Nickson Kaigi · Full-stack Python engineer · Nairobi

Fast APIs.Quiet databases.Boring deploys.

I build and tune SaaS backends with Django, FastAPI and PostgreSQL. I've done it remotely for teams in the UK, US and New Zealand since 2012, from first prototype to production.

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What changed after I worked on it

50%

Faster API responsesPartitioned high-volume PostgreSQL tables at SKUify, which also cut query latency by 30%.

40%

More throughputMigrated REST APIs from Django REST Framework to FastAPI at FreeCast.

25%

Lower infrastructure costMoved services to Dockerized AWS Lambda endpoints.

500+

Sellers with automated reportsAmazon SP-API dashboards that replaced manual sales reporting.

Experience

Dec 2023 – Dec 2024
Remote, UK

SKUify Limited

Full-stack engineer

Partitioned PostgreSQL tables for high-volume datasets: query latency down 30%, API response times down 50%.
Built seller analytics dashboards on Amazon SP-API, automating sales reports for 500+ users.
Maintained Jenkins workflows for zero-downtime deployments, improving release efficiency by 20%.

Python
Django
React
PostgreSQL
Celery
Jenkins
DigitalOcean

Sep 2022 – Nov 2023
Remote, USA

FreeCast Inc

Back-end engineer

Migrated REST APIs from Django REST Framework to FastAPI: 40% more requests per second and lower latency.
Deployed serverless endpoints on AWS Lambda with Docker, cutting infrastructure costs by 25%.
Shipped features with a cross-functional team in two-week sprints.

Python
FastAPI
Django
AWS Lambda
MySQL
Docker
GitHub Actions

Nov 2021 – Jul 2022
Remote, UK

Sum Software Limited

Full-stack engineer

Built the "Journey" component of Sumfully, a SaaS for inventory management for Amazon and arbitrage sellers.
Wrote Python scripts that generated report data from Amazon's SOAP-based Marketplace Web Service (MWS).

Python
Django
Django REST Framework
React
PostgreSQL
Celery
Jenkins

Dec 2021 – Jan 2022
Remote, USA

World Bank Group

Technical consultant

Prototyped a legal analytics tool that analyzes 10,000+ court judgments to detect bias.

Python
Django
React
MySQL

Jun 2015 – Oct 2021
Remote, New Zealand

Maxum Data Limited

Lead developer

Built mPort, a mobile number portability tracker that moved 10,000+ users between network operators.
Created a toll-free number search tool that raised adoption by 35%.
Wrote Lua scripts for FreeSWITCH that halved the network team's setup and customization time.

Python
Django
MySQL
Lua

Earlier work, 2011–2015

Jun – Sep 2015: Domains Bot, senior Python engineer. Redesigned the database schema for 10% faster queries.
May 2014 – Jan 2015: SunUp Financial, senior Python engineer. Built the "Balance Credit" onboarding flow for payday loan customers, working closely with the design team.
Jul 2013 – Apr 2014: Soko Inc., Nairobi. Led an Android app for Soko artisans, contributed to its REST API, and helped migrate the web project from Django to Pyramid.
Dec 2012 – Jul 2013: Sweet Relish, senior Python engineer. Fixed critical bugs and improved performance in a jQuery Mobile app.
Sep – Nov 2012: Code Painters, lead engineer. Led a gym management site with subscriptions and session reservations.
Mar – Apr 2012: MANteresting and Apartment Rentals. Led version 1 of MANteresting's REST APIs for its mobile app, and fixed bugs on Apartment Rentals.
Sep – Dec 2011: Alliance Technologies, Nairobi, software engineering intern. Built a mobile proof of concept for the A1 ERP in Java (J2ME).

Skills and education

Backend: Python, Django, FastAPI, Django REST Framework, Celery
Frontend: React, Next.js, jQuery (legacy)
Databases: PostgreSQL, MySQL
Cloud and DevOps: AWS, Docker, Jenkins, GitHub Actions

BSc Computer Science, 2012

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. Second Class Honours, Upper Division.

Coursework: programming, data structures and algorithms, database management, computer security.

Certificate: Kotlin for Java Developers, Coursera (2019).

Have a slow query or a big migration?

nickaigi@gmail.com

github.com/nickaigi linkedin.com/in/nickson-kaigi