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Miguel Avilés

Senior Software Engineer · Full Cycle Developer

Senior Software Engineer and Full Cycle Developer with nearly a decade of experience building production systems across fintech, operational platforms, and AI-driven workflows. Experienced in taking products from architectural planning to deployment, with the ability to own every layer of the stack when required.

Hands-on experience leading product development end to end, from API design and infrastructure configuration to web application delivery, including shipping MVPs independently when execution speed is critical. Experience spans two fintech companies in the lending space and large-scale operational systems.

Roles where the work is meaningful, the problems are real, and ownership extends beyond tickets into impact, architecture, and execution is what drives me.

Get In TouchView Architecture Work

職人

Craftsman

Deep, tactile ownership of systems. I care about correctness and maintainability because they are the tools of a master builder.

戦術家

Tactician

When the project drifts, I grab the wheel, plan, delegate, and ship. I know how the pieces fit together.

橋渡し

Bridge

I guide and coach not to manage, but because the product is the goal. Empowered teams build better than lone geniuses.

Skills & Technologies

A curated stack of tools I use to design, build, and ship full products.

Backend

LaravelLaravel
PHPPHP
Node.jsNode.js
GraphQLGraphQL
HorizonHorizon
PulsePulse
n8nn8n

Databases & Data

MySQLMySQL
PostgreSQLPostgreSQL
SQL ServerSQL Server
FirebaseFirebase
BigQueryBigQuery
RedisRedis
Data FusionData Fusion
Looker MLLooker ML

Cloud / Infra

GCPGCP
AWSAWS
Digital OceanDigital Ocean
DockerDocker
KubernetesKubernetes
LinuxLinux

Frontend

ReactReact
Next.jsNext.js
Vue.jsVue.js
Nuxt.jsNuxt.js
TypeScriptTypeScript
JavaScriptJavaScript
Tailwind CSSTailwind CSS
BootstrapBootstrap
jQueryjQuery
VuetifyVuetify

Tools & Hosting

GitGit
VSCodeVSCode
TelescopeTelescope
PusherPusher
SendGridSendGrid
Webdock.ioWebdock.io
BluehostBluehost
HostingerHostinger
NamecheapNamecheap
GoDaddyGoDaddy

Work Experience

My professional journey showcasing growth from builder to technical owner.

Sora Rewards

Tech Lead

Current
Sora Rewards
Feb 2025 - Present
Japan Overseas
Remote
  • Shipped a full production platform solo in under 2 months, from greenfield to live with no existing codebase, no team, and no senior engineer above me.
  • Replaced a week of manual Excel formatting per client with a 30-second automated export. Designed the system end to end: data model, export engine, and client segmentation logic.
  • Own the full stack: Laravel API, Next.js frontend, AWS infrastructure, and Docker CI/CD with no separate DevOps function.
  • Designing the roadmap for order workflow automation and AI integration features.
LaravelLaravel
Next.jsNext.js
TypeScriptTypeScript
AWSAWS
GCPGCP
VPSVPS
DockerDocker
MySQLMySQL
RedisRedis
n8nn8n
SentrySentry
Third Party APIs
Ábaco Capital

Technical Owner / Lead Backend Developer

Previous
Ábaco Capital

Central American fintech — invoice factoring and working capital for SMEs. Featured in Forbes CA 30 Business Promises 2024.

Sep 2023 - Early 2026
El Salvador
Remote

First engineer hired at a startup fintech. Built the backend from scratch, reviewed architecture proposals from external contractors, and took full ownership of infrastructure operations.

