Vahan
Sahakyan Backend Engineer

About Me

Senior backend engineer with 5+ years designing and building distributed systems, from the data model and API design to the Kubernetes clusters they run on.

• Distributed systems

  Microservices, event-driven patterns (Kafka/Redpanda), CQRS and event sourcing, in production and in an open-source POC with 10+ services.

• Polyglot backend

  Go for performance-critical services, Node.js/TypeScript for full-stack work, Java/Spring in previous roles. REST and gRPC APIs in production.

• Databases

  MongoDB at Forbes, PostgreSQL, ScyllaDB for time-series, ClickHouse for event stores. Chosen per workload: relational, document, time-series or analytical.

• Kubernetes & infrastructure

  Multi-tenant prod/staging/dev isolation, GitOps provisioning with ArgoCD and Argo Events, Gateway API.

• Observability

  Metrics, distributed tracing and structured logging as core requirements. Prometheus, Grafana, Jaeger, Loki.

• Technical leadership

  Own architectural decisions from data model to deployment. Design docs, code review, mentoring.

EXPERIENCE

Senior Backend Engineer
Forbes · Contract

May 2024 - Present ·
Jersey City, New Jersey, United States · Remote

Platform Team, Bertie CMS, Vetted Team

• Contributing to multi-tenant Kubernetes infrastructure across prod/staging/dev with namespace isolation
• Backend development on event-driven systems (Kafka-compatible brokers, async patterns)
• Working with GitOps automation (ArgoCD, Argo Events) for infrastructure provisioning
• Production MongoDB experience: schema design, scaling concerns, consistency patterns
• Code reviews and mentoring junior engineers on backend/systems patterns
• Full-stack contributions across frontend, backend, and infrastructure layers

Skills: Go · Node.js · TypeScript · Kubernetes · Docker · MongoDB · PostgreSQL · ArgoCD · Argo Events · Prometheus · Grafana · GCP · Linux · REST APIs · React

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Senior Backend Engineer
Optimum Partners - Armenia · Full-time

May 2024 - Present ·
Yerevan, Armenia · Hybrid

[ Embedded at Forbes: Platform & Vetted Teams ]

Senior Backend Engineer · Jan 2025 - Present
• Architecting distributed Go and TypeScript services for Forbes Vetted: search, cursor pagination, scraping, data pipelines
• Event-driven architecture on Kafka-compatible brokers with async consumers
• Multi-tenant Kubernetes on GCP with namespace isolation and GitOps (ArgoCD, Argo Events)
• Leading backend delivery on Nexus initiatives; mentoring engineers on system design

Full Stack Software Engineer · May 2024 - Jan 2025
• Go and TypeScript services and integrations for Bertie CMS and Vetted
• Integrated the Zephr and Cordial platforms
• Maintaining 100% code coverage while shipping new features
• Technical documentation: architecture decisions, runbooks, design patterns

Skills: Go · Node.js · TypeScript · Kubernetes · Docker · Microservices · MongoDB · PostgreSQL · Kafka · ArgoCD · GCP · Linux · Technical Leadership

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Software Engineer (Backend & Infrastructure)
Datafoundry · Full-time

Sep 2023 - May 2024 · 9 mos
Yerevan, Armenia · Hybrid

[ DF mSignal AI, DF Literature Monitor, DF mSafety AI ]

•  Led large-scale refactoring across microservices architecture
•  Set up and maintained frontend quality tools (ESLint) in legacy codebases
•  Achieved minimum 70% unit test coverage, reduced code smells for SonarQube quality gates
•  Restructured static components into reusable library-style modules for ecosystem-wide use
•  Technical leadership and peer mentoring on code quality and design patterns

Skills: JavaScript · TypeScript · React · Spring · Node.js · Code Review · Technical Design · ESLint · Webpack · Jest · Technical Leadership

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Software Engineer
Warner Music Group · Contract

Nov 2022 - Sep 2023 · 11 mos
New York, United States · Remote

ADA (Alternative Distribution Alliance) & DSPs (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.)
Music Royalty and Publishing Platform

Skills: TypeScript · React · Design Patterns · Java · Business Analysis · Analytics · UX · Redux · JavaScript · Node.js · Material-UI

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Software Engineer
NWSLAB · Full-time

Nov 2022 - Sep 2023 · 11 mos
Yerevan, Armenia · Hybrid

[ Carpathia UI - Warner Music Group, ADA ]

•  Worked in cross-cultural environment spanning Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, US, Romania, India
•  Contributed to architectural decision-making with backend engineers and Solutions Architect
•  Transformed Figma designs into high-quality, maintainable code
•  Peer-reviewed code under Tech Lead's guidance
•  Implemented generic TypeScript utility types for project-specific needs

Skills: JavaScript · React · TypeScript · ESLint · Redux · Spring · Node.js

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Software Engineer
Datafoundry · Full-time

Mar 2022 - Nov 2022 · 9 mos
Yerevan, Armenia · Hybrid

[ DF mSignal AI - Clinical Trials, Signal Management ]

•  Kick started a dashboard analytics app, with 4 user roles.
•  Integrated and reused the legacy version of the project.
•  Optimized the performance by modifying the state management.
•  Refactored the codebase following the SOC concept and DRY principle.
•  Designed tech solutions by collaborating with the back-end engineers.

Skills: JavaScript · React · Code Review · Saga · Ant Design · Spring · Node.js

EDUCATION

Anthropic Academy: Claude with Google Cloud's Vertex AI

Tool-calling, Agents, RAG, MCP, Vision, Prompt Caching, Claude Code, Computer Use

2025

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Bootcamp - "BPC Armenia" [C++, Python, Linux, Bash]

Artak Yenokyan - Sr. Engineering Manager at Siemens EDA

2018-2019