Portrait of Yohannes Berhane

Backend Software Engineer

Backend engineer with 6+ years building scalable distributed systems. Expert in Python (Django, Flask, FastAPI) with growing proficiency in Scala (Cats, Cats Effect, Http4s) and Go. Led infrastructure migrations handling 700K+ requests per day and scaled systems serving 15%+ of US independent mortgage originations.

🎓 B.S. Computer Science · St. John's University, Queens NY · 2020
  • Python · Django · Flask · FastAPI
  • Scala · Cats · Http4s
  • Go
  • AWS · GCP

Experience

Senior Software Engineer

Gen
Oct 2025 – May 2026 · New York, NY (Hybrid)
700K+
Requests/Day
5M+
Leads/Month
  • Led the in-sourcing and migration of an outsourced Django application (~700K requests/day) from EC2 to ECS and RDS to Aurora. Implemented infrastructure as code with Terraform to eliminate manual overhead and improve reliability.
  • Developed internal rule-based decision engines using Scala, Cats, and Http4s. Managed partner integrations via a high-throughput Django REST platform.
  • Designed a data pipeline (Snowflake → S3 → Lambda → SQS) to process over 5 million leads monthly for automated offer refreshes.

Senior Software Engineer

OptiFunder
Sep 2021 – Oct 2025 · Promoted May 2023 · Remote, NY
15%
US Market
200%
Query Speed
  • Led design and development of high-performance Django and Flask applications serving over 15% of US independent mortgage originations. Utilized HTMX, Alpine.js, React, and Tailwind CSS for modern frontend experiences.
  • Orchestrated migration to a microservices-based architecture for the loan optimization engine, leveraging asyncio, threading, and distributed tasks via Google Cloud Tasks and Jobs.
  • Redesigned and normalized legacy database schemas, resulting in a 200% improvement in query performance.
  • Mentored a team of 3-5 developers, driving technical decisions, conducting code reviews, and steering the product roadmap.

Software Engineer

Trimble Maps
Oct 2020 – Oct 2021 · Princeton, NJ
15%
Faster Deploys
30%
Query Speed
  • Developed backend services using .NET Core and deployed in Docker containers on AWS to support high-volume GPS mapping and logistics operations.
  • Automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Python, and Chef, reducing deployment times by 15%.
  • Enhanced SQL Server database performance, reducing query response times by 30%.

Open Source

Django Storages

PR #1427 →

Developed feature for Google Cloud Compute services to generate signed URLs via IAM API. Collaborated with maintainers to ensure secure integration that benefits the broader community.

Technical Skills

Languages

Python Python
Scala Scala
JavaScript JavaScript
SQL SQL

Python Ecosystem

Django Django
Flask Flask
FastAPI FastAPI
Pytest Pytest
Celery Celery

Scala & FP

Cats & Cats Effect Cats & CE
Http4s Http4s
FS2 FS2

Cloud & Infrastructure

AWS AWS
GCP GCP
Terraform Terraform
Docker Docker

Databases

PostgreSQL PostgreSQL
Redis Redis
DynamoDB DynamoDB
Snowflake Snowflake

Frontend

React React
HTMX HTMX
Alpine.js Alpine.js
Tailwind Tailwind

Projects

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Scala LearningShowcaseActive

Chess Engine

Full-featured chess library and multiplayer backend in Scala 3, Cats Effect, and Http4s with bitboards and alpha-beta pruning.

Learning & Practice

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Scala LearningActive

Log Sentinel

Log parsing, viewing, and analysis tool in Scala for JSON and text formats with search, filtering, and structured log handling.