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Kyle Pretorius

15+ years building scalable web applications and cloud infrastructure.
AWS Certified · Laravel & Symfony Expert · London, UK

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kyle@handleexception: ~

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Kyle Pretorius — Senior PHP Dev & DevOps

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languages: PHP, Python, JavaScript

frameworks: Laravel, Symfony

cloud: AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform

databases: MySQL, MongoDB, Redis

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years: 15+

location: London, UK

certs: AWS Solutions Architect

AWS Developer

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01. About

Who I Am

I'm a Senior PHP Developer and DevOps Engineer based in London with over 15 years of experience building robust, scalable software across fintech, insurtech, mobile content, and telecoms.

My expertise spans full-stack PHP development with Laravel and Symfony through to cloud infrastructure design on AWS. I've led teams, architected serverless solutions, migrated applications to Kubernetes, and built high-throughput REST APIs handling millions of daily requests.

I'm equally comfortable writing clean, well-tested application code as I am designing cloud infrastructure with Terraform and managing EKS clusters — the combination that makes me effective in both senior engineering and technical lead roles.

0+ Years Experience

0 AWS Certifications

0+ Companies

0 Countries

03. Services

What I Can Build For You

PHP & Laravel Development

Custom web applications, REST APIs, and backend systems built with modern PHP and Laravel. Clean, tested, and ready to scale.

AWS Infrastructure & Architecture

Cloud architecture design, serverless deployments, and infrastructure-as-code using Terraform and CloudFormation.

DevOps & CI/CD

Pipeline setup, Kubernetes clusters, Docker containerisation, and automated deployment workflows.

Legacy Code Refactoring

Modernising older codebases, improving performance, and migrating to current frameworks without disrupting live systems.

Serverless Architecture

Event-driven systems and scalable microservices on AWS Lambda, SQS, and Aurora — designed for high throughput and low cost.

REST API Design & Development

PSR-4 compliant, well-documented APIs and reusable SDKs built for scale, reliability, and ease of integration.

04. Experience

Work History

Apr 2023 — Present

Senior Software Developer

MyFinanceClub · London

Current

UK-based fintech providing short-term loan solutions.

Engineering across microservices and monolith architectures in a fintech environment
Refactoring legacy codebases and re-engineering solutions in Laravel
Leveraging AWS services and MySQL within a robust CI/CD pipeline

PHP Laravel AWS MySQL CI/CD Microservices

May 2021 — Mar 2023

Technical Lead

Patchworks · London

Leading integration platform for fast-growing retail clients managing high-volume API traffic.

Led development and performance optimisation for a high-volume REST API platform
Managed cloud infrastructure across Digital Ocean and AWS using Kubernetes/EKS and CloudFormation
Architected a serverless stack: Lambda, SQS, compiled Laravel application, Redis, and Aurora PostgreSQL
Scaled the serverless solution to support multi-tenant clients at high request volumes

Laravel Kubernetes AWS Lambda Redis Aurora PostgreSQL SQS CloudFormation

Nov 2020 — May 2021

Backend Developer

So-sure · London

Mobile and household insurance provider for the UK market.

Built and maintained the Symfony-based backend API with a MongoDB data layer
Focused on refactoring for improved reliability and performance
Contributed to DevOps and AWS infrastructure improvements

PHP Symfony MongoDB AWS

Aug 2016 — Nov 2020

Senior PHP Developer / DevOps

Hyve Mobile · Cape Town

Next-generation Mobile Content and Value-Added Services platform for mobile operators.

Built REST APIs and reusable SDKs following PSR-4 compliance and standards
Migrated applications from AWS OpsWorks/Chef to Kubernetes/EKS clusters
Took ownership of DevOps responsibilities; completed 2 AWS certifications during tenure
Managed infrastructure with Terraform and standardised deployment practices company-wide

PHP Kubernetes Terraform AWS EKS OpsWorks REST API Docker

Sep 2012 — Aug 2016

Software Developer

iConnect SA · Cape Town

PHP developer for a VoIP and data telecommunications company.

Performance and feature development on a complex business management portal
MySQL database work including stored procedures, triggers, and optimisation
Frontend development with jQuery/AJAX using the Yii PHP framework
Linux server administration and Agile/Scrum delivery

PHP MySQL Yii JavaScript Linux

2011 — 2012

Earlier Roles (2011–2012)

Front-end Developer — Evly, Cape Town HTML · CSS · JavaScript · jQuery · Facebook Apps

Web Developer — Active Ice Digital Studios, Cape Town PHP · MySQL · WordPress · Joomla · SEO

Web Developer / Manager — Wobble, Cape Town Joomla · PHP · Google Analytics · Adwords · SEO

05. Featured Work

Project Highlights

Patchworks

Multi-Tenant Serverless Platform

Architected a fully serverless integration platform to handle high-volume retail API traffic at scale, replacing a struggling monolith.

Lambda + SQS + compiled Laravel application pipeline
Aurora PostgreSQL & Redis for storage and caching
Scaled to support multiple enterprise retail tenants

AWS Lambda SQS Laravel Aurora Redis

Hyve Mobile

Kubernetes Infrastructure Migration

Led full migration of production applications from legacy AWS OpsWorks/Chef stacks to Kubernetes/EKS, standardising deployments company-wide.

Migrated all services to EKS clusters managed with Terraform
Obtained AWS Solutions Architect & Developer certifications
Documented and standardised deployment practices across the team

Kubernetes EKS Terraform Docker AWS

MyFinanceClub

Fintech Microservices Platform

Re-engineering a fintech lending platform from legacy monolith architecture into maintainable microservices with a robust CI/CD pipeline.

Refactored legacy codebase into discrete Laravel microservices
Improved deployment velocity through AWS-backed CI/CD pipeline
MySQL schema optimisation for high-frequency financial transactions

PHP Laravel MySQL AWS CI/CD

06. Certifications & Education

Qualifications

AWS Certified Solutions Architect

Associate · Amazon Web Services

Certified 2020

AWS Certified

AWS Certified Developer