Hi, I'm

Jonathan Kamau

Backend Software Engineer

7+ years of experience building, scaling, and optimizing backend systems. Currently at Virtuagym in the Netherlands.

Get in Touch View Resume
Jonathan Kamau

About Me

As a Backend Software Engineer with 7+ years of experience, I've built, scaled, and optimized systems that power real-world applications. I specialize in Python-based backend development using Django and Flask, and have deep expertise in cloud infrastructure with AWS.

I've worked across distributed, remote-first teams — from startups to established companies — delivering high-quality software with a focus on clean architecture, performance, and reliability. My experience spans full-stack development, DevOps, data engineering, and API design.

Beyond coding, I'm passionate about mentorship, continuous learning, and contributing to the developer community. I write technical articles and actively pursue new technologies to sharpen my craft.

Location

Utrecht, Netherlands

Current Role

Backend Engineer at Virtuagym

Experience

7+ Years in Software Engineering

Languages

English & Swahili (Native)

Technical Skills

Languages

Python JavaScript SQL

Frameworks

Django Flask Node.js Bootstrap

Databases

PostgreSQL MySQL MongoDB SQLite Apache Cassandra Amazon Redshift

Cloud & DevOps

AWS EC2 S3 RDS Elastic Beanstalk Amplify CloudFront Docker CI/CD Travis CI CircleCI Jenkins Bitbucket Pipelines

Data Engineering

Apache Spark Apache Airflow Apache Kafka ETL Pipelines

Tools & Practices

Git / GitHub / Bitbucket Jira Agile / Scrum OOP TDD REST APIs SQLAlchemy

Work Experience

Backend Software Engineer

Virtuagym
2022 – Present Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Developing backend services and APIs for a comprehensive fitness and health platform used by thousands of gyms and coaches worldwide.
  • Building scalable microservices architecture with Python, ensuring high availability and performance.
  • Collaborating with cross-functional teams in an agile environment to deliver product features and improvements.
  • Maintaining and optimizing database performance and cloud infrastructure on AWS.

Fullstack Software Engineer

Analog
Aug 2020 – 2022 Washington, DC (Remote)
  • Lowered AWS service costs by 85% by leveraging free-tier instances and the AWS Calculator to compare estimates between regions.
  • Developed web-based platforms using full-stack Django, Flask, and Bootstrap.
  • Designed high-level architecture and entity-relationship diagrams for components and databases.
  • Implemented and maintained deployment scripts in Python to build and deploy code to staging and production.
  • Created and maintained a CI/CD pipeline on Bitbucket deploying to Elastic Beanstalk on AWS.
  • Utilized and maintained EC2 instances with auto-scaling; set up Application Load Balancer linked with CloudFront.
  • Setup deployment pipeline for a frontend React app with AWS Amplify.

Software Engineer

Andela
Mar 2017 – Mar 2020 Nairobi, Kenya
  • Developed, optimized, and secured APIs in Python; implemented data security and storage for internal tools.
  • Wrote comprehensive test cases that improved code coverage by 90%.
  • Worked with engineering teams of Andela's partner companies (2U) as a full-time remote software engineer.
  • Contributed to mentoring junior developers and representing the developer cohort.

Software Engineer (Contract)

2U
May 2018 – Jan 2020 Brooklyn, NY (Remote)
  • Collaborated with 2U's engineering teams to integrate, deliver, and maintain their suite of applications for new university programs.
  • Improved the program standup process including deployments and data integration.
  • Achieved an 80% turnaround efficiency for 2U in the final quarter of 2019 as a team.

Featured Projects

Data Engineering Capstone Project

Built an ETL pipeline providing temperature, population, and immigration statistics for different cities. Extracts data from various datasets, transforms it using Apache Spark, uploads to Redshift, and automates the workflow with Apache Airflow.

Python Apache Spark Apache Airflow Amazon Redshift S3

Data Engineering Portfolio

A collection of data engineering projects from Udacity's Data Engineer and Data Streaming Nanodegree programs, including data lakes, data warehouses, data modeling, and streaming pipelines.

Python Spark Kafka Cassandra Redshift

MovieBuff API

A Python API that allows users to create, view, and update their list of favorite movies. Built with Python Flask, integrated with MongoDB and Postgres, with SQLAlchemy ORM and continuous deployment on Heroku.

Python Flask MongoDB PostgreSQL SQLAlchemy

EpisodeTracker API

An API that enables users to track TV shows they're watching — search for shows, view episode details, log watched episodes, tag favorites, and get suggestions for similar shows.

Python Django Docker

Covid19Viewer API

An API that provides real-time Coronavirus data by country, built with JavaScript and designed for easy integration with frontend applications.

JavaScript Node.js REST API

Note Taking App

A clean note-taking application built with classic Django, demonstrating full-stack web development with Python.

Python Django

Education & Certifications

Bachelor of Business and Information Technology

Africa Nazarene University

Sept 2008 – July 2012 • Second Class Honours, Upper Division • GPA: 3.639

Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship Award • Best Academic Performance Award

Data Streaming Nanodegree

Udacity

Dec 2019

Covered data streaming systems, real-time data ingestion with Apache Kafka and Spark, and stream processing with the Faust Python library and Confluent Kafka.

Data Engineering Nanodegree

Udacity

July 2019 – Oct 2019

Learned to create scalable data warehouses, work with big data technologies, build cloud-based data lakes, and automate data pipelines with Spark, Airflow, and AWS.

Certifications

Learning npm the Node Package Manager LinkedIn • Apr 2020
Node.js Essential Training LinkedIn • Apr 2020
Programming Foundations: Design Patterns LinkedIn • Mar 2020
Agile Software Development LinkedIn • Feb 2020
CISCO IT Essentials CISCO Networking Academy

Community & Writing

Volunteer Experience

  • Mentorship Program — Africa Nazarene University (Jan 2011 – Jan 2012)
  • Developer Cohort Representative — Andela (Apr 2018 – Apr 2019)

Technical Articles

Get in Touch

I'm always open to discussing new opportunities, interesting projects, or just connecting with fellow developers. Feel free to reach out!

kamaujonathan@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/kamaujonathan github.com/jonathankamau
Utrecht, Netherlands