data engineer · nairobi, kenya 🇰🇪

Douglas
Kathurima

const role = "Building data infrastructure
           that actually works"

// turning messy raw data into reliable, tested pipelines
3+ years designing and maintaining production data systems at Optica. Built the company data warehouse from scratch — schema design, Airflow pipelines, Postgres administration, Linux server permissions and Pentaho dashboards end to end.

View Projects Get in Touch
douglas@spenotech ~ profile.py
# Software Engineer | Data Engineer
→ python profile.py

name: "Douglas Kathurima"
location: "Nairobi, Kenya 🇰🇪"
experience: 3 # years
education: "BSc Software Engineering"
stack: ["Airflow", "dbt", "PostgreSQL",
         "Python", "Linux", "Pentaho"]
open_to_remote: true
status: open_to_work()

→
01. about_me

Who I Am

I'm a Data Engineer based in Nairobi with 3+ years of hands-on experience building the infrastructure that makes data usable. I care about the foundation — tested pipelines, clean models, and databases that people can actually trust.

At Optica I built the company's data warehouse from scratch — schema design, PostgreSQL setup, Airflow pipelines, Linux permissions, Zoho API integrations, and Pentaho dashboards. I also built full-stack internal tools in Django and React and founded a Developers Club at university to grow the next generation of engineers.

3+
// years in production
54
// dbt tests written
1
// warehouse built from scratch
9
// source tables modelled
DOUGLAS_KATHURIMA.json
1{
2  "expertise": [
3    "Data Warehouse Architecture",
4    "ETL/ELT Pipeline Design",
5    "dbt Modelling & Testing",
6    "Database Administration & RBAC",
7    "Linux Server Management"
8  ],
9  "education": {
10    "degree": "BSc Software Engineering",
11    "university": "University of Eastern Africa, Baraton",
12    "graduated": 2022
13  },
14  "certifications": ["SQL", "Python", "React JS"],
15  "currently_at": "Optica Limited",
16  "open_to_remote": true,
17  "available": true
18}
02. tech_stack

Skills & Tools

// the technologies I use to build production data systems

Data Engineering
Apache Airflow dbt Python SQL Pandas ETL / ELT SMTP / IMAP REST APIs
Databases
PostgreSQL MySQL RBAC / User Roles Schema Design Performance Tuning
Infrastructure
Linux Nginx Bash Server Admin Python Envs Git / GitHub
BI & Web
Pentaho CDE Matplotlib Excel Django React JavaScript Zoho CRM APIs
// PROFICIENCY_LEVELS
SQL95%
Python88%
Apache Airflow85%
dbt80%
PostgreSQL90%
// WHAT_I_CARE_ABOUT
▸
Data you can trust
Tested, documented, version-controlled pipelines
▸
Layered warehouse design
Raw → Staging → Marts separation of concerns
▸
Proper access control
Right people see the right data, nothing more
▸
Automation over manual work
SMTP reports, Zoho API pipelines, scheduled DAGs
▸
Documentation as first-class output
dbt docs, lineage graphs, test coverage reports
03. projects

Featured Work

// systems I've architected and shipped

pipeline
build_olist_pipeline()
live

End-to-end e-commerce data pipeline on the Brazilian Olist dataset — 100k+ rows across 9 source tables. Airflow ingests from Kaggle into Postgres. dbt handles all transformations with 3 mart models, 54 tests, and full documentation deployed on a live subdomain.

Apache AirflowdbtPostgreSQLPythonNginx
dbt airflow live docs
warehouse
build_company_warehouse()

Designed and built Optica's data warehouse from the ground up. Unified data from Zoho CRM, emails (IMAP), and internal systems into PostgreSQL. Built Airflow pipelines for automated ingestion, configured RBAC, and delivered Pentaho dashboards for management reporting.

PostgreSQLAirflowPythonZoho APIsPentahoLinux
Proprietary — happy to discuss in interview
// next project
coming_soon()
04. experience

Work History

// roles that shaped my data engineering journey

JAN 2022 — PRESENT
Data Analyst & Data Engineer
Optica Limited — Nairobi, Kenya
  • Built the company data warehouse from scratch — schema design, PostgreSQL setup, Linux server configuration and RBAC
  • Designed and maintained Airflow pipelines to keep the data warehouse continuously up-to-date
  • Automated data ingestion from emails using Python IMAP and from Zoho CRM using REST APIs
  • Automated management reports using Python, SQL and SMTP, eliminating manual reporting cycles
  • Developed Deluge scripts to automate field population in Zoho CRM and auto-close converted tickets
  • Built Pentaho CDE dashboards and Excel visualizations for management reporting
  • Established the team's GitHub repository for version control and script backup
  • Conducted data analysis using SQL, Python, Pandas and Matplotlib to support business decisions
MAY 2020 — SEP 2022
Freelance Data Analyst
Upwork — Remote
  • Delivered data analysis and visualization projects for international clients
  • Used SQL, Python, Pandas and Excel to analyze data and present insights to finance and management teams
  • Built Excel models and dashboards to track metrics and support resource planning decisions
MAY 2022 — AUG 2022
Software Engineering Intern
Redian Software Africa — Nairobi, Kenya
  • Assisted in developing CRM software and conducted client technical training
  • Performed data analysis and data collection, and refined software to meet client requirements
SEP 2021 — FEB 2022
Web Developer
University of Eastern Africa Baraton — Eldoret, Kenya
  • Led development of the university's e-learning information website
  • Built database objects including tables and views using SQL
  • Developed the frontend using React JS and backend with Laravel
05. contact

Let's Connect

// open to new roles, remote work, and collaborations

SEND_MESSAGE()
douglasdamler@gmail.com

Whether it's a data engineering role, a pipeline problem, or just a conversation about building better data infrastructure — my inbox is open.