  • Built AI-enhanced KYC onboarding using Gemini and OCR. Reduced tax document review from manual hours to under 1 minute.
  • Shipped multi-country multi-tenancy in under 1 month.
  • First engineer hired at a Forbes-recognized Central American fintech building invoice factoring and working capital products for SMEs. Built the backend from scratch and led full architecture migration to GCP.
  • Reviewed and approved the full GCP architecture: three isolated GKE environments, ETL pipelines via DataFusion, BigQuery ML models, and a Looker BI layer.
  • Managed Kubernetes pods, GCP instances, Cloud Functions, and automated pipeline monitoring directly.
  • Led the hiring process and defined engineering standards as the team scaled.
LaravelLaravel
PHPPHP
GCPGCP
KubernetesKubernetes
BigQueryBigQuery
MySQLMySQL
Data FusionData Fusion
Looker MLLooker ML
PostgreSQLPostgreSQL
RedisRedis
DockerDocker
PythonPython
Cloud FunctionsCloud Functions
Document AIDocument AI
Taktile
SentrySentry
Third Party APIs
DiiMO Technologies

Full-Stack Developer

DiiMO Technologies

El Salvador fintech — mobile app providing digital capital advances (short-term loans) to entrepreneurs and workers.

Jan 2022 - Jul 2023
El Salvador
Hybrid
  • Refactored the database structure and optimized SQL queries at a mobile lending platform, eliminating instability in a system serving daily active borrowers.
  • Built REST APIs and Vue/Nuxt frontend features for a fintech app providing short-term capital advances to workers and entrepreneurs across El Salvador.
  • Built operational reporting directly in SQL and wired real-time SMS alerts for loan state changes.
  • Standardized the deployment environment and introduced PR review discipline across the team.
LaravelLaravel
PHPPHP
Vue.jsVue.js
Nuxt.jsNuxt.js
MySQLMySQL
SQL ServerSQL Server
Node.jsNode.js
JavaScriptJavaScript
Direct English

Full-Stack Developer

Direct English

English language academy operating in El Salvador.

Nov 2020 - Jan 2022
El Salvador
Remote
  • Designed and built databases to support new course and student management modules as the platform scaled.
  • Built backend and frontend features for the academy's internal platforms, translating business requirements directly into working software.
  • Trained internal staff on system functionality after shipping each new module.
LaravelLaravel
PHPPHP
Vue.jsVue.js
JavaScriptJavaScript
MySQLMySQL
BootstrapBootstrap

Case Studies

Three moments that prove the posture is real, not just a pitch.

Sora RewardsFeb 2025–Present

Zero to Production: Asia-Wide Operations Platform

Technical owner of the full stack: design, build, infrastructure, and roadmap

職人 Craftsman

Built a Laravel + Next.js inventory and export system from scratch for Asia-wide merchandise operations. Designed multi-country client segmentation, a format-specific export engine, and an image handling pipeline. Every architectural decision was mine to make.

戦術家 Tactician

Shipped a full MVP in under 2 months, solo. Replaced a week of manual Excel formatting work with a 30-second automated export per client. Maintains all infrastructure via Docker CI/CD on AWS with no DevOps team, no handoffs.

橋渡し Bridge

Currently shaping the product roadmap for future order workflows and AI automation features, acting as the technical compass for what gets built next.

Key outcome

Week of manual work → 30-second export. MVP in < 2 months.

Ábaco TechnologiesSep 2023–Early 2026

First Engineer. Architecture Owner. DevOps Absorber.

First engineer hired at a startup fintech. Built the backend from scratch, reviewed architecture proposals from external contractors, and took full ownership of infrastructure operations.

職人 Craftsman

Technical reviewer and primary approver for the full GCP architecture migration: three isolated GKE environments, ETL pipelines via DataFusion, BigQuery ML models, and a Looker BI layer. Built AI-enhanced KYC onboarding using Gemini and OCR, reducing tax document review to under 1 minute.

戦術家 Tactician

Shipped multi-country multi-tenancy in under 1 month. Managed Kubernetes pods, GCP instances, Cloud Functions, and automated pipeline monitoring directly. Led the hiring process as the team scaled and coordinated the external DevOps team for zero-downtime GCP migration.

橋渡し Bridge

Introduced PR review standards and testing discipline that became the team's baseline. Coached engineers on environment safety and separation of concerns. Ran sprint reviews as the person who understood every layer of the system.

Key outcome

Tax doc review: manual hours → under 1 minute. Multi-tenancy shipped in < 1 month. Zero-downtime migration.

