Hi, I'm Matthew Kriel

Senior Software Engineer |

A problem solver who is passionate about writing performant code, brazilian jiu-jitsu and photography. I identify problems on my own and deliver features on time without exceeding budget.

View Resume

Zurich, Switzerland

About Me

Senior Software Engineer with over 15 years of experience spanning engineering and technical product management. I founded and successfully sold a software company, spent several years leading product initiatives, and eventually returned full-time to where I'm most at home: building reliable systems and writing clean, maintainable code.

I thrive in collaborative environments and bring a lot of energy to any team I am in. I enjoy solving hard problems, and still get oddly excited about well-designed databases. I am extremely passionate about my work and take a lot of pride in delivering the best possible solution for any task thrown my way.

Outside of work, I coach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, hone my photography skills, spend weekends away hiking with friends, and I am also an officer in my World of Warcraft guild where I manage a team of over 25 players.

6+ Years Engineering

Hands-on software development experience

10+ Years Product Management

Leading technical product initiatives

AWS Certified

Cloud Practitioner (March 2024)

University of Cambridge

Diploma in Information Systems Engineering

Languages

English (Native), Afrikaans (Fluent), German (Beginner)

Interests & Hobbies

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Photography Hiking Trail Running World of Warcraft

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Since receiving my purple belt in November 2024, I've been coaching at Pride Fighting Academy. BJJ has become a central part of my life - both as a practitioner and as someone who loves helping others discover the art.

Technical Skills

Backend Development

JavaScript TypeScript Node.js Python Django Go Rust C# .NET

Databases & Infrastructure

PostgreSQL MySQL MongoDB Redis RabbitMQ Elasticsearch Docker Portainer Caddy Linux

Frontend & Tools

React Next.js Svelte Astro React Native HTML/CSS Git AWS Jira Asana

Work Experience

Senior Software Engineer

CryptoBanter - 247 Terminal (Contract)

November 2025 - Present • Remote - Zurich, Switzerland

Architecting a production trading platform processing real capital across 4 integrated cryptocurrency exchanges. Full ownership of frontend, backend, real-time data pipelines, exchange integrations, and B2B embeddable widgets.

• Built multi-exchange trading execution engine, processing $25M+ in trade volume per week
• Rebuilt backend with multi-database architecture with $8M+ peak daily volume and zero downtime
• Built news aggregation pipeline across 11+ data sources delivering articles in <50ms
• Rewrote Chat and Trade Validation services in Rust
• Integrated 4 cryptocurrency exchanges (Binance, Bybit, Hyperliquid, Blofin)
• Built embeddable B2B news trading widget

Rust JavaScript Node.js REST WebSockets GraphQL PostgreSQL MongoDB Redis Docker Caddy Portainer Linux

Senior Software Engineer

Stubber (Contract)

February 2025 - November 2025 • Hybrid (Cape Town)

Developing core platform engine and distributed services powering Stubber's AI SaaS automation platform. Full ownership of third-party integrations, LLM pipeline optimization, and real-time messaging infrastructure.

• Built end-to-end airline automation bot for FlySafair handling flight search, bookings, rebooking, cancellations, and seat management — processing 100,000+ requests per week across Telegram, WhatsApp, and webchat
• Built multi-platform messaging integration layer supporting Telegram, Slack, and Microsoft Teams — 5,000+ messages daily
• Rebuilt Google Sheets integration with multi-sheet and batch update support, reducing sync latency by 50%
• Built LLM orchestration layer with dynamic model routing across 15+ models, automatically selecting optimal model per workflow

JavaScript Node.js PostgreSQL MongoDB Svelte V4 RabbitMQ Redis Elasticsearch Portainer Docker Asana

Senior Backend Engineer

Sociable (Contract)

December 2024 - December 2025 • Remote - Cape Town

Full-stack development on Sociable's real-time event discovery and ticketing platform, building across web and mobile applications serving event hosts and attendees.

• Migrated entire backend codebase from JavaScript to TypeScript, establishing type safety across API layer, database models, and event processing logic
• Built comprehensive end-to-end testing suite covering frontend and backend, enabled in CI/CD pipeline, with 85% coverage
• Redesigned mobile application UI in React Native, resulting in quicker page loads, 30% increase in event discovery, 70 seconds more average engagement per user session

TypeScript Next.js MySQL React MongoDB React Native Monday

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Photography

When I'm not coding or training, I love capturing moments through my lens. Photography allows me to explore creativity and document the world around me.

Personal Projects

CountFree

iOS Countdown Widget App

February 2025 - Present

A countdown and count-up widget app for iOS. Beautiful Home Screen widgets with customizable themes, text colors, and progress tracking. Every feature completely free — no ads, no paywalls.

Swift SwiftUI WidgetKit SwiftData

Pride Fighting Academy

Class Schedule PWA

June 2024 - Present

A simple PWA application built in Django on top of my portfolio site. Our gym needed something better than screenshots of a spreadsheet and all other solutions cost way too much.

Django PWA Python JavaScript

Ingwe Property Group

Property Listing Website

Property website with a powerful data scraper, aggregating listings across multiple sources into a single platform.

Python Django Web Scraping

Scharfli

Image Processing Automation Tool

An image processing automation tool built for my wife, streamlining her workflow with batch processing and intelligent transformations.

Python Automation Image Processing

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Coach

Pride Fighting Academy

November 2024 - Present

Since I received my purple belt in November 2024, I have been an assistant coach at PFA. I work with people of all ages and skill ranges but I particularly love coaching people new to the sport. It feels me with great pride helping people overcome personal hardships and making a difference in their lives.

Coaching Leadership Community

Sunsets The Movement

Popup Event Host & Founder

Ongoing

I regularly host free pop up events all over the city of Cape Town and handle all the setup and costs involved. The locations and exact times are a secret, but after I drop a location pin, within an hour there are anywhere between 200 - 400 people at the event.

Event Management Community Building Social Media

Guild Officer

World of Warcraft

15 years - Present

For close to 15 years I have been an officer in various World of Warcraft guilds. It is my job to keep my team of 25 players motivated, focused and to assist them in performing at their very best potential. This involves countless hours of log and character analysis, team co-ordination and conflict resolution.

Team Leadership Data Analysis Conflict Resolution

View More on GitHub

Get In Touch

I'm always interested in hearing about new opportunities, interesting projects, and connecting with fellow developers. Feel free to reach out!

mckriel@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/mckriel

github.com/mckriel