Career Summary

Paulo Fidalgo is a distinguished software engineer holding a Master's degree in Computer Science, proficient in Ruby, Rails, and distributed systems. With over 15 years of experience in the software industry, more than a decade of which was spent working remotely, Paulo has a proven track record of success. He began his career in the Telco market, contributing to the development of backend systems for SMS-Centres and real-time communications (audio, video, and text). Subsequently, Paulo transitioned to the startup scene, leading a team in Big Data and Natural Language Processing, designing call routing systems to provide integrated customer support and enabling wealth managers to unlock the full potential of Research Reports, Events, and Forecast Models. Paulo's latest venture as a founding engineer of an event tech company saw him facing the technical challenges of hyper-growth, explosive customer demand and scalability issues, further sharpening his skills and expertise.

Work Experience

Founding Software Engineer (remote)

Hopin
November 2019 — Present

Hopin is a rapidly expanding European company dedicated to developing an all-inclusive platform for virtual, hybrid, and onsite events. Their innovative products, such as StreamYard, Streamable, and Session, are designed to connect individuals and build communities.

Projects:

  • I'm proud to have contributed significantly to the company's growth as the 6th employee, driving various initiatives ranging from API development, billing, scaling, and stress testing. My experience and expertise in the field have enabled me to help define the recruiting, mentoring and onboarding processes as well as conduct numerous technical and non-technical interviews, resulting in hundreds of successful hires.
  • I had the opportunity to work on a crucial project that involved developing and optimizing the API that powered real-time online events. I had to work closely with the project team to understand the requirements and design an efficient and reliable API. The API needed to be scalable and handle numerous requests simultaneously, ensuring a seamless and uninterrupted user experience during events.
  • As the leader of authentication and authorization projects, my focus was to implement industry-standard protocols such as OAuth2 and OpenID Connect to ensure that our user's data is secure, yet easily accessible across different applications. By spearheading this project, I was able to facilitate the seamless sharing of accounts and data between our applications, leading to a significant improvement in the user experience and overall performance of our products. Our implementation not only enhanced the efficiency and security of our systems, but also provided a convenient and efficient way for users to access their data across various applications.

Technologies used:

  • Ruby
  • Rails
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • ElasticSearch
  • Kubernetes
  • Terraform

Software Engineering Lead (remote)

Visible Alpha
October 2017 — July 2019

Transforming investment research with innovative software solutions - leveraging cutting-edge technology and best practices to extract, enrich and deliver high-quality insights

Projects:

  • Spearheaded the development of a cutting-edge research processing and indexing system. Leveraging the latest technology, this system extracts, enriches and stores vital information from research reports, making it readily available for analysis and consumption by wealth managers.
  • In addition, I played a key role in the splitting of our platform by extracting the research and event processing functionality, creating clear lines of responsibility and developing robust APIs for seamless data access.
  • Through my technical leadership, some development empowering techniques such as clean code, test-driven development (TDD), infrastructure as code and continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) we're implemented, allowing us to deliver high-quality solutions with reduced number of defects.

Technologies used:

  • Ruby
  • Rails
  • PostgreSQL
  • ElasticSearch
  • ActiveMQ
  • Google PubSub
  • Cloudformation
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker

Software Engineering Lead (remote)

Talkdesk Inc
April 2016 — October 2017

As the lead engineer for Talkdesk's call-routing system, I assumed ownership of the core system and architected a new generation solution that elevated the platform's performance, scalability, and flexibility. The system was able to support major call features, including routing calls to the right destination, managing call recordings, waiting queues, and agent statuses, ensuring that Talkdesk remained at the forefront of the industry

Projects:

  • Optimized Talkdesk's legacy call-routing system, enhancing its functionality and performance while maintaining code readability and adding new features that improved call routing capabilities. I've helped to establish integrations with leading providers like Twilio and Plivo, as well as enabling seamless integrations with SIP protocol boosting the platform flexibility.
  • Spearheaded the development of a new-generation solution that would seamlessly phase out the legacy system while providing customers with greater flexibility and customization. By leveraging microservices architecture, this system allowed customers to set custom workflows for each number while being horizontally scalable and flexible enough to integrate with third-party systems like Salesforce.

Technologies used:

  • Ruby
  • Redis
  • MongoDB
  • Zookeeper
  • RabbitMQ
  • Padrino
  • Roda

Senior Software Engineer (remote)

Novertur International SA
October 2014 — March 2016

As a seasoned software engineer, with expertise across different stacks, I was able to take ownership of an unknown domain and technology and ensured the company remaining active to try another market, but actively improve the code, flows and reduce costs.

Projects:

  • One of my notable achievements was leading the development of the Business Matchmaking reports. This project involved leveraging Hadoop running in Amazon EMR to compute scores for a company's allies, distributors, competitors, and suppliers in a foreign country, based on the company's website data and business registration information.
  • Played a key role in developing a web application that allows for the ordering and visualization of reports and company information. This application streamlined our client's operations and provided them with a user-friendly interface for accessing critical business insights.

