Skip to content
Shah Shahbaz Ali

Shah Shahbaz Ali

Senior Software Engineer

Backend · DevOps · Full Stack

About

Backend-focused full-stack engineer for fintech and insurtech: APIs, databases, Linux and cloud infrastructure, and real-time systems.

Senior Software Engineer with 4+ years of experience building and running production systems in fintech and insurtech, including POS and payment platforms, insurance applications, and CRM/HRMS products. Backend-focused full-stack engineer across APIs (Node.js, Express, Python, FastAPI, TypeScript), databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB), infrastructure (Linux server administration, Nginx, Redis, BullMQ, CI/CD, AWS, Azure), and React and Next.js frontends. Creator of PDFClay (pdfclay.com), a live PDF editor built solo with a Python backend, Next.js frontend, and Chrome extension, self-hosted on a hardened Ubuntu server. Experienced with real-time systems (WebSockets, WebRTC, MediaSoup SFU) and AI integration (LLMs, RAG, MCP), with working knowledge of React Native, Flutter, and .NET. Delivered for clients in the US, Canada, and the UAE.

Building production systems
4+ years
POS, payments, insurance
Fintech & Insurtech
Node.js, Python, SQL, Linux, AWS
Backend & DevOps
Clients delivered for
US · Canada · UAE
Currently PursuingClaude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F), by Anthropicvia PIAIC · Quarter 4 · AI-321

Experience

Professional roles across backend leadership, full-stack development, and client delivery.

Senior Software Engineer

Dolphin Advanced Technology Services · United States (Remote)

Lead backend and infrastructure for Dolphin POS, a multi-tenant fintech platform, and internal CRM/ERP.

  • Architected multi-tenant Node.js and Express REST APIs for payment, reporting, and customer modules
  • Engineered card payment and checkout flows (authorization, capture, refunds, reconciliation) with gateway integrations and offline-first handling for retail
  • Designed SQL schemas, migrations, and indexes, and optimized queries for high-volume transactions
  • Built real-time chat, video and audio calls, and screen sharing with WebRTC and a MediaSoup SFU
  • Administered production Linux servers: deployments, monitoring, Nginx, PM2, Redis, and BullMQ queues
  • Integrated AWS and Azure cloud services, including AWS Lambda functions for serverless workloads
  • Secured the platform with authentication, role-based access control, and data encryption
  • Built customer data pipelines (campaigns, retargeting, segmentation) and sales and transaction reports
  • Added AI-powered automation and conversational assistants across POS and CRM/ERP tools

Software Engineer

eSanad · United Arab Emirates (Remote)

UAE insurance platform (website and CRM) covering motor, health, travel, and land insurance.

  • Built server-rendered features with Next.js, React, and TypeScript (SSR/ISR) and Next.js API routes
  • Built WebSocket customer chat and integrated the WhatsApp Business and Facebook Developer APIs
  • Deployed and maintained the platform on Azure across production, staging, and development
  • Managed MongoDB, SSL certificates, Azure firewall rules, and automated backups for disaster recovery
  • Ran feature branching, peer reviews, and CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions

Web Developer (React JS)

NX3 Digital · Karachi, Pakistan

React developer building responsive web applications for agency clients.

  • Built and maintained React.js applications with optimized rendering and reusable components
  • Improved front-end performance, accessibility, and mobile responsiveness
  • Led the implementation of CI/CD pipelines, improving deployment efficiency by 20%
  • Managed web projects in Agile sprints with Jira, Slack, and ClickUp, working directly with clients

Full Stack Developer (Freelance)

Self-Employed · Remote (US, Canada, and UAE clients)

Freelance full-stack developer delivering CRM, HRMS, and custom web platforms end to end.

  • Built complete CRM and HRMS systems with React, Node.js, and Express, from requirements to deployment
  • Implemented REST APIs, MongoDB and SQL databases, authentication, and role-based access control
  • Delivered insurtech and sales platforms for clients in the US, Canada, and the UAE
  • Reduced client website load times by 30% through front-end performance optimization
  • Owned client communication: requirements gathering, demos, and post-launch support

Projects

Selected work spanning enterprise platforms, real-time systems, and full-stack applications.

Founder & Sole Engineer · October 2025 – Present

PDFClay

Visit site

Live online PDF editor that changes the real text inside a PDF while keeping its original fonts, plus 17 tools to merge, split, compress, convert, OCR, sign, and protect files. Built and operated solo.

