Ariadne and Python 3 to handle > 1m requests a day. Optimised the Postgres production database to reduce the time to query for vehicles from an average time of 60.45 seconds to 0.74 seconds. Implemented GraphQL subscriptions for real time payment updates which reduced server load by eliminating the need to keep polling the GraphQL API. Achieved 100% test coverage on the frontend and backend codebases. Migrated the CI platform from bitbucket to Circle CI. Implemented mobile payments which improved conversion of Kenyan users by 50%.
A

Senior Software Engineer

AndelaApr 2018 - Mar 2020 • 2 yrsLed the backend team building out the Asset Management application using FastAPI, SQLAlchemy and React. Reduced the setup time for local environments from 3 hours to 30 minutes by containerising the Django API using Docker, helm and Kubernetes. Reduced bugs and increased code quality by introducing unit and integration testing for API services using pytest, selenium. Built custom authentication backends for Django services to use Google Social Auth. Overhauled and customized Django’s default admin to add custom analytics for the operation department heads. Developed continuous integration and deployment (Circle CI and Jenkins) for development projects and production applications. Ensured code quality and mentored junior developers by performing code reviews. Worked with product owners to perform requirement analysis and create tasks for the team.
A

Software Engineer

AndelaFeb 2016 - Apr 2018 • 2 yrs 3 mosBuilt a pair programming platform using Django and React which reduced time spent on blockers from an average of 1 day to 3 hours. Built a Meter Data pipeline API for a client using Flask, and Zappa that supported event collection and retrieval of device and geolocation data for over 500,000 water meters. Built a customer data search engine API with Flask improving turnaround times for customer service queries which increased NPS from 29 to 44. Built a performance evaluation and skills management system using AngularJS and NodeJS.

How Pangea Works

Effortlessly discover top talent

We’ve distilled the candidate search from endless hours down to just a few minutes. Using Pangea’s AI-powered search tools, you can find top fractional talent able to take on your next project. Our system looks at your company’s niche and your needs to find the perfect match faster than any traditional hiring platform.

Start working with talent today

The top talent on Pangea is ready to get started with you right now. You can message or hire a candidate right from their profile page and start assigning work as soon as they respond. And the best part? Pangea’s fractional contract structure lets you start small and ramp up as your needs change, keeping your costs manageable and your team’s capabliities flexible.

Track work and invoices in one place

Assign tasks, track progress, and complete invoices all on Pangea. We’ve combined every part of the hiring process into one platform to eliminate the miscommunication that’s unavoidable on other freelance platforms. We even send out 1099s to your contractors at the end of the year!

Talk with a Talent Expert

Members of our team are available to help you speed through the hiring process.
Available Now
Book a Call
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