>kachami.dev
Developer,
Fin-tech Engineer
and Life-long Learner
Nicholas Kachami
Hi! 👋🏼 Thanks for stopping by! I'm Nicholas Kachami, a UC Irvine Computer Science graduate now working as a software engineer at American Express. My expertise spans both backend and frontend development with languages such as Java, Python, JavaScript, and SQL, along with experience in database management. I focus on developing enterprise applications with cutting-edge technologies like Elasticsearch, Kafka, and Docker to build high-performance, resilient, and secure solutions that can withstand millions of requests daily.
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Work Experience
American Express
Software Engineer
June 2021 - Present
- Architected and maintained mission-critical applications using Java Spring and Vert.x within a SAFe Agile Scrum framework, delivering high-quality code on schedule.
- Engineered robust CI/CD pipelines leveraging GitHub Actions, optimizing deployment efficiency for both monolithic and microservice architectures.
- Spearheaded enterprise search optimization initiative, implementing high-performance solutions utilizing relational databases, Kafka Connect, and Elasticsearch, resulting in significantly improved system responsiveness under high load conditions.
South West College, LACCD
Computer Science Instructor
April 2020 - January 2025
- Redesigned and modernized curriculum for Python programming, block coding, and robotics, enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes.
- Delivered comprehensive hardware/software instruction across synchronous and asynchronous learning environments, adapting teaching methodologies to diverse student needs.
Projects
Cross Enterprise Search Engine
Java, Elasticsearch, Vert.x, Couchbase, Kafka, GraphQL
February 2024
- Refactored enterprise-wide intranet Search GraphQL API to leverage Elasticsearch as primary data source, replacing high-latency NoSQL implementation.
- Designed sophisticated Elasticsearch schemas, optimized to support enterprise-scale deployment.
- Achieved an average latency reduction of > 250ms while increasing result accuracy and count of APIs that receive millions of requests daily.
- Implemented a secure, high-throughput Kafka data pipeline for reliable migration of terabytes of account and customer information from Couchbase to Elasticsearch.
Data Sync Balancing and Control
Java, Elasticsearch, Vert.x, Couchbase, Kafka, REST
May 2022
- Designed a real-time data synchronization monitoring system that asynchronously polls Kafka for records to detect inconsistencies across terabytes of enterprise data, ensuring data integrity between distributed systems.
- Implemented both passive monitoring and active remediation capabilities, offering REST endpoints for on-demand data comparison and automatic synchronization repair workflows to maintain consistency between NoSQL and Elasticsearch infrastructure at enterprise scale between a multitude of data stores.
- Integrated with TMDB API to provide searchable catalog of 15,000+ films with robust filtering capabilities.
- Built as a fault-tolerant microservice, ensuring system liveness and safety properties during pod failures and data rebalancing operations in Kafka.
Customer Care Professional Portal
Java, Spring, SQL, REST
August 2021
- Architected and developed a Spring-based microservice backend that enabled call center professionals to submit questions and incident reports with multi-format file attachments, seamlessly integrating with ServiceNow APIs to streamline issue resolution workflows and reduce manual reporting overhead.
- Managed application lifecycle including feature development, user story prioritization, and performance optimization of Elasticsearch search functionality.