Matt Rust

Backend Development and Automation

• Responsible for maintenance and development of the business' products using Python and SQL for backend APIs that integrate with Front End and Mobile applications

• Planning and creating new features that integrate with existing services, with a focus on future scalability and long-term performance stability

• Designing, building and maintaining REST APIs and backend logic using Python and SQL

• Planning, creation and application of database migrations

• Migrated production database from MySQL to PostgreSQL and configured associated infrastructure (e.g. custom VPC, RDS Proxy, EC2 autoscaling)

• Developed and deployed custom ORM layer with SQLAlchemy to interface with MySQL and PostgreSQL

• Writing and scheduling shell scripts to automate backup, migration and cleanup tasks

Cloud and Serverless Infrastructure

• Designing and maintaining event-driven microservices using AWS Lambda, SQS, EventBridge and DynamoDB

• Configuring and maintaining EC2 autoscaling groups of Bastion instances for secure database access

• Actively participating in AWS Well-Architected Reviews to align legacy infrastructure with best practices and implement follow-up remediation

• Configuring AWS GuardDuty, Security Hub and Backup for enhanced security and compliance

• Creating CloudFormation templates to provision cloud infrastructure (IaC) and automate deployments

Testing and Quality Assurance

• Practice test-driven development (TDD) to maintain robust, production-grade systems

• Maintain and create unit, integration and contract tests using Pytest, Unittest and Schemathesis

Monitoring and Observability

• Configured and maintained SonarCloud integration for static security analysis as part of the CI/CD process

• Integrated services with Datadog for real-time metrics, logs and dashboards as part of Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) improvements

• Set up alerting for anomalies and service health to ensure rapid incident response

• After several enjoyable years teaching the theory of code and Python to 11–18 year-olds, including students taking national qualifications, I was inspired to pursue a new challenge in software engineering. I like guiding learners through problem solving with code — encouraging structured thinking, debugging collaboratively and asking the right questions rather than simply giving answers. These experiences mirror many core practices in development, like pair programming and code review. Eager to deepen my skills, I successfully completed courses with HarvardX and Udemy.

• Taught 11-18 year-old students Computer Science, including teaching Python to students studying for national GCSE and A Level qualifications.

• Senior school leadership role with transferable leadership, communication and problem-solving skills.

• Reason for leaving: Career change to become a Software Engineer.

• Senior Trust Leader and Teacher of Computer Science (including Python), ages 11-18.

Earners of this certification have a comprehensive understanding of application life-cycle management. They demonstrated proficiency in writing applications with AWS service APIs, AWS CLI, and SDKs; using containers; and deploying with a CI/CD pipeline. Badge owners are able to develop, deploy, and debug cloud-based applications that follow AWS best practices.