Technologies used:

  • Ruby
  • Ruby on Rails
  • Hadoop
  • Amazon EMR
  • Stanford CoreNLP
  • Elastic search

Software Engineer

WIT Software
November 2010 — October 2014

Transforming telecommunication networks through innovative SIP application solutions for an IP Multimedia Core Network Subsystem (IMS)

Projects:

  • Spearheaded the development and maintenance of a Push Notifications Gateway using cutting-edge technologies such as Google Cloud Message, Apple Push Notifications, and binary SMS. This innovative solution transformed the way telecommunication networks interact with their users, providing real-time updates and notifications to improve customer experience.
  • Led the development of an Auto-Configuration Server that allowed seamless sending of mobile application settings, in line with the latest RCSe/RCS5 specifications. This game-changing solution disrupted traditional telco solutions and provided users with a more streamlined and personalized experience.
  • As a technical leader, oversaw the maintenance and evolution of a SIP Application Server, as well as audio and video session transcoding in real-time. This involved utilizing the latest technologies and industry best practices to ensure optimal performance and seamless operation, driving innovation and excellence in the telecommunication industry.

Technologies used:

  • J2EE
  • C++
  • Python
  • Ruby
  • Linux
  • PostgreSQL
  • Bash
  • Mantis
  • Oracle
  • Spring Framework
  • Netty
  • Hibernate
  • Intel IPP
  • Twitter Bootstrap
  • AngularJS

Co-founder and partner

Beyond Sight, Lda
May 2010 — Present

As a co-founder and partner of a sole trading company, I have demonstrated a relentless entrepreneurial spirit, taking one Optician Center shop and expanding it into a thriving business amidst the challenging financial crisis of 2008.

Projects:

  • As a hands-on leader, I played a crucial role in diversifying our offerings by expanding our business with a women's clothes shop just a year after our inception. With a strategic mindset, I provided critical support in order management, legal matters, finances, and contracts with partners and suppliers. This allowed us to build strong relationships and deliver exceptional products and services to our customers.
  • In 2014, we successfully transitioned our company to a limited company structure, further fuelling our growth and expansion. As a co-founder and partner, my contribution remains strategic, guiding the company towards success through innovative solutions and forward-thinking strategies.

Software Engineer

Ubiwhere
July 2009 — November 2010

Java Backend Developer with expertise in SMS and MMS based services, driving Telco operators' success through cutting-edge solutions.

Projects:

  • As a Java Backend Developer, I spearheaded the specification, implementation, and maintenance of several message processing modules (SMS, MMS and WAP Push) that provided a range of value-added services to telecommunications operators. These services included mass sending, CRM integration, and seamless integration with external systems such as bank operations, email, and web services.

Technologies used:

  • Java
  • Linux
  • PostgreSQL
  • Bash
  • HP Quality Center
  • Redmine
  • Jira
  • Confluence

Lead Software Engineer

Wlink
April 2009 — June 2016

Lead developer and project manager with a proven track record of delivering innovative web and multimedia content solutions to drive business success.

Projects:

  • As a lead developer and project manager, I played a pivotal role in driving the success of several web and multimedia content projects. I began by ascertaining the status and customer perception of each project, defining a roadmap for their development and ensuring effective resource allocation. I also led the recruitment process and contracted external resources to ensure that we had the necessary expertise to deliver high-quality solutions.
  • One of my key achievements during this time was the specification and development of a communication module using an RS232 serial port with a custom-made GSM modem switch. This module facilitated seamless communication between our clients and their target audiences, allowing them to deliver timely and relevant content that resonated with their customers.

Technologies used:

  • Ruby
  • Rails
  • Linux

Software Engineer

Mentes Virtuais
May 2007 — July 2009

As an intern, I accomplished two significant feats that helped the company immensely. Firstly, I created a project that was embraced by several local radio stations and used commercially. Secondly, I took the lead on a project that was later passed on to a different team, ensuring that it adhered to the highest standards and best practices.

Projects:

  • As a solo developer, I spearheaded the development of a web application for managing and administering a new-generation communication service, providing fixed-mobile convergence in an IMS context.
  • Performed analysis and requirements gathering for an ENUM server, which resulted in the development of a proof-of-concept using a database-backed nameserver adapted for ENUM context.
  • As an intern, developed a value-added SMS and Wap Push service by integrating the SMS-Centre through a web application, allowing for easy campaign creation and management.

Technologies used:

  • Linux
  • Java
  • Ruby on Rails
  • PostgreSQL

Software Developer

Saphety
June 2005 — September 2005

Developed a data synchronization project allowing seamless transfer of user information between an LDAP directory and a relational database (MySQL), enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of system synchronization. Used programming skills in Java and SQL to design and implement a periodic synchronization process, ensuring timely updates and accuracy of data transfer between the two heterogeneous systems.

Technologies used:

  • J2SE
  • Linux
  • OpenLDAP
  • MySQL

Skills & Tools

Languages

  • Ruby
  • Java
  • JavaScript

Frameworks

  • Ruby on Rails
  • Padrino
  • Roda
  • Spring boot

Others

  • PostreSQL
  • Redis
  • DevOps
  • Code Review
  • Git
  • Unit Testing
  • TDD
  • OOP
  • Linux

Education

  • Master's Degree in Computer Science
    Universidade de Evora
    2008
  • Graduation in Computer Science
    Universidade de Evora
    2006

Language

  • Portuguese (Native)
  • English (Professional)
  • Spanish (Basic)

Interests

  • Opensource
  • Food & Wine
  • History & Science