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Khoa Nguyen

Khoa Nguyen

Senior Software Engineer - Backend & Platform
Laravel

📧khoa002@gmail.com

🎓BS in Computer Science, MGA.edu - 4.0 GPA

🎓BS in Bioinformatics, ASU.edu - 3.8 GPA

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Professional Summary

Senior Software Engineer with 10+ years of experience building and modernizing backend and platform systems using PHP and Laravel.

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Strong background in legacy system modernization, performance optimization, infrastructure reliability, and developer productivity. Hands-on experience integrating AI-assisted tooling into real-world development workflows while maintaining production-grade quality and security standards.

Skills

Core Backend: PHP (Laravel), MySQL, SQL, REST APIs
Frontend (support): JavaScript/TypeScript, React (Next.js), Vue.js, jQuery
Infrastructure & Platform: Docker, AWS (EC2, Load Balancers), Redis, Linux
Quality & Tooling: PHPUnit, Pest, Jest, PHPStan (Larastan), Git
Certifications: AWS Well-Architected
Applied AI & Automation: AI-assisted code generation, refactoring, and test creation; Prompt-driven automation for developer workflows; Validation of AI output for correctness, security, and maintainability

Professional Experience

Senior Software Engineer @ Scrapbook.com

August 2024 - Present

  • Own backend feature development and platform stability across a large-scale e-commerce system, resolving production issues and eliminating recurring PHP warnings.
  • Designed a reusable PHP model architecture for internal livestreaming tools, reducing environment and event setup time from 8–10 hours to minutes.
  • Refactored legacy procedural code into maintainable, testable object-oriented components.
  • Led SEO and performance improvements including canonical tags, robots directives, caching strategies, and structured data, reducing crawler traffic by approximately 70%.
  • Built and standardized Docker-based local development environments (WSL), significantly reducing onboarding friction and environment-related bugs.
  • Applied AI-assisted tooling to accelerate refactoring, debugging, and test generation while maintaining production code standards.

Lead Software Engineer @ Cerebrum (Contracted to Quest Diagnostics)

July 2021 - July 2024

  • Led modernization of Quest Diagnostics' LIMS platform, migrating legacy systems to Laravel 9 and Next.js with a focus on long-term maintainability.
  • Refactored raw SQL into Eloquent ORM and implemented Laravel architectural patterns including Factories, Resources, and Policies.
  • Migrated GitLab from on-premises infrastructure to cloud-hosted environments.
  • Performed code reviews, mentored developers, and defined team engineering standards.
  • Improved automated testing coverage to approximately 80% using Pest and PHPUnit.
  • Enforced code quality and static analysis standards using PHPStan (Larastan) and Pint.

Software Engineer @ GEARFIRE

August 2016 - July 2021

  • Refactored a monolithic e-commerce platform into a Laravel-based architecture, improving scalability and maintainability.
  • Built backend APIs for distributor integrations and product replenishment using queued workers.
  • Developed internal reporting systems that reduced daily order failures to near zero.
  • Migrated infrastructure to AWS using EC2 and load balancers, improving uptime and deployment reliability.
  • Implemented cross-domain and SSL certificate automation for multi-tenant storefronts.

Independent Software Consultant @ K-Square

pre-2016

  • Delivered backend-focused contract solutions across insurance, education, HR/payroll, and pharmaceutical systems using PHP, .NET, SQL, and legacy platforms.

Academic Experience

BS in Computer Science, Middle Georgia State University – 4.0 GPA

Concentration in Software Development

  • Graduated with Honors; completed 106% of required credits
  • Senior Capstone, Internship, and 15+ upper-level IT courses including Python, Java, C++, InfoSec, and Web Dev

BS in Bioinformatics, Arizona State University – 3.8 GPA

  • Completed advanced coursework in Genetics, Evolution, Ecology, and Computational Biology
  • Early focus in life sciences before pivoting to tech; cross-disciplinary foundation

The Journey

Education

BS in Bioinformatics @ Arizona State University

2010

  • Completed advanced coursework in Genetics, Evolution, Ecology, and Computational Biology
  • Early focus in life sciences before pivoting to tech; cross-disciplinary foundation
Experience

Independent Software Consultant @ K-Square

pre-2016

  • Delivered backend-focused contract solutions across insurance, education, HR/payroll, and pharmaceutical systems using PHP, .NET, SQL, and legacy platforms.
Experience

Software Engineer @ GEARFIRE

August 2016 - July 2021

  • Refactored a monolithic e-commerce platform into a Laravel-based architecture, improving scalability and maintainability.
  • Built backend APIs for distributor integrations and product replenishment using queued workers.
Education

BS in Computer Science @ Middle Georgia State University

2018

  • Graduated with Honors; completed 106% of required credits
  • Senior Capstone, Internship, and 15+ upper-level IT courses including Python, Java, C++, InfoSec, and Web Dev
Experience

Lead Software Engineer @ Cerebrum (Contracted to Quest Diagnostics)

July 2021 - July 2024

  • Led modernization of Quest Diagnostics' LIMS platform, migrating legacy systems to Laravel 9 and Next.js with a focus on long-term maintainability.
  • Refactored raw SQL into Eloquent ORM and implemented Laravel architectural patterns including Factories, Resources, and Policies.
Experience

Senior Software Engineer @ Scrapbook.com

August 2024 - Present

  • Own backend feature development and platform stability across a large-scale e-commerce system, resolving production issues and eliminating recurring PHP warnings.
  • Designed a reusable PHP model architecture for internal livestreaming tools, reducing environment and event setup time from 8–10 hours to minutes.