# Rithwik Sannapu > Senior Backend Engineer | Distributed Systems | Python | Kafka | AWS | Microservices | Low-Latency APIs | Real-Time ML Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/rithwiksannapu I’m a Backend Engineer specializing in building scalable distributed systems, real-time data pipelines, and ML-powered platforms. With 4+ years of experience, I’ve worked on high-throughput systems that power real-time decision-making, fraud detection, and large-scale data processing. My work focuses on designing reliable, low-latency systems that operate at scale in production environments. I specialize in: • Distributed Systems & Microservices Architecture • Real-Time Data Pipelines (Kafka, Spark, Flink) • ML Systems & MLOps (Feature Engineering, Model Serving, Real-Time Inference) • Backend Development (Python, FastAPI, REST APIs) • Cloud-Native Systems (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes) • System Design, Performance Optimization & Scalability Some highlights of my work include: • Reduced API latency by 40%+ by optimizing data access and caching strategies • Improved ML pipeline efficiency and consistency across batch and real-time systems • Built scalable backend services and real-time pipelines handling high-volume data • Designed internal tools and dashboards to improve system observability and productivity I enjoy solving complex system design problems, optimizing performance at scale, and building robust backend systems that support data-intensive and ML-driven applications. Currently open to Backend / Platform / Distributed Systems / ML Infrastructure roles in the US. Always open to connecting with engineers, recruiters, and teams working on scalable systems and real-time architectures. ## Work Experience ### Full Stack Engineer @ Stripe Jan 2024 – Present | San Francisco, CA • Improved model prediction consistency by 32% by unifying batch and real-time feature pipelines using Python-based transformation frameworks, ensuring reliable feature parity across training and inference systems • Reduced feature serving latency by 41% by designing low-latency APIs with caching strategies and optimized data retrieval pipelines, enabling faster fraud detection and real-time decision-making systems • Increased pipeline efficiency by 28% by implementing scalable streaming and batch processing workflows, reducing data processing delays and improving feature freshness for high-volume transaction environments • Developed scalable backend services using Python, FastAPI, and microservices architecture, enabling efficient feature computation, API orchestration, and seamless integration across distributed machine learning systems • Engineered real-time and batch data pipelines using Apache Flink, Spark, and Airflow, ensuring high-throughput processing, fault tolerance, and consistent feature availability across production-grade distributed environments • Optimized system performance through caching strategies, asynchronous processing, and efficient data access patterns, demonstrating strong problem-solving skills, ownership, and ability to handle complex distributed systems challenges • Collaborated with ML engineers, data scientists, and product teams to translate ambiguous requirements into scalable solutions, demonstrating strong communication, leadership, and stakeholder alignment skills • Applied modern development practices including CI/CD pipelines, Docker, Kubernetes, and automated testing, ensuring reliable deployments, scalability, and maintainability of backend services in cloud-native production environments on AWS • Leveraged AWS services including S3, EC2, Lambda, and managed data systems, deploying scalable microservices and data pipelines while ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and secure infrastructure management practices ### Software Engineer @ Meta Jan 2020 – Jan 2023 | India • Supported real-time content processing pipelines by assisting in Python-based API integrations and data workflows, improving moderation response time by 18% across high-volume multilingual streaming environments. • Assisted in integrating machine learning inference services into backend systems, enabling faster harmful content detection and reducing manual review workload by 22% through efficient data routing pipelines. • Contributed to internal review tools and backend APIs, improving content reviewer productivity by 15% through enhanced data visibility, structured moderation queues, and optimized user interaction workflows. • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to translate requirements into scalable backend solutions, demonstrating strong ownership, communication, and problem-solving. • Worked with Python, REST APIs, Kafka, and Spark to support real-time data pipelines, asynchronous processing, and distributed systems, strengthening backend engineering and data processing fundamentals at scale. • Gained hands-on experience with microservices architecture, event-driven systems, and caching strategies, contributing to performance optimization and improving system reliability in high-throughput production-like environments. • Assisted in integrating frontend components using React and GraphQL APIs, enabling efficient data visualization and improving usability of internal tools for monitoring, debugging, and operational workflows. • Gained hands-on experience with Docker, Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines on Azure cloud, supporting containerized deployments, automated testing workflows, and improving release efficiency in cloud-native distributed systems. • Supported backend services, monitoring workflows, and scalable API deployments on Azure cloud using Python and microservices architecture, enhancing observability, reliability, and high-availability distributed application performance. ## Education ### Master of Science - MS in Management Information Systems, General Saint Louis University ### Bachelor of Technology - BTech in Computer Science Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/rithwik-sannapu-3a683137a --- Source: https://flows.cv/rithwiksannapu JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/rithwiksannapu/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-17