Mustafa Poya

download CV

Backend & Full-Stack Engineer · M.Sc. CS @ University of Passau

Passau, Germany · UTC+2 · open to full-time backend / full-stack roles — Germany / remote

Backend-first full-stack engineer with seven years across government, non-profit, and consumer software. I architected PMIS and HRMIS at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Works — two platforms adopted by every provincial office — and led the MIS unit that ran them. Today I build Al-Ayn International’s donation platform end to end: a Node.js API, a React admin portal, a React Native donor app, Stripe payments, and the Docker deployment and monitoring behind them.

experience

11/2024 — nowGermany

Full-Stack Developer @ Al-Ayn International

·Lead developer for the donation platform: a Node.js/Express REST API, a React admin portal, and a React Native donor app.

·Integrated Stripe for global payments, Clerk for JWT/2FA identity, and WebSockets for real-time admin updates.

·Own the DevOps lifecycle end to end — Dockerised deployments, PostgreSQL/Sequelize schema work, and production monitoring.

web + mobilepayments & authdatabase designDevOps
06/2022 — 04/2024Afghanistan

IT Manager @ Al-Ayn Social Care Foundation

·Built internal applications that digitised the foundation’s day-to-day operations across its orphan-care programmes.

·Ran the network and server infrastructure every programme depended on, and kept it reliable.

·Managed vendors, hardware procurement, and technical support for the whole organisation.

team + vendorsnetwork & serversinternal software
06/2021 — 05/2022Afghanistan

Founder & Software Developer @ Golbarg

·Founded a software startup in Kabul and shipped two products end to end, alone.

·Golbarg Sarafi — a WPF desktop system for currency-exchange shops: ledgers, transfers, and PDF reporting.

·Afghan War — a Laravel portal that ingests and geocodes war-event data, then visualises its effects over time and geography.

two productssolo delivery
05/2017 — 05/2021Afghanistan

Senior MIS Specialist, Head of Unit @ Ministry of Public Works — MIS Department

·Architected and delivered PMIS and HRMIS — two national platforms used by every provincial office in the country.

·Designed the schemas, role-based access, and approval chains modelled on the real ministry hierarchy.

·Deployed and maintained both systems on-premise, and led the MIS unit’s delivery priorities.

impact:PMIS and HRMIS went into daily use across every provincial office of the ministry — the first national-scale digital systems the department ran.

head of unitnational scalefull-stack + DBAon-prem servers
05/2018 — 08/2018Afghanistan

Lecturer @ Khatam Al-Nabieen University

·Taught practical programming to undergraduates while working full-time at the ministry.

·Wrote the curriculum materials the course was built on.

teachingcurriculum
01/2015 — 02/2017Afghanistan

Software Developer @ Microcis Software Solutions

·Built products for customers across Afghanistan at the country’s leading software house — requirements through to support.

·Shipped Microcis Kankor, a JavaFX exam-prep desktop app, and an Android reporting client for the Panda accounting system.

