Hi, my name is
Joseph Kuria.
Senior Software EngineerBuilding AI Automation & Cloud-Native Systems
AWS/GCP · Technical Lead @ HeadHuntersHQ
Senior Software Engineer with 7+ years building backend systems, APIs, and cloud infrastructure for SaaS products. I've cut infrastructure costs by 25% and production incidents by 30% through better architecture and hands-on engineering. I work across the stack — focused on backend and infrastructure: Python (FastAPI), PostgreSQL, and containerized deployments on AWS Fargate/ECS.
I build backend systems, APIs, and cloud infrastructure that scale — with a focus on AI automation and cloud-native architecture on AWS and GCP. Currently Technical Lead @ HeadHuntersHQ.
About Me
Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 7+ years building and scaling backend systems and cloud infrastructure for full-stack SaaS products. Experienced in redesigning cloud architecture to cut hosting costs and strengthen reliability, and reducing feature release cycles from weeks to days, with deep hands-on expertise in Python, JavaScript/Vue.js, and production security practices. Currently leading a small engineering team while staying hands-on with architecture and code.
I’m a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 7+ years building backend systems, APIs, and cloud infrastructure for SaaS products. I work across the stack — recently focused on backend and infrastructure: Python (FastAPI), PostgreSQL, and containerized deployments on AWS Fargate/ECS.
I currently lead a small engineering team of 4 at HeadHuntersHQ, and what energizes me day-to-day is staying hands-on: architecting systems and solving backend and infrastructure problems alongside my team.
I take pride in crafting reliable, well-tested systems — redesigning cloud architecture to cut costs and strengthen reliability, and keeping a sharp focus on production security (certificate-based access control, automated backup and disaster recovery). When I’m not coding, you’ll find me bike riding, taking walks, or enjoying anything to do with nature.
$ whoami
joseph_kuria
$ location
GMT+3 (Remote)
$ role
Technical Lead / Senior Backend Engineer
$ experience
7+ years
Here are a few technologies I've been working with recently:
Where I've Worked
Technical Lead @ HeadHunters HQ
Apr 2024 – PresentSingapore · Remote
- Lead a cross-functional team of 4 engineers (2 backend, 1 frontend, 1 QA), owning technical architecture, sprint planning, and mentorship, while partnering directly with the CEO to align product roadmap with technical strategy.
- Directed the rebuild of the core HR technology platform (300K+ job postings, 100K+ applications) using Vue 3, Python, and PostgreSQL on AWS Fargate/ECS, replacing always-on EC2 infrastructure with on-demand containerized compute.
- Drove a shift to agentic AI-assisted development workflows and modular system design, reducing major feature release cycles from 3–5 weeks to under 1 week and cutting production incidents by 30%.
- Led an AWS infrastructure cost analysis for a new enterprise platform deployment, redesigning the proposed architecture to cut projected hosting costs by 25% while meeting government-grade compliance requirements.
- Directed the design and implementation of a production PostgreSQL backup and disaster-recovery strategy with automated backups and point-in-time recovery, establishing a documented, tested restore path for core data.
- Led the modernization of SSH access management, replacing static keys with short-lived, certificate-based credentials and machine-identity authentication, and centralizing access auditing.
- Directed development of an internal jobs-data integration API (Python), defining eligibility/filter logic and aligning qualification-data schemas across two upstream data sources.
- Led design and development of a multi-channel analytics pipeline (Python) processing 1,172+ user sessions across WhatsApp, email, and Telegram touchpoints, surfacing conversion funnels (14.1% conversion) and drop-off patterns to inform product decisions.
Some Things I've Built
Open Source Projects
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