Backend systems and APIs that keep working as you grow
The back end is the part of your software nobody sees and everybody depends on: the business rules, the data, and the APIs that your website, app and other systems talk to. When it's designed well, adding features is straightforward. When it isn't, every change becomes slow and risky.
Backend engineering is where I'm strongest. I design and build APIs and server-side systems with clear structure, sensible data models and the unglamorous details — validation, error handling, security and background processing — done properly from the start.
Is this you?
- You have a front end or mobile app, and need the API and database behind it
- Your current back end struggles under load, or each change breaks something else
- Slow tasks like processing files or sending emails are holding up your users
- You need a reliable API for partners or other systems to connect to
What I can build for you
- REST API design and build
- APIs designed around your data and the clients that use them, with validation, consistent errors and documentation.
- Data modelling and databases
- Database design, migrations and queries that stay fast as data grows — usually PostgreSQL.
- Background jobs and queues
- Moving slow work — file processing, document generation, notifications — out of the request, so your app stays responsive.
- Authentication and security
- Sign-in, role-based permissions, encrypted secrets and sensible defaults against common attacks.
- Third-party integrations
- Connecting your system to payment providers, email services, CRMs and other APIs, with retries and error handling.
- Cloud deployment
- Deployment to AWS or another host, with file storage, configuration and environments set up properly.
Relevant experience
AlignCV
Founder and sole engineer, independent product
A NestJS API with PostgreSQL, organised into modules for auth, CVs, matching, tailoring, documents, quotas and audit logging, with long-running work on Redis and BullMQ background jobs and files in S3.
Commercial casino platforms
Senior software developer, senior engineering team
Backend services and API integrations on a shared platform running four live brands, built in Go and Node.js on AWS as part of a senior engineering team.
DHUB Education
Full-stack software developer, sole developer
A PHP back end with database-backed content, form processing and email notifications for student applications and enquiries.
How it works
Every project follows the same four stages — discover, define, build, and ship and support — scaled to the size of the job. We agree the scope and price in writing before the build starts, you see working progress regularly, and you finish with documented software you own. See how I work.
TechnologiesNode.js, NestJS, TypeScript, Go, PHP (Laravel, Symfony), Python and Django, PostgreSQL, Redis, BullMQ, Kafka, MikroORM, TypeORM, AWS (EC2, S3, Lambda, API Gateway).
Common questions
Do you only build the back end, or the front end too?
Both. I'm happy to build just the API for your existing front end or mobile app, or to deliver the whole application. Backend work is my strongest area.
Can you work on a back end someone else built?
Yes. I'll start by reading the code and understanding how it works, then agree with you what to fix or extend. Some of my most useful work has been inside existing production systems.
Which language or framework will you use?
Usually TypeScript with Node.js and NestJS for new projects, because it's productive and widely supported. If you already have a PHP, Go or Python system, or a team that works in one, I'll work in that instead.
Will the API be documented?
Yes. You'll get documentation for the endpoints and for running and deploying the system, so other developers can work with it.
Related services
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