Ilkin Ismayilov
AZ

Hi, I’m

Ilkin Ismayilov

I lead a 6-person backend team at an early-stage FinTech startup. I build secure, well-tested Spring Boot services. Average API response time went from 1000 ms to 14 ms, with ~95% test coverage across 75 endpoints.

NowJava Backend Team Lead at VersePay
FocusPayments, Spring Boot, performance and testing
NextLooking for a first corporate role in banking or FinTech backend
Ilkin Ismayilov in a white PASHA Hackathon T-shirt with a name badge, standing in front of a sponsor wall.
1000 → 14 msaverage API response

Selected work

Seven projects, from a multi-venue restaurant ordering platform to a browser game. Three have a full case study.

Showing all 7 projects

Milly

A multi-venue restaurant ordering platform, and the overall winner of the IT SkillSprint final Capstone (Web Development & AI).

Year
2026
Stack
Java 21, Spring Boot 4, PostgreSQL, Flyway, WebSocket (STOMP), OAuth2
Role
Web Developer
Team
Team of 5
Award
Overall winner, IT SkillSprint final Capstone (Web Development & AI)

Problem

Milly digitises how restaurants take and manage orders and how guests and staff communicate. It speeds up service and brings the operations together on one platform.

What I did

I built the venue registration/membership module and the staff menu CRUD APIs using clean architecture. I implemented venue-scoped role authorization (Manager / Waiter), covered by unit and integration tests. I planned and tracked team sprints and tasks in Jira.

The decision that mattered

Using STOMP over WebSocket alongside the REST API, so restaurant staff see every change in an order's status in real time.

Result

Overall winner of the IT SkillSprint final Capstone (Web Development & AI).

Yolçu

A unified mobility platform for AYNA with a live traffic map, AI bus-interval optimization and Mobility Hub proposals.

Year
2026
Stack
Java, TypeScript, HTML, Python, CSS, Docker
Role
Web Developer
Team
Team of 4
Award
Winner, TransportTech Hackathon 2026

Open Yolçu (opens in a new tab)may take a moment to load

Problem

Yolçu makes transport services easier to manage and to access, through one digital platform.

What I did

In 2 days our team built Yolçu at the TransportTech Hackathon 2026 (Openwave program by IDDA & AYNA; 500+ teams applied, 14 finalists): a live traffic map, AI bus-interval optimization and Mobility Hub proposals. My part: I built the whole web application on my own and was fully responsible for its architecture, its features and its integration with the other parts of the system.

The decision that mattered

Building the web application on one architecture from start to finish, which kept the integration with the rest of the system simple and sped up development.

Result

Winner of the TransportTech Hackathon 2026.

AbadLand Qarabağ

A farmland investment portal for the liberated territories, with a plot map and digital passports, AI land analysis, a 3D terrain view and online applications.

Year
2026
Stack
Java 21, Spring Boot, Thymeleaf, Tailwind CSS, JavaScript, Leaflet.js, Three.js, Spring Security, JPA, H2, Docker
Role
Web Developer
Team
Team of 4
Award
Winner, Karabakh Hackathon 2026

Open AbadLand Qarabağ (opens in a new tab)may take a moment to load

Problem

People who want to invest in farmland in Karabakh find it hard to locate plots, judge their investment potential and manage their applications. AbadLand Qarabağ solves this with one digital platform.

What I did

In 44 hours our team built AbadLand Qarabağ at the Karabakh Hackathon 2026 (Ministry of Agriculture's Agrarian Innovation Center; 55 students, 14 universities): a plot map and digital passports, AI land analysis from satellite and climate data, a 3D terrain view, and online applications with commission review. My part: I built the whole web side of the project on my own: the investor and admin dashboards, the interactive maps, plot comparison, the 3D view and the screens for tracking applications.

The decision that mattered

Choosing server-side rendering with Spring Boot and Thymeleaf instead of a separate frontend app. It made connecting the web interfaces to the backend simpler and got the MVP built faster.

Result

Winner of the Karabakh Hackathon 2026.

About me

What I build

Most of my work sits behind the interface. I build Java and Spring Boot services for payment links, customer loyalty and marketplaces.