  • Built an in-place text editing engine on PyMuPDF: redaction removes only the changed glyphs, then new text is redrawn in the document's embedded font, leaving untouched text byte-for-byte identical
  • Shipped 17 stateless PDF tools (merge, split, compress, PDF to Word/Excel, Tesseract OCR, AES-256 protection) behind a registry, so a new tool is one registry entry plus one backend function
  • Deployed on a hardened Ubuntu 24.04 VPS: Nginx reverse proxy, Let's Encrypt TLS, systemd services, SSH-key-only access, ufw, fail2ban, and idempotent deploy scripts
  • Protected CPU-heavy endpoints with rate limiting, bot detection, and abuse blocking, and built self-hosted analytics with a server-health dashboard instead of third-party trackers
  • Published a Manifest V3 Chrome extension that opens web and local PDFs in the editor, and handled technical SEO (structured data, sitemap, IndexNow pings on deploy)
PythonFastAPIPyMuPDFTesseract OCRSQLiteNext.jsReactChrome Extension (MV3)NginxUbuntu

Senior Software Engineer

Dolphin POS Platform

Fintech POS platform managing transactions, card payments, refunds, customer retargeting, and real-time communication for multi-location businesses.

  • Payment processing, refund logic, and transaction reporting
  • Customer data-driven promotional and retargeting workflows
  • WebRTC chat and video calling with MediaSoup
Node.jsExpressSQLWebRTCAWSRedisPayments

Author & Maintainer

MCP DB & API Tools (Open Source)

View code

Published npm package (@shah1900/mcp-db-api-tools) with two Model Context Protocol servers that let AI coding agents run read-only MySQL queries and call authenticated REST APIs for debugging.

  • Database Inspector: list tables, describe schemas, and run SELECT-only queries
  • API Runner: authenticated GET/POST calls to compare API responses with database state
  • One-command setup that writes project-level config and keeps credentials out of git
Node.jsMCP SDKMySQLZodnpm

Software Engineer

eSanad Insurance Platform

Visit site

Insurtech platform with real-time customer engagement, server-rendered pages, and third-party messaging integrations.

  • Real-time chat via WebSockets
  • Facebook & WhatsApp API integration
  • SSR/ISR optimization for production performance
Next.jsReactWebSocketsTypeScriptAzure

Full Stack Developer

Enterprise CRM & HRMS

End-to-end CRM and HRMS systems built for client operations, including employee management, workflows, reporting, and role-based dashboards.

  • Full HRMS module: employee records, attendance, and reporting
  • CRM pipeline with client tracking and analytics
  • Delivered for US and Canada based clients
ReactNode.jsExpressMongoDBSQL

More Projects

Hello Altra

Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS

Genius Logix

Angular, .NET, MySQL

Powerplay Brands

REST APIs, WordPress

Manhattan Medical Arts

WordPress, PHP

Diva Salon Academy

Wix

Skills

Technologies and tools I use to build production systems.

Backend

Node.jsExpress.jsSequelizePythonFastAPITypeScriptREST APIsGraphQLWebSocketsMicroservicesMulti-tenant ArchitectureMVC / MVVMRedisBullMQAuthentication & RBACRate LimitingPDF Processing (PyMuPDF)

Databases

PostgreSQLMySQLMongoDBSQLiteSQLSchema DesignIndexingQuery OptimizationDatabase Migrations

Cloud & DevOps

AWSAWS LambdaMicrosoft AzureLinux Server Administration (Ubuntu)NginxsystemdPM2Server Hardening (ufw, fail2ban)TLS / Let's EncryptCI/CDGitHub ActionsGitVercel

Frontend

React.jsNext.js (SSR / ISR)AngularJavaScript (ES6+)ReduxTailwind CSSMaterial UIHTML5CSS3Chrome Extensions (Manifest V3)

Real-time & AI

WebRTCMediaSoup (SFU)Real-time ChatLLM IntegrationRAGModel Context Protocol (MCP)OCR (Tesseract)

Practices & Tools

System DesignOffline-first ArchitecturePayment Gateway IntegrationAgile / ScrumCode ReviewTechnical SEOJira

Working Knowledge

React NativeFlutter (Dart).NET (C#, ASP.NET)

Education

Academic background.

Associate Degree Program (ADP), Mass Communication

3.6 GPA

Virtual University of Pakistan

Completed

Completed ADP in Mass Communication with strong foundation in communication, media, and professional writing.

Bachelor of Computer Science (BSCS)

On Hold

University of Karachi (UBIT)

4 semesters completed

Coursework in programming, data structures, and software engineering fundamentals.

Certifications

Professional credentials and ongoing learning.

Claude Certified Architect – Foundations (CCA-F)

In Progress

Anthropic · preparing through PIAIC AI Solution Architecture (AI-321)

In progress

Anthropic's proctored, architecture-level exam for designing and shipping production Claude applications: agentic architecture, MCP, tool design, and prompt engineering.

Front-End Developer Professional Certificate

Coursera, Meta

Completed 2024

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, version control, and responsive design through hands-on projects.

View certificate

Project Management with Jira Certificate

Coursera, Atlassian

Completed 2024

Agile project planning, sprint management, and issue tracking with Jira.

View certificate

Python Programming Course

Cisco Networking Academy & OpenEDG Python Institute

Completed 2023

Core Python: data types, control structures, functions, and object-oriented programming.

View certificate

Contact

Open to full-time roles, contract work, and freelance projects. My inbox is always open.