Staff Software Architect · Austin, TX
Backend systems that hold up under real load.
I'm Mohammad Al-Khani. I design distributed systems, tune databases and build the platforms engineers ship on. 14 years of it.
Currently exploring Staff Software Engineer, Platform Architect, and Principal Backend Lead roles (Hybrid Austin, TX or Remote). Contact
What I do
Five areas, each backed by shipped work.
/distributed-systemsDistributed systems
Locking, sharding and data models that hold up at peak traffic.
/database-performanceDatabase & query performance
SQL tuning, indexing, caching and memory engineering, measured with OpenTelemetry.
/platform-engineeringPlatform engineering & GitOps
Terraform, Atlantis, ArgoCD and Kubernetes paved paths with read-only cloud access.
/cloud-finopsCloud cost (FinOps)
Cost visibility and architecture changes that cut spend without cutting reliability.
/developer-experience-aiDevEx & AI governance
Reusable CI/CD, onboarding tooling and AGENTS.md review rules.
/experienceWhere it was proven
14 years across General Motors, Life360, Upstart, CodeObjects and Oracle.
About
I'm a Staff Software Architect and Backend Engineering Lead at General Motors, based in Austin, Texas. Over 14 years at GM, Life360, Upstart, CodeObjects and Oracle, I've decomposed monoliths, removed distributed locking bottlenecks, rebuilt caching layers and built the platforms other engineers depend on.
M.S. Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (3.99 GPA) · B.S. Computer Science, Prince Sultan University (ranked 1st in class)
How I think
Measure first
A system is only as good as its observability and maintainability. I profile before I change anything.
Cost is an engineering metric
Savings come from changing architecture, not from cutting reliability.
Make the right way the easy way
Paved paths, reusable workflows and clear guardrails beat documentation nobody reads.
Raise the people around you
Mentoring, reviews and hiring are part of every senior engineer's job.