Open to opportunities

Polycarp Kanyugo

@polycarpkanyugo

Message

Backend & cloud engineer building reliable, scalable systems with AWS, Kubernetes, queues.

Kenya

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to build reliable, scalable backend systems in cloud environments. I want ownership across APIs, databases, async/distributed architecture, and CI/CD, collaborating in Agile teams to ship dependable production features.

I’m a backend-focused Software Engineer with 3+ years of experience building and deploying cloud-native applications. I bring a systems-thinker approach to backend engineering—designing APIs, optimizing databases, and engineering distributed, asynchronous systems that are reliable and well understood. I’m comfortable across Linux, CI/CD pipelines, and Agile teams.

In my current role as a Backend Developer at Chakula Technologies, I design end-to-end payment workflows using Paystack and build scalable asynchronous notification systems with Celery, Redis, and Brevo. I craft and serve transactional HTML email templates from a Django backend, maintain checkout functionality and 10+ REST API endpoints, and drive database improvements that reduced slow query frequency by over 30%. I also manage development/production deployments with Docker on Railway and collaborate through Git-based workflows to maintain 99%+ uptime.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Backend Developer

Current

Chakula Technologies

Apr 2026 - Present (3 months)

Develop and maintain backend services for chakula.africa, including payment workflows, asynchronous notifications, and REST APIs supporting ordering and customer workflows.

Django Paystack Webhooks Celery Redis Brevo REST APIs PostgreSQL SQL Query Optimization Docker Railway Git

Backend Engineering Study

Self-Directed Study

Dec 2024 - Mar 2026 (1 year 3 months)

Self-directed upskilling focused on cloud infrastructure, distributed systems, and modern deployment practices using containerization and orchestration.

AWS Terraform IaC Ansible Docker Kubernetes RabbitMQ Event Driven Architecture Distributed Systems Async Programming

Software Engineer Trainee

ALX Africa

Jun 2023 - Jul 2024 (1 year 1 month)

Architected and deployed full-stack applications using Django/Flask and SQL databases, and collaborated with Agile teams across sprint cycles while optimizing performance and troubleshooting issues.

Django Flask MySQL SQLite C System Calls Memory Management Agile Sprint Planning Retrospectives Mentorship

Software Engineering Intern

BTN

Jan 2023 - Apr 2023 (3 months)

Built and improved web applications, including a recruitment portal frontend and an internal record management system, while conducting usability testing and producing technical documentation.

HTML CSS JavaScript Flask SQL Query Optimization Usability Testing Technical Documentation API Documentation

ICT Support Intern

National Transport & Safety Authority

Jul 2022 - Oct 2022 (3 months)

Provided IT support to staff, resolved issues in the logbook clearance system to reduce customer wait times, and contributed to user training and a database modernization initiative.

IT Support Troubleshooting System Administration User Training Database Modernization