Ehab Al-Hakawati

Experience

• Gathern - E-Commerce domain

  December 2024 - now

  Leading Gathern’s technology transformation and IPO preparation, enabling scalable short-term rental monetization within Saudi Arabia’s PropTech sector.
  1. Modernized Development Stack: Upgrade legacy systems and introduce scalable, maintainable technologies that accelerate development cycles.
  2. Scalable Infrastructure Modernization: Migrate infrastructure to a cloud-native architecture with CI/CD pipelines; maintain 99.9% platform uptime.
  3. Operational Efficiency: Streamline development workflows and remove bottlenecks to accelerate delivery, aligning tech roadmaps with IPO goals.
  4. Team Optimization: Conduct team audits, identify inefficiencies, and implement improvements to increase engineering effectiveness and output quality.
  5. Stakeholder Alignment: Collaborate with executives to shape Gathern’s IPO narrative centered on tourism growth, AI-driven pricing, and platform efficiency.
  6. Compliance & Risk Mitigation: Lead ISO 27001 preparation and implement SOX-aligned controls.
• Stack

  1. PHP
  2. Laravel
  3. Node.Js
  4. React
  5. Metabase
  6. Kubernetes
  7. Rabbitmq
  8. MongoDb
  9. Redis
  10. RDS
  11. BigQuery
  12. DataDog

• Clarity Debt Resolution - FinTech domain

  CTO | Jan 2024 - November 2024

  Clarity Debt Resolution is a U.S.-based company that helps consumers reduce their debt by negotiating settlements for less than the total amount owed.
  1. Team Leadership: Built, mentored, and led a high-performing technology team with expertise in software development and machine learning solutions.
  2. Strategic Technology Leadership: Provided strategic direction and oversaw key technology initiatives across the company.
  3. Innovation and Industry Trends: Drove innovation by staying ahead of industry trends and integrating emerging technologies into the product roadmap.
  4. Cultural Development: Fostered a collaborative and continuously improving engineering culture focused on innovation and delivery.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Boot
  3. Node.Js
  4. Python
  5. Tenserflow
  6. Superset
  7. Kubernetes
  8. Kafka
  9. Newrelic
  10. Redis
  11. Docker
  12. Postgres
  13. Snowflake

• Boutiqaat / AlSahab Global - E-Commerce domain

  Director of Engineering | Jan 2020 - Dec 2023

  Boutiqaat is one of the largest social selling e-commerce platforms in MENA, connecting buyers with top luxury fashion and beauty brands.
  As Director of Engineering, I led and empowered distributed engineering teams across Jordan, India, Egypt, and Kuwait.
  1. Leadership: Motivated, enabled, and guided engineering teams, fostering collaboration and driving cross-functional innovation
  2. OKRs Management: Defined and monitored OKRs to ensure engineering delivery aligned with organizational goals and performance metrics.
  3. Technology Solutions: Evaluated and implemented modern technology solutions to meet consumers demands and future growth.
  4. Infrastructure Oversight: Oversaw system infrastructure and operations to ensure reliability, performance, and scalability.
  5. Performance Analysis: Analyzed platform performance metrics and executed continuous improvements to ensure responsiveness and uptime.
  6. System Architecture: Directed architectural evolution to support high scalability, modularity, and resilience across the platform.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Boot
  3. Spring Cloud
  4. AWS
  5. Kafka streams
  6. Elasticsearch
  7. MongoDb
  8. Redis
  9. Docker
  10. MySQL
  11. Kubernetes
  12. CQRS
  13. Gitlab CI/CD
  14. React Native
  15. Google BigTable
  16. DataDog
  17. gRPC
  18. GraphQL
  19. Neo4j
  20. Microservices

• Winfooz - E-Commerce domain

  Engineering manager / Acting CTO | September 2017 - December 2019

  Winfooz is an all-in-one Dealer-to-Dealer Marketplace to buy and sell Autos online. Winfooz's aim is to revolutionize the way wholesale auto trading is conducted online.
  Served as Acting Chief Technology Officer, owning full technology strategy and execution.
  1. Technical Vision: Defined the company’s technical vision and led the development strategy in alignment with business goals.
  2. Strategic Planning: Created technology roadmaps and delivery timelines for all web, mobile, and backend systems, driving innovation and operational efficiency.
  3. Technology Standards: Established and enforced engineering standards and coding best practices across the organization.
  4. Software Development: Built scalable development processes and defined clear team objectives for fast, high-quality delivery.
  5. Quality Assurance: Oversaw QA, integration, and testing workflows to ensure platform stability and reliability.
  6. Budget Oversight: Managed timelines, budgets, and headcount to optimize resources and reduce overhead.
  7. Technology Strategy: Directed technology platform growth and forged strategic partnerships to scale operations and delivery.
  8. Software Governance: Defined, implemented, and maintained software engineering policies in collaboration with technical leadership.
  9. AWS Management: Managed the company’s AWS environment (S3, ECR, RDS, Lambda, API Gateway), ensuring secure and scalable infrastructure performance.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Boot
  3. Spring Cloud
  4. iOS
  5. Android
  6. React Js
  7. MySQL
  8. Active MQ
  9. Kafka
  10. AWS
  11. API Gateway
  12. Keycloak
  13. Websockets
  14. BugSnag
  15. Node.js
  16. Ruby on Rails

