Yohannes Berhane
Email: y.berhane56@gmail.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yohannes-berhane
GitHub: github.com/yohannes15
Portfolio: yohannes15.github.io
Summary
Backend Software 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. Additional experience in C# and JavaScript. Led high-traffic migrations at Gen (700K+ requests/day) and scaled OptiFunder to serve 15%+ of US independent mortgage originations.
Experience
Senior Software Engineer — Gen
Oct 2025 – May 2026 · New York, NY (Hybrid)
- Infrastructure Migration: Led the in-sourcing and migration of an outsourced Django application (~700K requests/day) from EC2 to ECS and RDS to Aurora; implemented IaC with Terraform to eliminate manual overhead and improve reliability.
- Backend Engineering: Developed internal rule-based decision engines using Scala, Cats, and Http4s, while managing partner integrations via a high-throughput Django REST platform.
- Data Engineering: Designed a data pipeline (Snowflake → S3 → Lambda → SQS → application) to process over 5 million leads monthly for automated offer refreshes.
- Containerization: Supported a decisioning platform for credit card partners, enabling secure execution of partner-provided decision engines via containerized environments.
OptiFunder — Senior Software Engineer (Promoted May 2023)
Sep 2021 – Oct 2025 · Remote, NY
- Full-Stack Development: Led the design and development of high-performance Django and Flask applications, serving over 15% of all US independent mortgage originations; utilized a modern frontend stack of HTMX, Alpine.js, and React with Tailwind CSS.
- System Architecture: Orchestrated the migration to a microservices-based architecture for the loan optimization engine, leveraging asyncio, threading, and distributed tasks via Google Cloud Tasks/Jobs.
- API & Backend Engineering: Engineered and maintained robust RESTful APIs using Django REST Framework, ensuring high availability and secure data processing.
- Database Optimization: Redesigned and normalized legacy database schemas, resulting in a 200% improvement in query performance and overall system efficiency.
- Infrastructure & DevOps: Managed large-scale cloud deployments on GCP using Terraform (IaC), while establishing comprehensive testing standards with Pytest.
- Leadership: 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
- Backend Services: Developed backend services using .NET Core and deployed in Docker containers on AWS to support high-volume GPS mapping and logistics operations.
- CI/CD Automation: Automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, Python, and Chef, reducing deployment times by 15%.
- API Modernization: Modernized REST and SOAP services using ASP.NET Web APIs, ensuring high availability with blue-green deployment strategies.
- Testing: Wrote unit tests for APIs using NUnit and XUnit, achieving 85% code coverage.
- Database Performance: Enhanced SQL Server database transactions and performance, reducing query response times by 30%.
Open Source Contributions
Django Storages
Developed feature for Google Cloud Compute services to generate signed URLs via IAM API; collaborated with maintainers for secure community integration.
Technical Skills
Languages: Python (Primary), Scala, Go, JavaScript, C#, SQL
Python Ecosystem: Django, Flask, FastAPI, Django REST Framework, Celery, Pytest
Scala Ecosystem: Cats, Cats Effect, Http4s
Frontend: React, HTMX, Alpine.js, Tailwind
Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (EC2, ECS, S3, Lambda, RDS/Aurora), GCP, Terraform, Docker, GitHub Actions
Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Redis, DynamoDB, Snowflake
Education
St. John’s University
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Queens, NY · Aug 2016 – May 2020