Iliya Tsikov

Senior backend engineer with 7+ years building Python microservices, real-time systems, and high-throughput data platforms. Supported 100K+ users, reduced latency 40%, increased processing throughput 45%, and accelerated deployments 40% through distributed architecture, automation, testing, and observability.

Senior Software Engineer at Ghyston (2022-09 – Present)

• Architected Python/Django microservices and REST/WebSocket APIs supporting 100K+ users while maintaining sub-200ms latency across distributed workloads.
• Orchestrated asynchronous Celery pipelines that increased data-processing throughput by 45%, improving the reliability and scalability of high-volume workloads.
• Engineered event-driven communication between distributed services, enabling real-time updates and reducing dependency on synchronous request flows.
• Optimized NoSQL data models and access patterns, improving query performance by 35% under high-concurrency workloads.
• Implemented production monitoring, distributed tracing, and alerting practices that reduced production incidents by 30% and improved system diagnosis.
• Strengthened backend service reliability through automated testing, structured debugging, and production-focused engineering practices across distributed applications.
• Improved service delivery workflows through CI/CD automation, enabling faster and more repeatable deployment of backend changes.

Software Engineer at BenevolentAI (2019-11 – 2022-09)

• Re-architected a monolithic application into Python microservices, increasing scalability and overall system throughput by 35%.
• Built high-throughput ETL pipelines for large-scale data flows, improving processing reliability and supporting demanding data workloads.
• Delivered WebSocket communication layers that enabled real-time synchronization between distributed backend services.
• Introduced TDD and CI/CD practices that reduced deployment time by 40% while improving release consistency.
• Strengthened NoSQL data consistency and access patterns, reducing system failure rates by 25% across production workloads.
• Applied asynchronous processing and service-oriented architecture to improve throughput and isolate failures across backend components.
• Improved production reliability through automated testing, deployment automation, monitoring, and systematic investigation of backend failures.

Software Engineer at StateFlex (2018-07 – 2019-10)

• Enhanced Microsoft Teams identity management using TypeScript, REST APIs, and Azure Active Directory, contributing to a 20% improvement in login efficiency.
• Implemented secure authentication services for the Microsoft Teams Desktop Client using C#, TypeScript, and RESTful APIs.
• Diagnosed complex identity and authentication integration issues involving Azure Active Directory, improving reliability for large-scale user workloads.
• Collaborated with engineering teams to deliver scalable authentication capabilities within a distributed client platform.
• Investigated API and identity-service behavior to identify integration failures and improve authentication workflows.
• Applied structured debugging and testing practices to improve reliability across authentication components.
• Contributed backend and integration changes within a large-scale software engineering environment supporting millions of users.

Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science – University of Bristol (2015-09 – 2019-06)