• CASHU - FinTech domain

  Engineering manager | December 2016 - Augest 2017

  At CashU, I Took on the role of Engineering Manager during a critical system revamp, working closely with multiple teams to ensure successful delivery.
  1. Cross-functional Collaboration: Partnered with Product, Cloud, and Security leaders to drive delivery of secure and innovative FinTech solutions.
  2. Talent hiring: Recruited and onboarded top engineering talent to strengthen team capabilities and improve delivery speed.
  3. Team Leadership: Led and empowered engineering teams, fostering a high-performance and collaborative development culture.
  4. Best Practices: Introduced and reinforced engineering best practices to improve code quality, team velocity, and delivery consistency.
  5. Remote Team Enablement: Acted as a proxy leader for outsourced and remote teams, facilitating communication, alignment, and effective project execution.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Framework
  3. Spring Security
  4. Apache Kafka
  5. Angular 2
  6. JavaScript
  7. Apache HBase
  8. Hibernate
  9. ELK
  10. AWS
  11. MySQL
  12. PHP

• ReserveOut - E-Commerce domain

  Technical Team Leader / Principal Software Engineer | November 2012 - December 2016.

  As Technical Team Leader, I led, organized, and coordinated development team activities to ensure high-quality, on-time deliverables.
  1. Team Leading: Supervised and coordinated engineering efforts, fostering collaboration across teams to ensure seamless execution.
  2. Process Management: Ensured consistent application of engineering processes, standards, and best practices to maintain product quality.
  3. Real-Time Systems: Led the development of a high-performance real-time engine, enhancing platform efficiency and scalability.
  4. AWS Infrastructure: Managed the company’s AWS infrastructure (S3, Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, etc), ensuring system availability and scalability.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Framework
  3. Spring Security
  4. Hibernate
  5. JSP
  6. JSTL
  7. AWS
  8. MySQL
  9. Websockets
  10. MongoDb
  11. Openfire, XMPP
  12. jQuery
  13. iOS
  14. Android

• EastNets - FinTech domain

  Senior software developer | September 2011 - November 2012

  As a Senior Software Engineer, I optimized and enhanced software systems to improve performance, especially when handling large-scale data operations for search and updates.
  1. Plugin Development: Designed, developed, and maintained financial SWIFT network plugins using a cross-platform C++ approach, ensuring consistent behavior across diverse operating systems.
  2. Performance Optimization: Optimized software to improve large-scale data handling performance, especially in search and update operations.
  3. Legacy Migration: Led the migration of legacy C++ codebases to modern Java, improving maintainability and long-term scalability.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. SWIFT network
  3. JSP
  4. C++
  5. Oracle
  6. BigData
  7. DB2
  8. Unix
  9. Linux
  10. Lucene
  11. Servlet

• Souq.com ( An Amazon Company ) - E-Commerce domain

  Senior software developer | September 2009 - August 2011

  As a Senior Software Developer, I contributed to building a custom in-house e-commerce framework tailored to the unique needs of Souq.com.
  1. Framework Development: Developed a custom e-commerce framework designed to meet Souq.com's specific business and technical requirements.
  2. Data Modeling: Designed and documented logical and physical models for a multi-dimensional product catalog to improve data scalability and retrieval.
  3. Search Engine Implementation: Applied search theory to design a custom indexing system that improved product discoverability and search relevance.
  4. Platform Optimization: Monitored platform performance, identified bottlenecks, and implemented fixes to ensure optimal reliability and system health.
• Stack

  1. Java
  2. PHP
  3. MySQL
  4. Zend Framework
  5. AWS
  6. Apache Solr
  7. Smarty
  8. FAST ESP
  9. Memcached
  10. REST

• Araby.com - Search engine domain

  Senior software developer | May 2008 - September 2009.

  1. Search Solution Development: Built a custom search platform for Maktoob.com, enhancing precision, scalability, and user experience across Arabic content.
  2. Arabic Search Innovation:Co-developed a high-performance Arabic search algorithm tailored for rich language handling and user diversity.
  3. System Integration: Designed robust database architecture and backend interfaces to ensure seamless integration with search engines and data sources.
  4. Project Coordination: Led end-to-end application delivery by managing requirements, timelines, and stakeholder alignment.
  5. Troubleshooting: Diagnosed and resolved development and production issues across environments, ensuring consistent system stability.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. Spring Core
  3. Search Theory
  4. MySQL
  5. Spring Web MVC
  6. FAST ESP
  7. Hibernate
  8. XML
  9. REST
  10. Servlet/JSP
  11. BigData analysis
  12. Linux

• ProgressSoft - FinTech domain

  Software developer | July 2006 - May 2008

  1. Driver Development: Designed and maintained hardware drivers for electronic check scanners, enabling smooth integration with multiple OS environments.
  2. System Integration: Integrated scanning hardware with financial processing systems, enhancing reliability and operational efficiency.
  3. OCR Innovation: Engineered and optimized a cheque image OCR algorithm for accurate MICR recognition, improving check processing reliability.
• Stack

  1. Java/J2EE
  2. C++
  3. ATL
  4. MFC
  5. Oracle
  6. SQL server
  7. Struts
  8. Assembly
  9. Jasper reports

Education & Certificates

• 2002 - 2006 The Hashemite University, Zarqa - Jordan.
  BSc in computer science — Excellency Degree, GPA: 3.64, Ranked 1st in class.
• 2001-2002 Al-Hussain College school.
  High School – Science Stream — Final Grade: 88.3%
• 2008 Sun Certified Java Programmer (SCJP)
  For Java Platform, Standard Edition 5