Senior Python / Django Engineer

Karol Gunia.Senior Python / Django Engineer

I build and operate business-critical Django systems.

Seven years building Django systems for universities and commercial clients — from architecture to round-the-clock operations. My projects serve 5,000+ users at 99.9% uptime.

Available: employment or B2B · Wierzchowie, near Kraków

01 — Need proven Django delivery?

Yes. Seven years of Django systems running in production — university platforms for 5,000+ staff, a CRM at 99.9% uptime since 2020, and an early-stage SaaS. Built and operated end-to-end, not handed off after launch.

AGH University of Science and Technology

Python Full-Stack Developer

Institutional platforms for 5,000+ staff at one of Poland's largest technical universities.

  • Employee Portal — Achievements module (SSO, automated imports, periodic staff evaluations); replaced a legacy system and migrated its data.
  • HELPI — digital-accessibility platform built to WCAG 2.1: needs and barriers reporting, user–unit messaging, dormitory applications, and consultation scheduling with iCal/Outlook.
  • Oferta Badawcza — public bilingual research showcase; advanced search with data integrated over REST and SOAP.
  • Starter — employee onboarding and front-end for the central IdAM system; replaced a paper process.
  • Built a reusable roles & permissions framework adopted across the team; introduced pytest, Playwright, and CI/CD.
DjangoDRFPostgreSQLCeleryRedisDockerGitLab CI/CD

ATL CRM · Slavic Studio

– present
Sole Engineer & Maintainer

Business-critical CRM in continuous production since 2020. 99.9% uptime, full lifecycle ownership.

  • End-to-end ownership: features, schema and migrations, infrastructure, and direct client support.
  • GitLab CI/CD with Ruff and mypy, automated tests, Trivy and SAST scanning, Docker builds and deploy.
  • Operations I own: 3-2-1 PostgreSQL backups, Let's Encrypt TLS, Sentry monitoring, scripted deploys, self-hosted VPS over WireGuard.
DjangoDRFPostgreSQLRedisCeleryRabbitMQNginx

Cozelio

– present
Technical Co-Founder

Backend architecture and AI strategy for an early-stage SaaS in renewable energy.

  • Defined the application architecture, production stack, domain model, and deployment strategy.
DjangoPostgreSQLRedisCeleryDockerLLM APIs

02 — What can you expect working together?

You get a clear scope before any code is written, written updates throughout, and a system that's tested and deployed through CI. I don't hand things off — I run what I build, including the monitoring and anything that pages at 3am.

/01

Written first, calls when needed. You always know where things stand.

/02

If it breaks, CI catches it before you do.

/03

I operate what I build. Backups, monitoring, and recovery are part of the job, not an afterthought.

/04

Security baked in, not bolted on.

03 — Curious about the code?

Most of the work is under NDA — client systems running in production, not on GitHub. One public contribution: Polish localisation of django-prose-editor, merged upstream.

Translation & localization

Polish translation (localization) of django-prose-editor — a rich-text editor for Django (ProseMirror). The contribution was merged upstream.

View merged pull request

04 — What's in the tech stack?

Python and Django at the core, PostgreSQL and Redis for data, Docker and GitLab CI/CD for infrastructure. Full-stack ownership — from database models to the deployment pipeline.

Backend Python · Django · Django REST Framework · REST API design
Data PostgreSQL · Redis · JSONB · query optimization (EXPLAIN ANALYZE)
Async & integrations Celery · RabbitMQ · REST · SOAP · webhooks · OpenAPI
DevOps & infra Docker · GitLab CI/CD · Nginx · Linux (Debian, Alpine) · Proxmox · WireGuard · Cloudflare · Sentry
Testing & quality pytest · Playwright · Ruff · mypy · Trivy · SAST · code review
Frontend HTMX · Alpine.js · Tailwind CSS · Bootstrap

05 — What does it cost to work together?

150–200 PLN/h net, B2B contract. Fixed-price projects available — send your scope and budget, I'll reply with a proposal. I also consider permanent employment; in that case the hourly rate is not the starting point — terms are agreed separately.

06 — Contact

Let's talk about your system.

Looking for a senior Django engineer — permanent, B2B or remote? Drop me a line — I usually reply within 24 hours.

No commitment · employment or B2B (VAT invoice) · reply within 24h