Hi, I’m John Refaat, a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 10+ years of experience designing and delivering scalable enterprise systems. I’m proficient in Java, Spring Boot, and the Spring ecosystem, with a passion for clean code, TDD, and cross-functional collaboration. I’ve built high-throughput backend services, implemented real-time analytics pipelines with Kafka and Spark, and driven automation that reduces manual work. I enjoy shaping robust architectures, mentoring teams, and delivering client-focused solutions with measurable impact.

John Refaat

Hi, I’m John Refaat, a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 10+ years of experience designing and delivering scalable enterprise systems. I’m proficient in Java, Spring Boot, and the Spring ecosystem, with a passion for clean code, TDD, and cross-functional collaboration. I’ve built high-throughput backend services, implemented real-time analytics pipelines with Kafka and Spark, and driven automation that reduces manual work. I enjoy shaping robust architectures, mentoring teams, and delivering client-focused solutions with measurable impact.

Available to hire

Hi, I’m John Refaat, a Senior Software Engineer and Technical Lead with 10+ years of experience designing and delivering scalable enterprise systems. I’m proficient in Java, Spring Boot, and the Spring ecosystem, with a passion for clean code, TDD, and cross-functional collaboration.

I’ve built high-throughput backend services, implemented real-time analytics pipelines with Kafka and Spark, and driven automation that reduces manual work. I enjoy shaping robust architectures, mentoring teams, and delivering client-focused solutions with measurable impact.

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Experience Level

Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
Intermediate
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Language

English
Fluent
German
Beginner

Work Experience

Freelance Software Developer at Self-employed / Upwork
January 1, 2024 - Present
Delivered backend systems for multiple clients via Upwork (100% Job Success Score). Enhanced accounting software. Automated data transformations reducing processing time by 90%.
Freelance Software Developer at Self-employed
January 1, 2024 - Present
Design and develop scalable backend solutions, REST APIs and microservices; built web crawlers using Python; wrote clean code with high testing coverage and championed best practices.
Project: GenoHub Integration at ITWorx
December 31, 2020 - September 6, 2025
Enhancing and delivering integration between an enterprise application and a data lake, refactoring parts, making estimates and plans, and engaging with the client.
Lead Software Engineer at ITWorx
December 31, 2020 - September 6, 2025
Designed, developed and troubleshooted scalable software systems; wrote clean, maintainable code; participated in CI/CD and DevOps practices; collaborated with Project Managers; conducted unit and integration testing; documented software specifications; addressed concurrency control, event handling, error and fault tolerance; implemented and supported data analytics pipelines; code reviews to ensure adherence to best practices.
Independent Research & Professional Development
January 1, 2020 - January 1, 2024
Completed two graduate-level courses from the MITx MicroMasters Programme in Statistics and Data Science (Probability, and Fundamentals of Statistics). Applied quantitative and financial analysis skills to personal investment portfolio management on Interactive Brokers. Implemented tools for gathering financial data and applying analysis.
Project: Robotic Process Automation at ITWorx
October 31, 2019 - September 6, 2025
Designed and implemented software to automate handling of requests including access to Jira. The software integrated with Jira, Service Now, Email Server and other systems.
Big Data Offerings Development at ITWorx
March 31, 2018 - September 6, 2025
Supported and developed Big Data offerings, maintained the Big Data environment and cluster, implemented dashboards and back-end solutions; explored new analytics technologies and participated in Big Data pipeline architecture.
Senior Software Engineer at ITWorx
January 31, 2018 - September 6, 2025
Designed, developed and troubleshooted scalable software systems; maintained code quality; performed unit and integration testing; participated in code reviews and ensured adherence to best practices; contributed to data analytics and back-end features.
Lead Software Engineer at ITWorx - Cairo, Egypt
January 1, 2018 - January 1, 2020
Designed and developed scalable software systems with focus on clean maintainable code. Applied Test-Driven Development (TDD) to ensure high code quality. Contributed to system architecture decisions and set engineering standards. Implemented and supported data analytics pipelines using Kafka, Spark, and AWS. Collaborated with Project managers to ensure best results within timelines.
Automation Testing at ITWorx
May 31, 2017 - September 6, 2025
Implemented UI automation testing framework for a web application (hybrid framework: Data-driven and Page Object Model).
UI Automation Testing (Mint) at ITWorx
March 31, 2016 - September 6, 2025
Implemented UI automation test cases for a web application (Mint).
Sentiment Analysis Module at ITWorx
December 31, 2015 - September 6, 2025
Designed and implemented a module for sentiment analysis with customizable ML algorithms; built dashboards describing sentiment data; integrated frontend with big data servers.
SQC -IS at ITWorx
June 30, 2015 - September 6, 2025
Designed, developed and unit-tested new features; performed estimates, impact analysis and planning; refactored key parts to improve quality and reduce efforts; participated in code reviews and mentorship.
Smart Gov at ITWorx
October 31, 2014 - September 6, 2025
A middle layer that wraps a backend system, exposing it as a web service for mobile apps and future channels.
SpectroMOST at ITWorx
May 31, 2014 - September 6, 2025
Participated in developing a desktop application that controls a spectrometer and performs digital signal processing.
Magenta at ITWorx
April 30, 2014 - September 6, 2025
Designed and implemented modules, dashboards, and backend/data integration; contributed to performance improvements and code reviews.
Software Engineer at ITWorx
March 31, 2013 - September 6, 2025
Developed features for enterprise applications, contributed to back-end services, and collaborated with cross-functional teams to deliver robust software solutions.
Senior Software Engineer at ITWorx - Cairo, Egypt
March 1, 2013 - January 1, 2018
Developed enterprise Java applications using Spring Framework and RESTful API design, following clean code and design pattern principles. Collaborated in Agile and Scrum teams, participating in sprint planning, code reviews, and mentoring, across multiple releases. Refactored legacy systems improving code quality, performance, and maintainability.
Software Engineer at ITWorx – Cairo, Egypt
October 1, 2009 - March 1, 2013
Developed enterprise applications using Java/Spring. Production client-facing support with high KPI standards. UI automation testing frameworks using Selenium and TestNG.

Education

B.Sc., Physics and Computer Science at Ain Shams University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2009
B.Sc., Physics and Computer Science at Ain Shams University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2009
MITx MicroMasters Programme in Statistics and Data Science at MITx MicroMasters Programme via EdX
January 11, 2030 - April 6, 2026

Qualifications

Big Data Specialization (Coursera)
January 11, 2030 - September 6, 2025
MITx Micromasters Program in Statistics and Data Science (Edx)
January 11, 2030 - September 6, 2025

Industry Experience

Software & Internet, Professional Services, Media & Entertainment