desktop + androidcustomer support

projects

2024–nowAl-Ayn Donation PlatformA donation ecosystem for an international charity: mobile donor app, React admin portal, and the API behind both.Full-stack developer · Node.js · Express · React · React Native · TypeScript · Stripe · Clerk · Socket.io · PostgreSQL · Docker
2025–2026GenProg Repair ToolAn automated program repair tool that evolves Python source until the failing tests pass.Developer · team of 3 · Python · AST · genetic algorithms · pytest · coverage.py
2025Calendar AppA social calendar with real-time sharing — built solo to test how far AI-assisted workflows actually go.impact:Reached >95% backend test coverage, verified by mutation testing rather than line count alone.Solo developer · Java 21 · Spring Boot 3 · React 19 · TypeScript · PostgreSQL · WebSockets · Playwright · GitHub Actions
2024–2025AI Engineering LabThree AI services on one Django REST backend: content moderation, story generation, and a university chatbot.Developer · team of 3 · Python · Django REST · PyTorch · HuggingFace · Mixtral · Prometheus · Grafana · gTTS
2024–2025Allocation SystemA domain-driven system matching teachers and interns to placements, built by a four-person Scrum team.Developer & Scrum Master · team of 4 · Java 17 · Spring Boot · React 19 · TypeScript · PostgreSQL · Flyway · Docker Compose · Testcontainers · GitLab CI
2024–2025D3 DashboardInteractive data visualisation built entirely in the browser with D3 — a generic CSV explorer and an analytical dashboard.Developer · JavaScript · D3.js v7 · SVG · jQuery UI · HTML/CSS
2024–2025Scientific Data PipelineProfiling, cleaning, and analysing messy ecological datasets — the unglamorous half of data science.Developer · team of 3 · Python · Jupyter · Pandas · NumPy · SciPy · scikit-learn · Seaborn
2024–nowTodayGermanA cross-platform language learning ecosystem: robust backend API, interactive React web portal, and a native Android app.Full-Stack Developer · PHP 8.2 · Laravel 12 · React 18 · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS · Kotlin · Android · Room · Retrofit
2021–2022Afghan WarA reporting portal that collects and geocodes war-event data across Afghanistan, then visualises its cost over time.Founder & sole developer · PHP · Laravel · MySQL · JavaScript · ChartJS
2021–2022Golbarg SarafiA WPF desktop system running the daily books of a currency-exchange shop.Founder & sole developer · C# · WPF · MySQL · wkhtmltopdf
2022How-Old-IsDate and age calculator across Gregorian, Hijri, and Solar calendars — the arithmetic most tools get wrong.Solo developer · JavaScript · PHP · HTML/CSS
2019–2021HRMISThe HR system of an Afghan ministry: personnel files, attendance, contracts, and monthly payroll.impact:Replaced the ministry’s spreadsheet-based HR processes with one auditable source of truth for a ministry-scale organisation.Lead developer · PHP · Laravel · MySQL · Angular · HighChart · Linux
2018–2021PMISNational infrastructure tracking for the Ministry of Public Works — every provincial office reporting into one system.impact:Adopted across every provincial office of the ministry; its reporting exports fed government infrastructure-transparency publishing.Lead developer & Head of Unit · PHP · Laravel · MySQL · JavaScript · Google Maps API · HighChart · Linux
2015–2017Microcis PandaAn established accounting system used by businesses across Afghanistan, plus the Android client I built for it.Developer · Java · Swing · MySQL · H2 · Android
2015–2017Microcis KankorExam-prep software for the Afghan university entrance test, letting students practise under real conditions.Developer · JavaFX · H2

stack

languagesJavaTypeScriptJavaScriptPythonSQLHTML/CSSPHPC#
backend & APIsNode.js / ExpressSpring BootRESTWebSocketsJWT / 2FAStripeClerkSwagger / OpenAPIDjango / DRFLaravel
databases & ORMPostgreSQLSequelizeFlywayMySQLSQLite (FTS)MongoDBH2
frontendReactTailwind CSSTanStack QueryZustandViteAngularBootstrapjQuery
mobile & desktopReact Native (Expo)Firebase PushAndroid SDKMaterial DesignJavaFXWPFSwing
devops & observabilityDockerDocker ComposeLinuxGitHub ActionsGitLab CI/CDPrometheusGrafanaAzure (AZ-900)
AI & data scienceLLM APIsRAG pipelinesPandasPyTorchHuggingFacescikit-learnNumPySciPyJupyter
data viz & reportingD3.jsRechartsLeafletMatplotlibSeabornHighChartChartJSwkhtmltopdf
testing & toolingJUnitpytestGitIntelliJ / VS CodeCopilot / CursorVitestPlaywrightTestcontainersPitest
practicesfull-stack architectureschema designAgile / SDLCTDDAI-assisted developmentteam leadershipon-prem deploymentoffline-firsttechnical teaching

education

2024 — nowM.Sc. Computer ScienceUniversity of Passau, GermanySoftware Engineering focus · thesis stagecoursework: Semantic Data Integration · Management of Scientific Data · Software Analysis · Program Repair · Programming Paradigm · AI Engineering Lab · AI-Driven Software Development · Advanced Software Product Development
2013 — 2017B.Sc. Computer ScienceUniversity of Herat, AfghanistanThesis: Electronic Government Process Management · top 3% of classcoursework: Introduction to Programming · Database Systems · Data Structures · Software Engineering I · Software Engineering II · Software Engineering III · System Architecture · Software Development Life Cycle
2009 — 2012High School DiplomaHazrat Khatamul-Anbia, BaghlanMathematics · Physics · Informatics

certifications

Microsoft Azure AZ-900 — Microsoft

Data Structures & Algorithms — UC San Diego

Java Programming & Software Engineering — Duke University

Python for Everybody — University of Michigan

Google IT Automation with Python — Google

Learning Linux for LFCA — LearnQuest

volunteering

09/2019 — 05/2021CoST — Infrastructure Transparency InitiativeCreated data-sharing policies for government infrastructure transparency and contributed to open data standards for public works.
06/2019 — 10/2019Ministry of Interior AffairsBuilt a system to digitise and manage records for martyrs’ families and disabled soldiers.
05/2013 — 05/2016University of HeratRan tutorial sessions on practical programming and supported students through applied lab work.

languages

Persian / DariNATIVE
EnglishC1 — TOEFL iBT 86
GermanA2 — learning

interests

reading · cooking · swimming · travelling

last updated August 2026