At VersePay I lead a 6-person backend team, from sprint planning in Jira to code reviews and architecture decisions. At Renter.az, a live vehicle rental marketplace with about 100 customers, I lead product planning and delivery as co-founder.

How I learn

I study Computer Engineering at UNEC, with a GPA of 95/100. I graduated from the Ironhack IT SkillSprint bootcamp with a 100/100 average, on a full scholarship.

Our capstone, Milly, was the overall winner of the IT SkillSprint final Capstone (Web Development & AI). Teaching keeps me sharp too. At CodersAzerbaijan I mentored 6 junior developers and guided 5 team projects to completion.

Hackathons and beyond

Hackathons are where I practise building fast with a team. In 2026 our teams won the TransportTech Hackathon and the Karabakh Hackathon. I was also a finalist at PashaHackathon 6.0, PashaHackathon 5.0 and the Holberton School Azerbaijan Micro SaaS Hackathon.

I also volunteer at big events in Baku, including the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, World Urban Forum 13 and UFC Fight Night Baku.

Skills

Backend
Java 8–21, Spring Boot, Spring Security, Spring Data JPA / Hibernate, REST API, Microservices Architecture, Spring Cloud (basic), WebSocket, OAuth2 / JWT
Data
SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, RabbitMQ, Apache Kafka, Flyway, MinIO / S3
Testing
JUnit 5, Mockito, integration testing, k6 (load/stress), Postman, Bruno
API Docs
Swagger / OpenAPI
DevOps & Tools
Docker, GitHub Actions (CI/CD), Linux, VPS, Railway, Git, Maven, Stripe, Jira
Languages
Azerbaijani (native), Turkish (advanced), English (IELTS 7.0)
  • Measure, then fixResponse time went from 1000 ms to 14 ms by fixing N+1 queries, adding Redis caching and the right database indexes.
  • Tests come with the codeUnit tests with JUnit and Mockito plus k6 load tests cover 75 endpoints at about 95%.
  • Security is part of the first versionRate limiting, role-based access control and JWT auth go in from the start.
  • Make releasing routineDocker deploys run through GitHub Actions in 1–2 minutes, so shipping is a normal part of the day.

Experience

  1. Dec 2025 – Present

    Java Backend Team Lead at VersePay

    Early-stage FinTech startup with merchant payment links and a customer loyalty platform. I lead a 6-person backend team, reduced average API response time from 1000 ms to 14 ms and reached ~95% code coverage across 75 endpoints.

  2. Present

    Co-founder & Project Manager at Renter.az

    Lead product planning and delivery of a live vehicle rental marketplace with ~100 customers. Roadmap, task breakdown and team coordination.

  3. Sep 2025 – Jun 2026

    Java Backend Mentor at CodersAzerbaijan

    Mentored 6 junior developers in Core Java, Spring and Spring Boot, REST API design, secure coding and Docker deployment. Guided 5 team projects to completion through code reviews.

  4. Jan 2026 – Jul 2026

    Web Development & AI at Ironhack IT SkillSprint Bootcamp

    Graduated with a 100/100 average. Full scholarship, selected in the top 2.5% of 1,000+ applicants.

  5. Sep 2023 – Jun 2027

    BSc Computer Engineering at Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC)

    GPA 95/100.

Hackathons & awards

  • 2026TransportTech Hackathon 2026Openwave program by IDDA & AYNA; 500+ teams applied, 14 finalists. In 2 days our team built Yolçu, a unified mobility platform for AYNA. Read about YolçuWinner
  • 2026Karabakh Hackathon 2026Ministry of Agriculture's Agrarian Innovation Center; 55 students, 14 universities. In 44 hours our team built AbadLand Qarabağ, a farmland investment portal. Read about AbadLand QarabağWinner
  • PashaHackathon 6.0Extended the Bravo mobile app with gamification and a loyalty/referral system.Finalist
  • PashaHackathon 5.0Built a car insurance app focused on reliability, security, and ease of use.Finalist
  • Holberton School Azerbaijan Micro SaaS HackathonBuilt a health-focused SaaS application.Finalist
  • VolunteeringFormula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (Baku City Circuit), World Urban Forum 13 (Transport Dept.), UFC Fight Night Baku (HSE team).Volunteer
Case study
↑ ↓ to moveEnter to openEsc to close