About
Engineer. Product builder. Operator.
I’m Rafael Lima, a senior software engineer and technology entrepreneur working internationally. I turn difficult product and business problems into software that can be launched, operated, and improved.
How I think
The code is only one part of the decision.
For more than 10 years, I have worked across the full path from an early idea to running production software. That experience taught me that strong engineering begins before implementation: understanding the real problem, choosing the right constraints, and deciding what not to build.
I am most effective when I can connect technical choices to product and business consequences. I can discuss scope with a founder, design the architecture, build the backend or mobile experience, deploy it to the cloud, and stay accountable when real users arrive.
I value practical systems, direct communication, and products that respect people’s time and data. Outside work, being a husband and father keeps those principles concrete.
The experience
From product surface to technical foundations.
My experience includes mobile applications, SaaS products, backend platforms and APIs, AI-powered features, automation, large-scale data processing, web scraping, data pipelines, databases, and AWS infrastructure.
I have worked with large address, property, real-estate, and public-record datasets where collection is only the beginning. The real work is normalization, validation, deduplication, entity matching, dependable processing, and turning the resulting data into something a product can trust.
Alongside client and professional work, I build products under my own name. Owning their concept, implementation, release, privacy, support, and iteration keeps my decisions grounded in the complete product lifecycle.
Where I contribute
Technical depth with product context.
I can lead the decisions and still do the hands-on engineering required to move a product forward.
Build & ship
- Mobile app development (Android & iOS)
- Web applications, front to back
- Product strategy, scoping & architecture
- Release, support, operations & iteration
Systems & scale
- APIs & backend platforms
- Cloud infrastructure & deployment
- Automation, AI products & internal tooling
- Large-scale data pipelines & processing
Working together
Available for international engagements.
I’m available to work with founders and companies across the United States, Canada, and Europe. The strongest opportunities usually need a combination of product judgment, architecture, hands-on engineering, and ownership beyond the first release.
- building a new mobile application or SaaS product;
- improving or rebuilding an existing platform;
- creating an AI, automation, or complex data system;
- making architecture and cloud decisions;
- providing senior technical and product leadership.