DANIEL GATHIGAI
Senior Software Engineer
Nairobi
Summary
Highly adaptable and experienced Senior Software Engineer specializing in delivering customized and optimized solutions to meet diverse needs. Strength lies in effectively communicating complex technical requirements to non-technical stakeholders, ensuring seamless collaboration and understanding. Proven track record of leadership, successfully leading development teams in enterprise-wide projects, showcasing exceptional leadership skills. Comfortable taking on any challenge that comes my way, whether overseeing large-scale development teams or independently coding complex projects.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
Work History
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Equity Bank
2020.11 - Current
- Lead the end-to-end development of a high-performance credit scoring and loan origination engine, leading a multi-disciplinary team of mobile, front-end, and back-end engineers. Delivered a scalable, parameterized system tailored to meet the needs of 16.9 million customers across six counties, with seamless adaptability for expansion across Africa.
- Led the development of a 360-degree customer view system within the credit scoring and loan origination platform, enabling more personalized and efficient customer interactions. By integrating advanced customer trend analytics, the system provided actionable insights for faster loan processing and more accurate credit decisions. This enhancement improved customer satisfaction, especially for individuals, MSMEs, entrepreneurs, and rural communities, while efficiently handling over 1 million requests and disbursing nearly 1 billion Kenyan shillings daily.
- Implementing real-time trend analytics allows proactive engagement and personalized support. This enables early identification of at-risk customers, reducing churn by providing tailored solutions and timely interventions. By improving the accuracy of credit decisions and streamlining the loan origination process, the platform fostered greater customer loyalty.
- Established robust engineering standards for code quality, ensuring that all development across ReactJs, Android, Swift, C#, Java Spring, and Python was thoroughly reviewed, documented, and deployed with minimal downtimes. This maintained system reliability and operational efficiency at scale.
- Provided critical technical leadership in shaping the company's credit strategy by aligning digital loan product expansion plans with technical capabilities, driving an ambitious goal to reach 100 million users within five years.
- Translated complex business requirements into clear, actionable technical specifications, ensuring flawless execution by the engineering team and fostering a deep understanding of both the product and technical landscapes.
- Championed capacity-building initiatives by mentoring engineers across diverse tech stacks, fostering growth and expertise, ensuring the team remained highly skilled and agile.
- Led the implementation of automated CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps, Kubernetes, and Linux servers, streamlining deployment processes and ensuring minimal downtime for critical system updates.
- Oversaw the development and management of data pipelines using Apache Airflow, optimizing data flow, processing efficiency, and integrity across the platform. This ensured reliable, real-time data operations and supported robust decision-making and analytics.
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
TAMBUA HEALTH LTD
2018.07 - 2020.11
- Led the technical development of an innovative, smartphone-based diagnostic platform that transformed non-invasive, radiation-free respiratory disease screening in Africa, addressing a healthcare gap that contributes to over 2.5 million deaths annually.
- Took lead in building a deep learning and signal processing platform capable of detecting abnormal lung sounds, integrating vital patient data to offer accurate screenings for respiratory diseases, providing a safer alternative to traditional imaging methods like chest X-rays.
- Collaborated with medical researchers and practitioners to fine-tune machine learning models for precise disease detection, optimizing the platform's diagnostic accuracy, and enhancing its real-world clinical applications.
- Lead a team of U.S.-based engineers developing and prototyping a cutting-edge imaging device that utilizes sound waves for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases.
- Advised the startup's board of directors on critical technology strategies, aligning development goals with the company's mission, and positioning the product for successful market entry.
- Played a key role in fundraising efforts, securing funding by presenting to venture capitalists, which led to the startup's acceptance into prestigious programs such as Y Combinator, Google Startup, and Echoing Green fellowships.
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
SMART BANKING SOLUTIONS
2017.03 - 2018.07
- Significantly enhanced operational efficiency and financial inclusion in diverse markets by integrating and automating financial systems for banks, merchants, and card processors across East Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
- Developed and implemented an end-to-end message encryption library to ensure secure communication between mobile applications and backend systems.
- Implemented a mobile-based point of sale system that enabled seamless payments via multiple payment methods, including cash, vendor till numbers, M-Visa, and Masterpass by MasterCard.
- Created a language localization framework at both the API and mobile levels, increasing system accessibility by supporting a multilingual user base.
FULLSTACK SOFTWARE ENGINEER
SYCOM AFRICA LTD
2015.07 - 2017.03
- Fullstack software developer using Java, AngularJS, ReactJS and Kotlin to develop systems used in hospitals, government revenue collection and insurance companies
- Developed a hospital management system that has been implemented across Africa and the Caribbean Islands for more than 5 million patients
- Built a medical insurance system to facilitate real-time claims from hospitals, insurance pre-authorization and reduce fraudulent claims using patient bio-metrics
- Using health level Seven (HL7) standard like FHIR (Fast Health Interoperability Resources)
- Integrated existing health systems to the internally built Health Insurance Claims System
- Engineered a mobile county government revenue system for low-internet connectivity areas, emphasizing offline functionality, streamlined data synchronization, and user-friendly interfaces
- Integrated offline payment methods and optimized data transfer protocols for enhanced efficiency
- Built a custom mobile application distribution platform to facilitate quick and easy update management and new installations of mobile platforms
- Developed a bio-metric library for capturing and verifying fingerprints from various bio-metric devices on the web, serving as a bridge between the devices and our software
- Also created an opex licensing module for the library.
WEB AND MOBILE SOFTWARE ENGINEER
RIVERBANK SOLUTIONS KENYA
2013.01 - 2015.08
- Worked as part of the development team, mainly on Android and web systems that cut across industries like banks and payments, cab hiring and distribution
- Build a closed-loop EMV mobile payment solution with a local bank using Host Card Emulation (HCE) technology to replace physical payment cards with a mobile application
- The application could communicate with contactless point-of-sale devices using NFC to facilitate payments
- Worked with payment Hardware Security Module for private key management, pin generation, encryption and verification while working with agency banking point-of-sale devices
- Implemented a ticketing system that managed a digital financial wallet and issued and verified NFC cards
- Developed a ride-hiring app for corporate and individual rides for a local taxi company.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Mathematics And Computer Science
JKUAT
Nairobi, Nairobi Province, Kenya12.2014
Skills
Software Development
References
Elpha Khanjira Tel: 0722373317 Email: elkhaji@gmail.com
KOKO Networks
Daniel Olanga Tel: 0724488116 Email: ochiengolanga@gmail.com
BBC
Susan Odhiambo Tel: 0722499796
KCB Bank
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Affiliations
- Y Combinator
- Echoing Green
- Google Startup for Africa
Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimePart TimeContract WorkWork Location
RemoteOn-SiteHybridImportant To Me
Work-life balanceCareer advancementHealthcare benefitsFlexible work hoursCompany CulturePersonal development programsLanguages
English
Advanced (C1)
Timeline
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
Equity Bank
2020.11 - Current
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
TAMBUA HEALTH LTD
2018.07 - 2020.11
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER
SMART BANKING SOLUTIONS
2017.03 - 2018.07
FULLSTACK SOFTWARE ENGINEER
SYCOM AFRICA LTD
2015.07 - 2017.03
WEB AND MOBILE SOFTWARE ENGINEER
RIVERBANK SOLUTIONS KENYA
2013.01 - 2015.08
Bachelor of Science - Mathematics And Computer Science
JKUAT
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