JAPHETH MUTAI
Product Engineer | Technical Lead | Full-Stack Developer
10+
Years Experience
90+
Projects Delivered
100+
Clients Served
Product Engineer | Technical Lead | Full-Stack Developer
01 - Introduction
I'm a Product Engineer and Full-Stack Developer with over 10 years of experience designing, building, and shipping SaaS platforms, business automation systems, and web, mobile, and desktop applications end to end, from architecture and development through deployment and client delivery. I've led engineering teams and owned products across retail, church administration, logistics, and business communications, and delivered freelance projects for international clients across the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, and the United States. I work comfortably across the full stack with Laravel, React, React Native, .NET, Node.js, and Python, with a strong focus on practical, scalable product delivery and hands-on technical leadership.
JavaScript/TypeScript, C#, PHP, Python, SQL
React, React Native, Next.js, Redux Toolkit, Tailwind CSS, Three.js, HTML5, CSS3
Laravel, ASP.NET/.NET, Node.js, Django, Express.js, REST APIs, GraphQL
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis
Prisma ORM, Entity Framework, Laravel Eloquent
AWS, DigitalOcean, Docker, Git, GitHub Actions, CI/CD, Linux, Nginx
System Architecture, REST API Design, Offline-First Architecture, Multi-Tenant SaaS, Authentication & Authorization, Role-Based Access Control
M-Pesa API, Stripe, Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), WebSockets, Twilio, OAuth 2.0, JWT
VS Code, Visual Studio, Postman, Swagger/OpenAPI, Figma, Jira, Trello
02 - Products & Platforms
A mix of in-house SaaS products I've led end to end at Maxicom IT Consultancy, and platforms I've helped build as part of larger engineering teams, from architecture through to the people using them every day.
Cloud-based POS & Inventory Management — Web, Desktop & Mobile
A cloud-based point-of-sale and inventory management platform now used by more than 50 SME businesses across Kenya, spanning retail and wholesale operations. Built and maintained as the product's lead engineer, covering the web dashboard, a Windows desktop app, and a mobile POS app with an offline-first architecture that keeps sales running through connectivity drops.
Church Management Platform — Membership, Finance & Communication
A church management platform live at 5 churches, covering membership, attendance, finance, and communication in one system, alongside a companion bulk SMS platform serving 12 active business clients. Built and maintained as the product's lead engineer, from data model through to the features church administrators use every week.
Logistics & Parcel Delivery Platform — Senior Software Developer, SOBA.AFRICA
A logistics platform connecting multiple courier partners for seamless parcel pickup, delivery, and comprehensive route coverage across Kenya. Led engineering across backend, frontend, and mobile as Senior Software Developer at SOBA.AFRICA, architecting REST APIs and customer-facing applications that gave shippers and partners real-time shipment visibility.
03 - Freelance Work
Full-stack products delivered for international clients through freelance engagements, spanning AI-assisted ordering systems, real estate and rental platforms, and interactive 3D commerce tools.
Netherlands
Patrons talk to an AI assistant from their mobile app to pick meals and place orders, while waiters pick up confirmed orders from the backend to serve tables or send them to the kitchen terminal.
Bulgaria
A platform connecting buyers, sellers, virtual assistants, lawyers, photographers, and financial institutions, covering listing, documentation, and mortgage applications in one system.
Netherlands
Lets WordPress site owners manage analytics, plugins, and themes for all their WordPress websites from a single dashboard, backed by a Django REST API for real-time data.
Spain
Helps Airbnb hosts track listing performance and grow revenue, integrating the Rentals United API and deployed to AWS via Bitbucket pipelines.
Italy
An interactive 3D product configurator enabling real-time shoe customization and visualization, enhancing the online shopping experience for the client's customers.
04 - Client Feedback
What clients have said after working together on freelance engagements.
05 - Get In Touch
Looking to bring your product idea to life, need an engineer to own it end to end, or want a product-minded engineer on your team full-time? Let's talk.