richard.@popelis.sk

Summary

Backend engineer and architect with 10+ years building and owning high-traffic production systems across TypeScript, PHP, and Go. I design for performance (sub-50 ms APIs), drag legacy codebases into the present, and build event-driven systems and the internal tooling that speeds up whole teams. I reach for the frontend when the product needs it. Mostly I like code that still makes sense six months later, and figuring out why a system is slow before I start rewriting it.

Core Expertise

Backend & Architecture

TypeScript (Node, Bun, Nest.js), PHP (Symfony, Nette), Go. High-traffic APIs, event-driven & pub/sub systems, sub-50 ms performance, legacy modernization

Data & Messaging

MySQL, Redis, Kafka, SQLite / Turso libsql, ElasticSearch

Infrastructure & Delivery

Linux (advanced), Docker / Podman, GitLab CI, Cloudflare, WebSockets

Developer Tooling & Testing

Internal libraries & DX tooling, Playwright, Cypress, PHPUnit, Bun test

AI-Assisted Engineering

Claude Code, OpenCode, Orca. Leverage for implementation, investigation, refactoring, testing, and documentation

Supporting Frontend

Vue, Svelte, Astro, vanilla JS

Languages

Slovak (native), English (fluent), German (basics)

Experience

1. Backend Engineer & Software Architect · eFabrica, a.s. Jul 2021 – now
   Bratislava
   • Architected and own the TV-guide backend for oneplay.cz, serving thousands of concurrent requests with sub-50 ms responses.
   • Modernized large legacy production codebases end to end: upgraded dependencies, closed security gaps, and moved them onto proper CI/CD deployment pipelines.
   • Migrated the team from Vagrant to Docker, aligning local environments with production and cutting new-developer setup from three days to day one.
   • Built internal libraries that removed repetitive boilerplate across teams.
   • Work across Symfony, Nette, Bun, and Nest.js on the backend; Vue where the product needs a frontend.
2. Full-Stack Developer · Profesia Dec 2018 – Aug 2021
   Bratislava
   • Drove technical direction across a three-person team using Symfony, Node, Vue, and TypeScript.
   • Built a WebSocket + pub/sub layer for real-time, event-driven data.
   • Established automated testing from scratch (Cypress, PHPUnit), so the team could ship with confidence.
   • Wrote a Word and LibreOffice document parser to automate painful back-office file processing.
   • Owned the Docker setup and kept the code-quality gates honest.
3. PHP Developer · Everlution s.r.o. Apr 2016 – Sep 2017
   Slovakia
   • Built B2B web apps in PHP/Symfony for enterprise clients, including UK government agencies.
   • Collaborated directly with the UK product team to iterate quickly.
   • Delivered responsive frontends (Bootstrap, jQuery); Docker for local dev in a SCRUM team.
4. Full-Stack Web Developer · self-employed Feb 2012 – Mar 2016
   Bratislava
   • Designed, shipped, and maintained business sites and e-commerce platforms for clients (Rialex.sk, Sunway.sk, Saprem.sk, and others).
   • Learned the PHP/Laravel ecosystem end to end by shipping real client projects.
5. Founder & Full-Stack Developer · S-Servers.com Jan 2011 – Dec 2011
   Bratislava
   • Founded an automated Minecraft server-hosting company at 14.
   • Built the entire stack solo: a custom hosting control panel in Python and PHP, automated billing, and support channels.
   • Grew it to ~20 recurring customers through community forums, and learned my first real lessons in product-market fit and customer service.

Education

• Slovak University of Technology · Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies 2016 – 2021

  Studies in Information Security