Mustafa Çetinkaya | Senior Software Engineer & Architect

Summary

Senior Software Engineer & Architect with over a decade of experience designing, building, and scaling mission-critical enterprise platforms and tier-1 FinTech ecosystems. Proven track record in architecting cloud-native backend systems serving 20M+ users under heavy concurrency (1,600+ TPS). Deep expertise in .NET, Microservices, Clean Architecture, Domain-Driven Design (DDD), Event-Driven Architecture (Apache Kafka), and Kubernetes/OpenShift. Adept at driving end-to-end software craftsmanship, full-stack production observability, mentoring engineering teams, and leveraging AI-augmented engineering workflows to deliver resilient, fault-tolerant architectures at high velocity.

Core Skills

Architecture & Backend: C#, .NET / .NET Core, ASP.NET Core Web API, Microservices, Clean Architecture, DDD, CQRS, Event-Driven Architecture, Background Services & Distributed Workers

Messaging & Data: Apache Kafka, Redis (Distributed Caching), SQL Server, MongoDB, Entity Framework Core (EF Core), Dapper

Cloud-Native & DevOps: Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, Docker, Helm, ArgoCD (GitOps), Microsoft Azure, CI/CD Pipelines, XL Release

Observability & Security: OpenTelemetry, Distributed Tracing, Structured Logging, Grafana, Prometheus, ELK Stack, LogScale / LogLake, Health Checks, OAuth2, OpenID Connect (OIDC), JWT, RBAC, OWASP Top 10, CyberArk Conjur

Testing & Engineering Practices: TDD, xUnit, Integration Testing, Performance & Load Testing (k6, Hey), System Design, Refactoring, AI-Augmented Development (GitHub Copilot, LLM Workflows)

Experience

Senior Software Engineer

Softtech, Istanbul, Türkiye | Jan 2023 - Present

Lead backend engineer for Türkiye İş Bankası's flagship mobile banking platform (İşCep), architecting mission-critical distributed services for 20M+ users and sustaining 1,600+ peak TPS within a strict <2s end-to-end SLA.
Engineered fault-tolerant, event-driven microservices in .NET Core and Java Spring streaming 12+ GB of daily event data across Apache Kafka topologies, backed by Redis distributed caching, MongoDB, and SQL Server (optimizing query performance via strategic EF Core and Dapper usage).
Designed and secured core banking APIs for digital customer onboarding, partner channel distribution, automated orchestration, and real-time asset valuation, enforcing OWASP Top 10 standards, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT authorization, and secret management via CyberArk Conjur.
Spearheaded the decomposition of legacy monolithic services and batch workflows into cloud-native, containerized architectures using Clean Architecture, DDD, and CQRS, deployed on OpenShift and Kubernetes via Docker, Helm, ArgoCD (GitOps), and automated CI/CD pipelines.
Established end-to-end production observability using OpenTelemetry, distributed tracing, structured logging (ELK, LogScale, LogLake), Health Checks, and Grafana/Prometheus dashboards; verified system resilience through TDD (xUnit), integration testing, and high-concurrency load benchmarking with k6 and Hey.

Senior Software Engineer

Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye | Aug 2022 - Dec 2022

Architected and developed modular .NET Core applications using Clean Architecture, CQRS, and Mediator patterns, integrating REST/SOAP services, SQL Server (EF Core/Dapper), and automated distributed background jobs with Quartz.
Standardized enterprise solution templates, implemented multi-environment configuration pipelines, and expanded automated unit and integration test suites using xUnit.

R&D Manager & Software Engineer

Council of Forensic Medicine, Istanbul, Türkiye | Apr 2017 - Jul 2022

Led technical R&D and software automation initiatives (R&D Manager, 2019–2022) following tenure as Software & Forensic Engineer (2017–2019), modernizing high-stakes digital investigation and data processing workflows.
Developed full-stack web applications using ASP.NET Core and SQL Server to automate forensic analysis and institutional reporting pipelines.
Architected and deployed distributed Windows Services, ClickOnce applications, and cURL-based automation tools to orchestrate sequential processing tasks across virtual machine clusters.
Designed and maintained a centralized Laboratory Management System enforcing strict role-based access control (RBAC) and multi-database integrations for end-to-end evidence tracking.
Executed complex digital data extraction and volatile memory/storage analysis for critical investigations using specialized forensic platforms (Cellebrite UFED, Magnet AXIOM, X-Ways Forensics, FTK Imager).

Software Developer

Maxinn Corporate Services, Isparta, Türkiye | Sep 2012 - Sep 2014

Developed full-stack e-commerce web applications (ASP.NET MVC, SQL Server, RFID integration) and desktop POS systems.

Education

Master of Science in Computer Science

Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye | 2019 - 2021

Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering

Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye | 2014 - 2016

Bachelor of Science in Computer Teacher Education

Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Türkiye | 2008 - 2013

Certifications

Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals (Microsoft)
Kubernetes for Developers: Core Concepts, Deploying Your Code (Pluralsight)
Fundamentals of Docker and Kubernetes for .NET Developers (Pluralsight)
Advanced Prompt Engineering Techniques (LinkedIn)
Advanced Web APIs with ASP.NET Core (LinkedIn)
Certified BlackLight Examiner (BlackBag Technologies)
Business-Plus (iTEP)

Publications

Malware Detection with Memory Analysis on Windows System Processes - Istanbul University (Jan 2022)

Languages

English (Professional Proficiency), Turkish (Native)