Ahmed Mohammed Ali

Baghdad, Iraq +964 771 145 5264 (WhatsApp only) ahmed.mohammed.ali9999@gmail.com LinkedIn GitHub

Professional Summary

Senior Backend Engineer with a decade-long passion for code, specializing in Java and the modern Spring ecosystem. Experienced in building cloud-native microservices using Spring Boot (WebFlux), Kotlin, and Event-Driven Architectures (Kafka/RabbitMQ). Proficient in deploying fault-tolerant FinTech and enterprise systems on AWS (EKS, Lambda, API Gateway) with robust CI/CD automation. AWS Certified Solutions Architect & Developer with expertise in JVM optimization, OAuth2/OIDC (Keycloak), distributed systems, low-level performance tuning (C/C++), and production-grade observability (OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana).

Early Start & Passion

Began programming in BASIC at age 13; built foundational skills in logic and problem-solving through high-school CS coursework. Continually explores low-level programming, operating system internals, and performance optimizations through personal projects.

Technical Skills

Programming & Scripting: Java, Kotlin (Coroutines, WebFlux), C/C++, C#, Python, Node.js, TypeScript, JavaScript
Backend & Frameworks: Spring Boot (WebFlux), Spring Cloud, Spring JPA/Hibernate, Jakarta EE, NestJS, Express.js, ASP.NET Core, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, Spring AI integrations
Cloud & DevOps: AWS (EKS, Lambda, S3, RDS/Aurora, API Gateway, IAM), GCP; Docker, Kubernetes (multi-stage builds, HPA, Helm), CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, Bitbucket)
Databases & Data Management: PostgreSQL (indexing, replication, partitioning, EXPLAIN), DynamoDB, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch
Messaging & Event-Driven Systems: Kafka (Streams, Avro, Schema Registry), RabbitMQ, AWS SQS/SNS/EventBridge; gRPC (Protobuf & streaming), GraphQL, SOAP
Architecture & Best Practices: Microservices, Event-Driven Design, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), SOLID principles, Clean Architecture, TDD, JVM tuning & performance optimization
Observability & Monitoring: OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana, Dynatrace, ELK Stack, AWS X-Ray, Anypoint Monitoring

Experience

QiCard | Baghdad, Iraq
Integration Engineer | On-site (Full-time)
March 2025 – Present
  • Completed MuleSoft Anypoint Platform Development Fundamentals (DEX401) and leveraged API-led connectivity to orchestrate seamless enterprise integrations.
  • Designed, documented, and implemented System, Process, and Experience APIs using RAML—ensuring modularity, reusability, and consistent data schemas.
  • Developed middleware layers for payment gateways, merchant services, and internal systems; improved data flow consistency and reduced integration errors by 30%.
  • Authored complex DataWeave scripts and analyzed Java codebases to align integration flows with backend business logic.
  • Implemented advanced error-handling patterns, connector configurations, and policies; maintained CI/CD pipelines with Maven, Bitbucket, and Jenkins for automated deployments.
  • Collaborated with cross-regional teams (Egypt, UAE) to coordinate deployments, enforce governance, and maintain quality standards across environments.
  • Utilized Dynatrace for APM and distributed tracing—monitoring CPU, JVM, heap, and thread metrics; optimized microservices performance, reducing average response time by 25%.
  • Employed Anypoint Monitoring and Analytics to track throughput and latency under peak loads; recommended infrastructure scaling and load-balancing strategies.
  • Actively contributed to sprint planning and backlog refinement within an Agile framework, ensuring timely delivery of integration features.
FFC | Baghdad, Iraq
Backend Developer | Hybrid (Full-time)
February 2025 – March 2025
  • Integrated core financial business logic into a real-time mobile FinTech application, enabling secure user transactions with sub-second latency.
  • Led the transition from an ERP proof-of-concept to a production-grade API architecture—delivering automated workflows and reducing manual processes by 40%.
  • Architected a multi-layered, decoupled backend with robust audit logging, exception traceability, and role-based access control (RBAC), enhancing system reliability and compliance.
  • Tuned PostgreSQL queries, implemented Redis caching strategies, and applied circuit-breaker patterns to ensure high availability and data integrity.
  • Conducted performance profiling (JVM, SQL) and implemented optimizations that improved overall API throughput by 20%.
CodeCraft | Baghdad, Iraq
Backend Developer | Remote (Part-time)
June 2024 – March 2025
  • Designed, developed, and maintained production-grade REST, GraphQL, and SOAP APIs using Node.js, Express.js, and TypeScript—serving 10k+ active users with 99.9% uptime.
  • Implemented JWT-based authentication, RBAC, and secure login flows; reduced unauthorized access incidents to near zero.
  • Optimized MongoDB and PostgreSQL databases by refining indexing strategies, connection pooling, and caching with Mongoose and Sequelize—improving average query times by 35%.
  • Containerized microservices with Docker, deployed to AWS (EC2, EKS), and configured Kubernetes horizontal pod autoscaling—enabling seamless scaling under variable loads.
  • Configured CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and Jenkins for regression-free deployments; achieved a 50% reduction in deployment time.
  • Applied Domain-Driven Design (DDD) and Clean Architecture principles to decouple business logic, improving code maintainability and facilitating rapid feature additions.
  • Leveraged low-level networking knowledge (C++) to optimize request handling and reduce latency under high-concurrency scenarios.
  • Wrote comprehensive test suites with Jest and Postman for unit and integration testing, ensuring 95% code coverage and minimal production bugs.
United Horizon | Baghdad, Iraq
IT Support Specialist | On-site (Full-time)
January 2022 – February 2023
  • Provided Tier 1 and Tier 2 technical support for hardware, software, and networking issues—resolving 200+ tickets per month and improving system uptime to 99.8%.
  • Managed installation, configuration, and maintenance of Windows and Linux server environments, ensuring high availability for critical internal services.
  • Created and maintained an IT asset inventory system, streamlining hardware tracking and reducing resource allocation errors by 25%.
  • Trained end users on system best practices and security policies, leading to a 40% decrease in recurring incidents.

Projects & Technical Highlights

Education

American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS)
Full-ride merit scholarship (voluntarily left for self-paced advanced backend development learning)
Baghdad College High School
High School Diploma, GPA: 98/100

Certifications

Continuous Learning & Focus Areas

Spring Ecosystem & Backend: Spring Boot/WebFlux, DI, Jakarta EE updates, Spring Cloud, Resilience4j, Spring AI integrations
Data & Persistence: PostgreSQL (EXPLAIN, indexing, replication, partitioning), Spring JPA/Hibernate, RDS/Aurora, DynamoDB
Microservices & Cloud: Docker, Kubernetes (multi-stage builds, HPA, Helm), AWS ECS/Fargate, Lambda/API Gateway, Serverless, GKE/Cloud Run
Messaging & Events: Kafka (Streams, Avro), Spring Cloud Stream, SAGA patterns, AWS SQS/SNS/EventBridge
Security & APIs: Spring Security (OAuth2/OIDC, JWT), gRPC, AWS IAM/Secrets Manager/KMS
Tooling & Testing: Maven & Gradle, Testcontainers, Kotlin Coroutines

Interests & Advocacy

Focus on rigorous engineering practices (TDD, clean code, low-level programming, competitive programming). Lifelong learning in physics, mathematics, and CS. Advocate for open education, mental health, sustainability, children’s rights, climate action, and animal welfare. Enjoy hiking, meditation, running, gym, esports, and quiet nature environments. Systems-thinking enthusiast who values ergonomic, aesthetic, and cozy setups; collects aphorisms. Prefers text-based asynchronous communication.

References

Available upon request.