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Hello, I'm Axl.

I'm a software engineer from Zamboanga City, Philippines. For the past 7+ years I've been designing, building, and operating production web services, mostly with small remote teams, and mostly on the backend and cloud side: Node.js, TypeScript, Go, AWS, PostgreSQL, and DynamoDB.

The pattern across my roles has stayed the same. I join early, take ownership of the architecture and delivery, and then stay accountable for what happens after launch: the testing, the deployment pipeline, the cloud bill, and the late-night debugging when something breaks. Along the way I learned that the most valuable work is often the least visible, and that good engineering is measured by how reliable and sustainable you leave a system, not only by the features you ship.

Most recently I owned the backend and cloud infrastructure for trials.gg at Viyahe/Monark, from the first architecture diagram to production. These days I'm spending my time on my own projects: Conose PH, a hyperlocal discovery app for my city, Top.Notch, a small macOS app, and Finova, a personal finance app with an AI coach.

How I work

  1. 01 I own systems beyond the initial implementation.
  2. 02 I prefer simple solutions with clear operational behavior.
  3. 03 I treat tests as part of the design, not an afterthought.
  4. 04 I document technical decisions and their trade-offs, so the next person knows why.
  5. 05 I improve systems incrementally instead of rewriting them prematurely.
  6. 06 I use AI-generated code only after I've reviewed, validated, and tested it.
  7. 07 I work across backend, frontend, infrastructure, QA, and product when delivery needs it.

Environment

Remote-first, async-heavy, lean teams where engineers hold real ownership. I'm comfortable being the senior engineer who bridges product and infrastructure.

Interests

Distributed systems and event-driven architecture, testing strategy, cloud cost engineering, observability, and disciplined AI-assisted development. Lately, also native macOS and mobile development through my own projects.

Changelog

Viyahe / Monark Platform Software Engineer 03/2022 - 07/2026 PH Live Music LTD DevOps Consultant 03/2025 - 05/2025 MDI Novare Senior Software Engineer Consultant 09/2021 - 10/2023 Bunbuy Marketplace Full Stack Engineer (Part-Time) 01/2023 - 03/2023 exact construct GmbH Deputy Head Software Developer 08/2019 - 03/2022 RightJob Solutions Web Developer 10/2018 - 08/2019 Zamboanga Amusement & Recreational Inc. Android Developer / System Administrator 03/2018 - 10/2018

Experience

03/2022 - 07/2026
Remote · PH

Platform Software Engineer · Viyahe / Monark

Core engineer on trials.gg, a challenge-based reward system for competitive gamers, from the first architecture to production launch.

  • Led end-to-end delivery of trials.gg (architecture to production), scaling to 900+ sign-ups with ~5 hrs/day average engagement and 99.9% availability.
  • Led the design and development of the data analytics pipeline on AWS, enabling near real-time dashboards in Grafana.
  • Owned CI/CD pipelines on AWS CodePipeline across frontend and backend, increasing release cadence to ~5 deploys/week.
  • Volunteered to support frontend delivery (2023-2024); shipped 35+ web and Electron features on a lean team.
  • Established clean architecture and engineering standards across 3 applications.

Node.js · TypeScript · Fastify · AWS · PostgreSQL · DynamoDB · Grafana

03/2025 - 05/2025
Remote · PH

DevOps Consultant (Freelance) · PH Live Music LTD

Short freelance engagement focused on cloud cost and delivery reliability.

  • Reduced infrastructure cost by ~40% through AWS migration, right-sizing, and eliminating unused resources.
  • Implemented CI/CD automation, cutting pipeline runtime from ~20 min to ~6 min with a failure rate under 7%.
  • Resolved TypeScript and build configuration issues across 3 projects; strengthened web platform security against scalper bots and common vulnerabilities.

AWS · SST · CDK · CI/CD · TypeScript

09/2021 - 10/2023
Remote · PH

Senior Software Engineer, then Consultant (Part-Time) · MDI Novare

Two chapters on Meralco's Bayad Center project: first as a frontend-leaning senior engineer, then back as the lead for the BFA backend module.

  • Led a 3-developer team delivering the BFA module: technical design, backend development, testing, and delivery.
  • Shipped ~26 production backend features on AWS and built integration tests covering 95% of the module's endpoints.
  • Delivered 25+ React features and resolved 15+ complex bugs across frontend and backend.
  • Mentored 2 developers through code reviews and engineering standards; ran knowledge transfer through the final handover.

Node.js · React · AWS · PostgreSQL · DynamoDB · Jest

01/2023 - 03/2023
Remote · PH

Full Stack Engineer (Part-Time) · Bunbuy Marketplace

Part-time full stack work on an online marketplace, shipped in a scrum team.

  • Delivered ~10 frontend and backend features as part of a scrum team.
  • Tested each feature end to end before review, keeping coverage around 90% and regressions low.

React · Node.js · TypeScript

08/2019 - 03/2022
Zamboanga · PH

Senior Software Engineer, then Deputy Head Software Engineer · exact construct GmbH

Grew from senior engineer to second-in-command for engineering: standards, mentoring, and delivery across multiple Swiss client projects.

  • Designed and delivered 8 web applications using React, Express, and GraphQL.
  • Replaced manual deployments with GitLab CI/CD pipelines across ~15 applications; managed ~15 production applications on Linode.
  • Designed and built an internal feedback tracking system and a payroll accounting application from requirements to delivery.
  • Mentored 6 developers on system design, software architecture, and design patterns.

React · Vue · Express · GraphQL · Laravel · CodeIgniter · GitLab CI · Linode

10/2018 - 08/2019
Zamboanga · PH

Web Developer · RightJob Solutions

Client web applications and WordPress sites for a local digital agency.

  • Designed and delivered 3 web applications using React, Vue, Laravel, CodeIgniter, Express, and GraphQL.
  • Designed and delivered 2 WordPress sites for clients.

React · Vue · Laravel · CodeIgniter · Express · GraphQL · WordPress

03/2018 - 10/2018
Zamboanga · PH

Android Developer / System Administrator · Zamboanga Amusement & Recreational Inc.

First job out of university: an Android data-collection app and the reporting platform behind it.

  • Developed an Android data-collection application deployed across ~10 operational branches.
  • Designed and maintained an administrator analytics platform with real-time reporting across branches in Mindanao.
  • Implemented a retry mechanism for mobile-to-server sync (99.9% successful delivery) and secure data transfer between the app and the web platform.

Android · MySQL · REST

Education

BS Computer Science, major in Information Technology
Western Mindanao State University · 2014 - 2018

Certification

Electronic Data Processing Specialist
Department of Information and Communications Technology, Mindanao Cluster 1 · 02/2021

Contact

[email protected] LinkedIn ↗ GitHub ↗ CV.pdf