Universidad CentroamericanaAug 2018–Nov 2019

Teaching as Proof of Mastery

Programming Fundamentals Instructor, the earliest form of technical leadership

職人 Craftsman

Designed curriculum, lab exercises, and assessment methods from scratch. You can only teach what you truly own. The depth required to explain a concept clearly is greater than the depth required to use it.

戦術家 Tactician

Structured and delivered a full academic course from zero: planning, execution, student assessment. The same skills that run a sprint plan run a semester. Define the goal, break it into units, track progress, adjust when people fall behind.

橋渡し Bridge

The students who learned from this course carried those standards forward. That's the longest-lasting form of technical influence. Not a PR review, but a mental model someone takes with them for a career.

Key outcome

Curriculum designed from scratch. Proof that craft existed long before the lead title.

Systems I've Owned

Sanitized architecture diagrams based on real production systems — illustrative representations with all proprietary details removed.

ETL & Data Pipeline

Technical reviewer and delivery owner — DataFusion ETL processor ingesting from multiple sources into BigQuery, feeding multiple ML models, with structured output flowing to a BI reporting layer and operational database.

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ETL and data pipeline architecture Sanitized architecture diagram showing a DataFusion ETL processor ingesting from multiple sources, feeding BigQuery for processing and ML modelling, with output flowing to a BI layer and operational database. Data Fusion ETL processor Platform API Internal data source External DB Third-party source Data warehouse BigQuery Data processor BigQuery ML BigQuery ML BI layer Looker reporting Operational DB Cloud SQL / MySQL Illustrative — based on real architecture, sanitized for confidentiality

Data & AI Sector

Architecture connecting a multi-model data warehouse layer to a GKE production cluster, document AI processing pipeline, and cloud storage — showing the full data flow from warehouse to end user.

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Data and AI sector architecture Sanitized architecture showing the data warehouse layer with BigQuery and ML models above a GKE production cluster, connected to document AI processing, Cloud SQL, and Cloud Storage, serving a front-end client. Data warehouse BigQuery Data processor BigQuery ML BigQuery ML BI layer Looker reporting Document AI AI doc processing Operational DB Cloud SQL / MySQL Cloud Storage Document assets GKE production cluster Backend API pod Backend worker pod GKE Kubernetes Illustrative — based on real architecture, sanitized for confidentiality

Core Infrastructure

Three-environment GKE platform (staging, production, development) behind Cloud Armor WAF and Cloud DNS entry point — with per-environment data layers (MySQL HA + Redis), a full monitoring stack (logging, tracing, error reporting), and a security-scanned CI/CD pipeline.

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Core infrastructure architecture — multi-environment GKE platform Sanitized architecture showing three isolated GKE cluster environments (staging, production, development) behind a WAF and load balancer, with per-environment data and storage layers, a shared monitoring layer, and a CI/CD pipeline with container security scanning. Cloud DNS Cloud Armor WAF Access layer Cloud IAM Secret Manager Audit logs Staging GKE Kubernetes API web pods Backend API + worker pods Production GKE Kubernetes API web pods Backend API + worker pods Development GKE Kubernetes API web pods Backend API + worker pods Storage layer Storage — prod Multi-region Storage — staging Single-region Storage — dev Single-region Data layer Cloud SQL — prod MySQL HA Memorystore — prod Redis Cloud SQL — staging MySQL HA Memorystore — staging Redis Cloud SQL — dev MySQL + Redis Monitoring layer Cloud Logging Log lake Cloud Monitoring Event monitoring Cloud Trace Latency tracing Error Reporting Error viewer CI/CD pipeline Cloud Build CI worker Artifact Registry Docker images Cloud Deploy Deploy apps Illustrative — based on real architecture, sanitized for confidentiality

These diagrams are illustrative representations based on real production architectures, sanitized for confidentiality. All service names reflect generic GCP/AWS tooling only — no proprietary business logic, data structures, or client information is represented.

Playground

Side tools and experiments

Color Palette

Design

Create harmonious color palettes using color theory principles. Supports complementary, triadic, analogous, and monochromatic schemes with export options for CSS and design workflows.

Preview

Colors opposite each other on the color wheel, creating high contrast and vibrant designs.