SOLOMON BARINE AKPURU
solobarine.netlify.app
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
linkedin.com/in/solomon-akpuru
github.com/solobarine
Profile Summary
Full-stack Software Engineer experienced in designing and building scalable SaaS, fintech, and realtime communication platforms. Integrated global payment systems such as Stripe, Flutterwave,
Paystack, and NowPayments to power secure transactions and automated reconciliation. Skilled in
React, TypeScript, Elixir Phoenix, Ruby on Rails, and Laravel, with a proven record of collaborating
asynchronously with distributed teams across US and EU time zones. Passionate about building
reliable, user-centered systems that drive measurable business impact.
Technical Skills
Frontend: React, Next.js, Nuxt.js, TypeScript, JavaScript, TailwindCSS
Backend: Elixir Phoenix, Ruby on Rails, Laravel, Express
Databases: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, MySQL
Payments & APIs: Stripe, Flutterwave, Paystack, NowPayments, VTpass
DevOps & Cloud: AWS, Docker, GitHub Actions, Nginx, Hostinger
Real-time Systems: WebSockets, Phoenix Channels, Redis Pub/Sub
Collaboration: GitHub, Jira, Slack, Agile & Async Workflows
Work Experience
Senior Software Engineer - Consulting
Jan 2023 - Present
Delivered property rental SaaS platform serving 2K+ landlords and tenants, featuring real-time
search with 80% faster query performance through optimized indexing and caching strategies
Built crypto-fiat exchange infrastructure processing $30K+ monthly volume across 5+
cryptocurrencies, implementing fraud detection reducing chargebacks.
Architected e-commerce platform for digital art marketplace, integrating Stripe payments and
achieving 99.95% transaction success rate with automated reconciliation
Developed a recommendation engine increasing user engagement by 32% through collaborative
filtering algorithms analyzing 8K+ user interactions
TECHNOLOGIES: Laravel, React, NextJS, NuxtJS, Ruby on Rails, TailwindCSS, Postgres, MongoDB,
Redis
Founder and Lead Engineer - Toucan
October 2024 - Present
Founded and led the development of Toucan, a social media app focused on close connections,
realtime interaction, and user privacy — rejecting data harvesting and algorithmic manipulation.
Designed and built a real-time chat system using WebSockets and Phoenix Channels, enabling
private one-to-one conversations with custom presence tracking and seamless message delivery.
Integrated secure authentication flows utilizing JWT and OAuth (Google, GitHub), enabling users to
seamlessly access the platform with a 99.9% uptime and complete data protection.
Built a responsive, theme-aware frontend with dark/light mode toggles, TailwindCSS, and Redux
Toolkit for global state management — ensuring a modern, fast, and user-friendly interface.
TECHNOLOGIES: React, TypeScript, Elixir Phoenix, Postgres, WebSockets, Background Jobs
Founder and Lead Engineer - RechargePadi
April 2025 - October 2025
Built a bills payment platform supporting airtime, data, cable, and electricity payments using Ruby on
Rails and Nuxt.js, integrated with VTpass and Flutterwave APIs.
Built modular APIs and payment adapters for multiple bill types, streamlining integration of future
providers and reducing onboarding time for new services by over 60%.
Conducted market and user research, identifying user trust and brand preference for existing players
(Opay, Moniepoint).
Operated the startup part-time while working as an independent contractor, balancing product
development and client commitments.
Gained valuable insights into fintech market saturation, user acquisition challenges, and monetization
strategies.
TECHNOLOGIES: NuxtJS, Typescript, Ruby on Rails, Postgres, TailwindCSS
Web Developer - Digital Factory
May 2024 - Jan 2025
Improved Core Web Vitals by 20% and reduced page load times by 24% through performance profiling
and frontend optimization.
Modernized the codebase by upgrading deprecated dependencies and replacing unsupported
packages with actively maintained alternatives.
Migrated the file management system from Paperclip to Active Storage, improving maintainability and
compatibility with modern Rails versions.
Refactored legacy code into modular components, increasing readability and easing future feature
development.
Implemented comprehensive RSpec tests and integrated CI pipelines, improving code reliability and
deployment confidence.
Enhanced security by enforcing stricter parameter validation and upgrading authentication libraries.
Collaborated cross-functionally with designers and backend engineers to ensure consistent UX and
stable API integration.
TECHNOLOGIES: Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, AWS, Nginx, Postgres, SCSS
Software Engineer - Savasana AI
Nov 2023 - Feb 2024
Built a Chrome extension that increased support agent productivity by 50%, automating repetitive
tasks and streamlining ticket responses.
Designed a serverless backend architecture using AWS Lambda and API Gateway, reducing
infrastructure costs by 23% and improving response times by 12%.
Integrated Firebase for real-time data synchronization and user authentication, ensuring secure and
seamless access.
Developed modular, reusable components in TypeScript with Plasmo and Express, improving
maintainability and scalability.
Set up CI/CD workflows to automate builds, testing, and deployment, accelerating release cycles.
Collaborated with product and QA teams to validate performance gains and ensure smooth rollout
across user environments.
Software Engineer II - Syntrix
May 2021 - Apr 2023
Built and shipped new features in a Django + React app, improving engagement and usability.
Automated heavy tasks with background jobs and workflows, boosting performance.
Managed email pipelines for reliable transactional and bulk notifications.
Enhanced accessibility (ARIA, semantic HTML, contrast), achieving WCAG compliance.
Containerized services with Docker and CI/CD via GitHub Actions, cutting release time.
Worked across Node.js and Rails services, integrating Kafka and Prometheus for event monitoring.
TECHNOLOGIES: Python, Ruby on Rails, NodeJS, Django, React, TailwindCSS, Docker, GitHub
Actions, MySQL, Kafka, Prometheus
Software Engineer I - Syntrix
Jul 2020 - May 2021
Implemented secure authentication and OAuth integrations, and used Sidekiq for background jobs
like message delivery, notifications, and scheduled tasks, reducing latency.
Optimized PostgreSQL queries and introduced Redis caching, cutting response times on frequently
accessed endpoints.
Enhanced UI/UX with reusable, responsive Next.js and Material UI components.
Collaborated on system architecture to improve scalability and reliability while maintaining
comprehensive RSpec and Jest test suites for stability.
TECHNOLOGIES: Ruby on Rails, Next.js, Material UI, PostgreSQL, WebSockets, Redis, Sidekiq, OAuth
Education
University of Port Harcourt
2016 - 2023
B.Eng, Petroleum and Gas Engineering
Microverse
Software Development
Open Source Contributions
Openstack
Developed a patch to prevent active replica state resets, mitigating potential data loss. ➤
Updated Documentation to feature new Openstack CLI instead of the deprecated Manila CLI. ➤
Wikimedia
Enhanced SEO by implementing dynamic page titles for improved navigation and search visibility. ➤
Added tests to JavaScript actions to verify correct functionality. ➤
Fix early `average views` updates for article views. ➤
