Open to opportunities

Joan Ikwen

@joanikwen

Message

I build secure, scalable fintech and SaaS APIs with Node.js, payments, Redis, and RabbitMQ.

Nigeria

Message

What I'm looking for

I'm looking for a full-time backend developer role, remote or on-site, where I can build secure payment systems, scalable APIs, and event-driven services while contributing to fintech innovation and performance optimization.

I've built backend systems for Dakat Pay, Afriment, Canvoy Payments, and Iko Africa, delivering fintech, image-processing, wallet, and transaction APIs with Node.js, Express.js, PostgreSQL, and Redis.

At Dakat Pay, I help architect an event-driven fintech MVP covering wallet management, bill payments, gift cards, and airtime services. I integrated Flutterwave and Seerbit webhooks, built Redis-backed OTP authentication, and optimized PostgreSQL queries for financial transactions, reducing query times by 40%.

As the sole developer at Afriment, I built an image-processing platform serving 500+ daily users with 99.9% uptime, processing 1,000+ daily transformations and reducing image load times by 60% through AWS S3 and CDN delivery. I enjoy payment systems architecture, event-driven design, performance optimization, and fintech innovation.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Backend Developer Intern

Current

Dakat Pay

Sep 2025 - Present (11 months)

Architected event-driven payment processing system using RabbitMQ, integrated multiple payment gateways, and built secure wallet management with Sequelize ORM. Developed OTP authentication flow and admin dashboard backend with role-based permissions.

PostgreSQL MongoDB Sequelize RabbitMQ Redis Flutterwave API Seerbit API VTU Pass API Twilio Winston Swagger Zod

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Axia Africa

Certification, Backend Development

Completed a comprehensive backend development certification covering Node.js/Express.js, database management, authentication systems, RESTful API design, security best practices, API testing, cloud deployment, and agile methodologies.