Engineering Leadership
Technical direction, team leadership, delivery processes, mentoring and engineering quality for software teams working on real production systems.
Aleksei Babak — Tech Lead & Software Architect · alexey@alexbabak.com · t.me/doctorrr · linkedin.com/in/alexeybabak · alexbabak.com
20+ years building production software. Led a 12-engineer team on PayU's high-load payment platform — PCI-DSS processes, antifraud, payment APIs and modernization of a 20-year-old core.
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Open to remote Tech Lead roles, relocation and B2B engagements · Based in Bangkok (UTC+7)

My work sits at the intersection of technical leadership and hands-on software engineering. I focus on systems where reliability, architecture, business logic and long-term maintainability matter.
Technical direction, team leadership, delivery processes, mentoring and engineering quality for software teams working on real production systems.
Payment processing, payment APIs, antifraud integrations, PCI-DSS development processes and high-load software in security-sensitive environments.
Architecture reviews, system evolution, APIs, integrations, microservices and technical decision-making for complex software products.
Incremental modernization of long-lived production systems without unnecessary full rewrites or disruption to the business.
I work both as an engineering leader inside product teams and as a senior technical partner for companies building or modernizing software.
You get a lead who still reads and writes code: someone who can own architecture, run Scrum delivery and pass a PCI-DSS audit with the team.
Start small, with a clear scope:
NDA on requestReply within 24 hoursB2B contract
I combine hands-on engineering with technical and organizational leadership.
At PayU Russia, I built and led a SCRUM development team of 12+ engineers working on a high-load payment platform.
Building and coordinating engineering teams, distributing responsibility, supporting developers and establishing predictable development processes.
Architecture reviews, technology decisions, system evolution and translating business requirements into technical solutions.
Agile/Scrum development, planning, prioritization, coordination and maintaining focus on production results.
Internal functional controls, monitoring, CI/CD practices, code quality and development processes suitable for security-sensitive systems.
Experience with software-development processes operating under PCI-DSS requirements, including successful local development-process audits.
High-load systems, legacy software, third-party integrations, payment infrastructure and technically complex production environments.
Fintech is one of the strongest areas of my engineering background.
From 2022 to 2026, I worked as Team Lead Developer at PayU Russia, formerly part of the international PayU group.
I joined the company to help adapt high-load software development and operational practices from the European parent organization and led a team of 12+ developers.
The environment combined high transaction criticality, security requirements, legacy components and continuous production development.
A selection of roles and systems that best represent my engineering, product and leadership background.
Team Lead Developer
Built and led a team of 12+ SCRUM developers working on a production payment platform, including incremental modernization of a 20-year-old legacy core.
My responsibilities covered engineering leadership, architecture, delivery processes and hands-on development.
Lead Developer
Wrote the core service code and supervised other developers for an automotive auction platform used by one of Russia's largest insurance companies.
The product evolved from an MVP into an operational platform with an API and complex buyer/seller workflows.
Over 4.5 years, more than 6,500 cars and commercial vehicles across 200+ cities were sold through the platform.
Full-Stack Developer
Worked as an outstaffing developer for a large Russian fintech corporation as part of an Agile team using Gitflow CI/CD and two-week sprints.
Migrated a legacy PHP CRM system from Zend Framework 1.0 to Symfony.
Lead Developer
Developed and supported company websites and internal software, including CRM, reporting and newsletter services, and online broadcasting tools.
Also built the company's iOS and Android mobile application using React Native.
Project Manager
Managed web and software projects for small businesses, including e-commerce websites, corporate websites and CRM systems.
Managed a team of four programmers, developed the company's first corporate PHP framework and its documentation, and introduced a bug-tracking system across projects.
Linux Administrator
Supported test and production servers for developers at a Moscow-based European outsourcing company.
This infrastructure background became the foundation for my later work in software engineering.
I work with companies that need experienced technical ownership rather than only implementation of isolated development tasks.
Production systems with business workflows, user roles, integrations, APIs and substantial backend logic.
Custom internal and customer-facing software for automating operational processes and connecting different parts of a business.
Payment providers, external services, APIs, data exchange and integration-heavy systems.
Incremental modernization of existing production software while preserving business continuity and reducing technical risk.
Architecture and development from an initial working product through production operation and continued evolution.
Architecture reviews, technical strategy, modernization planning, engineering processes and hands-on technical leadership when a project needs senior ownership.
I use AI agents as part of the software engineering workflow rather than as an isolated productivity tool.
My current workflow covers the full agent-assisted development lifecycle — from specification and prompt design to implementation, testing, deployment and monitoring.
I work with tools including Claude Code and Codex in day-to-day engineering and have introduced modern AI tooling into engineering team workflows.
My focus is practical: improving engineering throughput while maintaining architecture, reviewability and production quality.
AI is a multiplier of engineering discipline, not a replacement for it.
My technological expertise spans backend engineering, web and mobile applications, data platforms, integrations and production infrastructure. Years of hands-on work across different languages and architectures help me evaluate trade-offs, understand unfamiliar systems and choose technologies that fit the product, the team and its long-term operation.
I bring practical knowledge for working within PCI-DSS requirements and the security standards relevant to banking and payment systems. My experience includes payment-processing development, antifraud integrations, internal controls, monitoring and software-development process audits — connecting engineering decisions with security-sensitive production environments.
Java · Spring · PHP · TypeScript
JavaScript · React · Angular · React Native
PostgreSQL · Oracle · MS SQL · MySQL · Percona · RabbitMQ · Kafka
Linux · Containers · GitFlow · Jenkins · CI/CD
Microservices · APIs · BPMN · UML · Agile / Scrum · PCI-DSS · Payments and Banking · Security standards
Agentic Development · Claude Code · Codex · Local LLM Tooling
Selected certifications supporting my work across engineering, architecture, management and digital transformation.
Management · 2025 (opens in a new tab)
IT Project Management · 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Product Owner · 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Java Spring · 2022 (opens in a new tab)
DevOps: Infrastructure as Code · 2023 (opens in a new tab)
BSC & KPI · 2022 (opens in a new tab)
BPMN2 · 2021 (opens in a new tab)
Java (opens in a new tab)
Java SE (opens in a new tab)
React · 2020 (opens in a new tab)
SQL (opens in a new tab)
JavaScript (opens in a new tab)
Symfony · 2019 (opens in a new tab)
PHP 7 (opens in a new tab)
PostgreSQL (opens in a new tab)
Android (opens in a new tab)
Linux OS (opens in a new tab)
C (opens in a new tab)
C++ (opens in a new tab)
CDTO: Digital Transformation Officer · 2024 (opens in a new tab)
Remote Teams Management · 2025 (opens in a new tab)
I have worked with software and infrastructure since 2001 and in commercial software development since 2004.
My background spans Linux administration, full-stack development, project management, product development and engineering leadership.
Over the years, I have worked on payment systems, business platforms, internal software, mobile applications, CRM systems, legacy modernization and production infrastructure.
Today I focus on engineering leadership, fintech and payment systems, complex business software, architecture and AI-native development workflows.
If you are hiring an Engineering Lead or Team Lead with strong hands-on engineering experience, a fintech background and experience leading production development teams — download my CV or contact me directly.
Tell me briefly about the project, the current situation and the technical challenge.
alexey@alexbabak.com LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)Telegram (opens in a new tab)Usually replies within 24 hours