Lead Drupal Developer & Tech Lead

RIFAS ALI P B I

Lead Drupal Developer Senior Software Engineer Tech Lead

Bangalore, India 560034 +91-974******* ************@*****.*** linkedin.com/in/rifasalipbi-16aa17119 PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Seasoned Lead Drupal Developer with 8+ years of experience and a passion for leading dynamic teams to deliver complex, enterprise-scale web solutions. Equally at home in client communication and hands-on coding — I thrive under deadlines, proactively resolve blockers, and mentor teams to meet and exceed project goals. Proven track record across government, enterprise, NGO, and e-commerce verticals with deep expertise in headless architecture, multi-site platforms, Elasticsearch, cloud deployments, and API integrations. Recognised by international clients for technical excellence. In today's AI-driven landscape, I leverage modern AI tools daily to accelerate development, improve code quality, and adapt quickly — making me well-equipped to take on any web technology project, not just Drupal.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Senior Software Engineer UST Global — Bangalore Feb 2024 – Present Leeds City Council (LCC) — UK Government Public Sector Project

Led end-to-end delivery of leeds.gov.uk and 8 live microsites using LocalGov Drupal, collaborating directly with UK government stakeholders and earning direct appreciation and a referral offer from the client team.

Architected the custom microsite framework from scratch — bespoke theme, complex multi-site sitemap generation, publications module, and protected pages setup.

Delivered the LSAB project from planning to production; resolved critical Memcache issues across all LCC sites; migrated Migration Yorkshire from EC2 to ECS and from Drupal 9 to Drupal 10.

Configured Solr search and SSO across multiple sites; applied security updates to Drupal 10.5.2; implemented automated data imports and PDF bulk upload features.

Worked with a UK government email ID for direct client collaboration — exceptional trust extended to an offshore developer. Conducted technical interviews for Senior and Lead developer roles. Fluke / Pruftechnik — US Enterprise Client (WordPress to Drupal Migration)

Leading pruftechnik.com migration from WordPress to Drupal within a large cross-functional team; built detailed field-mapping discovery documents and custom migration scripts to ensure data integrity. Senior Software Engineer Valuebound — Bangalore Jan 2022 – Sep 2023

Led Drupal development for a US-based cost sheet management platform, automating complex multi-role document workflows including digital signing by different stakeholder roles (approvers, reviewers, finance), significantly reducing manual overhead.

Worked in a headless architecture with Angular as the front end; handled all Drupal development independently, including custom module development, third-party API integrations, and user access control.

Managed Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 migration ensuring full data integrity; conducted code reviews and delivered internal training sessions for interns and junior developers. Drupal Developer Capgemini Technology Services India Ltd — BangaloreAug 2021 – Dec 2021

Contributed to the large-scale Starbucks Drupal 7 to Drupal 9 migration project.

Developed and customised Drupal modules to meet client requirements; managed user roles, access control, and resolved complex Drupal issues across internal projects. Drupal Developer Tridz Technologies Pvt. Ltd — Bengaluru Feb 2018 – Feb 2021

Delivered multiple production Drupal projects across e-commerce, NGO, B2B, and enterprise verticals — handling everything from custom module development and theming to API design and third-party integrations.

Built headless Drupal applications exposing data via JSONAPI, REST, and custom APIs consumed by Angular and React front ends; handled complex multi-source API integration patterns.

Implemented Elasticsearch on the Azim Premji Foundation platform, reducing report generation from hours to seconds using custom processors, Kibana dashboards, and aggregation queries.

Integrated Razorpay payment gateway and Unleashed inventory management API with Drupal 8; built complete e-commerce order workflows using Drupal Commerce for the Kirana B2B grocery platform.

Created and documented Postman API collections; trained junior developers on Drupal architecture and best practices.

Web Developer Infiyo Technologies Pvt. Ltd — Kozhikode Jan 2016 – Oct 2017

Built and maintained responsive web applications using PHP CodeIgniter, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, and jQuery; designed database schemas and ensured cross-browser compatibility.

Analysed client requirements and built user-friendly systems; collaborated with designers and testers to deliver high-quality products.

KEY PROJECTS

Leeds City Council (LCC) — UK Government UST Global

Delivered leeds.gov.uk and 8 live microsites on LocalGov Drupal; implemented complex multi-site sitemap architecture, Memcache resolution, AWS ECS migration, and Drupal 10 upgrade across all sites. Cost Sheet Automation — US Enterprise Client Valuebound

Automated a multi-role cost sheet approval and digital signing workflow for a US client, replacing manual processes with a configurable Drupal-based solution for finance, review, and approval stakeholders. Azim Premji Foundation — NGO Education Platform Tridz

Solved a critical performance bottleneck — report generation went from hours to seconds by implementing Elasticsearch with custom processors and Kibana visualisations. Firstu — Vehicle Subscription Platform Tridz

Built Drupal 8 backend, REST and JSONAPI endpoints, and integrated Razorpay payment gateway. Front end developed using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JS, and Fetch API. Kirana B2B — Online Grocery Platform Tridz

Built full e-commerce workflow APIs using Drupal Commerce, from user registration through complete order management.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

CMS & Backend: Drupal 7/8/9/10, LocalGov Drupal, WordPress, PHP, PHP CodeIgniter, MySQL Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap, JavaScript, jQuery, React, Angular APIs & Integrations: REST API, JSONAPI, Custom APIs, Drupal Commerce, Razorpay, Unleashed API, Postman

Search & Data: Elasticsearch, Kibana, Solr, Memcache DevOps & Cloud: AWS (EC2, ECS), Azure, CI/CD Pipelines, Linux, Drush, Composer AI Tools: GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and other LLM-based tools for development, debugging, and documentation

Other: Agile/Scrum, Technical Leadership, Code Review, Team Mentoring, Project Documentation, SSO, Solr EDUCATION

BTech in Information Technology Calicut University Engineering College, Malappuram 2016 LANGUAGES

Malayalam (Native) English (C1 – Advanced) Hindi (B2) Tamil (B1) Arabic (B1) RECOGNITION & ACHIEVEMENTS

Received direct appreciation and a referral offer from Leeds City Council (UK Government); awarded a UK government email ID for direct client collaboration — rare recognition for an offshore developer.

Selected for the technical interview panel for Lead and Senior Developer hiring at UST Global.

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