Open to opportunities

chedza Ford

@chedzaford

Message

I'm building data-driven software and machine learning pipelines with Python, Java, and geospatial tools.

South Africa

Message

What I'm looking for

I'm looking to grow my Java and Spring Boot skills while building reliable, data-driven automation products. I value collaborative Agile teams, end-to-end development, stakeholder-focused problem solving, and opportunities to improve Internet access throughout Africa.

I've built an end-to-end machine learning pipeline at WeThinkCode_ that predicts South African dam levels from 26 years of daily rainfall data. Using Python, Pandas, scikit-learn, and XGBoost, I improved predictions by 74% over baseline across 30-, 60-, and 90-day horizons.

I engineered more than 15 features, automated daily data ingestion, retraining, and prediction generation, and used MLflow for experiment tracking and model versioning. I also created interactive Folium maps to communicate geospatial predictions to stakeholders.

Through WeThinkCode_'s peer-led, Agile project environment, I'm developing practical skills in requirements gathering, Git collaboration, testing, clean code, data structures, algorithms, and object-oriented design.

I'm expanding my Java and Spring Boot foundation while bringing strong Python, data engineering, and machine learning experience to reliable, data-driven software products.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Student Software Engineer

Current

WeThinkCode_

Jan 2025 - Present (1 year 7 months)

Designed and implemented an end-to-end machine learning pipeline predicting South African dam levels from 26 years of rainfall data, achieving a 74% improvement over baseline. Engineered 15+ features and utilized MLflow for experiment tracking and model versioning.

Python Pandas NumPy XGBoost MLFlow Git Machine Learning Feature Engineering Data Pipelines Agile Scrum Test Driven Development scikit learn

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

WeThinkCode_

Occupational Certificate, Software Engineering

2025 -

Grade: Competent

Activities and societies: Peer-led, project-based learning; Agile workflows; peer feedback sessions

Pursuing an Occupational Certificate in Software Engineering (NQF Level 6) with a focus on Java, Python, OOP, data structures, TDD, and algorithms. Acquired 85/240 NQF credits with strong performance in Programming Fundamentals and Object-Oriented Programming modules.

DataCamp

Data Scientist with Python, Data Science

2025 -

Pursuing a Data Scientist with Python track, including coursework in statistical thinking, machine learning with scikit-learn, and data visualization. Completed Data Manipulation with pandas certification in 2026.