Available for new work · from Mon, Feb 1
Hi, I'm Rizwan. I build Python platforms that scale.
Python & Django Application Architect in London, with 15+ years delivering scalable web platforms for the UK Government, Government of Ireland, HSBC, and the London Stock Exchange Group.
£80–120/hrContract or permanentRemote-first · UTC+0
TRUSTED BY
- UK Government
- Gov.ie
- HSBC
- London Stock Exchange Group
- BT
- Fidelity International
- UCL
- Royal College of Surgeons
15+
years shipping
50+
projects delivered
200k
pages migrated to Wagtail
12yr
open-source contributor
( Community )
- Python Software FoundationJob Board moderator since 2014
- DjangoCon Europe & USSpeaker & volunteer
- Python UAECo-organised the first Python User Group meetup
( About me )
15+ years delivering scalable web platforms for public-sector and enterprise organisations across the UK and Ireland.
Clients include the UK Government, Government of Ireland, HSBC, and the London Stock Exchange Group. Most recently at GlobalLogic, I led the migration of a 200,000+ page public-sector website to Wagtail CMS. I work across the full lifecycle: architecture, APIs, CMS platforms, CI/CD, and team mentorship.
( What I do )
How I can help
01
Django architecture
End-to-end product engineering
02
Wagtail CMS builds
Structured content at scale
03
REST APIs & Elasticsearch
Search, indexing, autocomplete
04
Technical consulting
Architecture reviews & roadmapping
Gov.ie → Wagtail migration
Architecture and execution of the largest Irish public-sector CMS migration to date: 200,000+ pages, multi-department editorial workflows, structured content models, zero-downtime cutover. Now serving Irish citizens with sub-200ms responses at scale.
PAGES MIGRATED
200k+
EDITORIAL TEAMS
24
P95 RESPONSE
180ms
DOWNTIME
0s
( Stack )
Tools of the trade
./backend7 pkgs
- Python 2/3
- Django 1–5
- Wagtail
- Node.js
- Flask
- Plone
- Zope
./search-data5 pkgs
- Elasticsearch
- PostgreSQL
- REST APIs
- pgvector
- SQLite
./frontend7 pkgs
- HTML5
- CSS3
- JavaScript
- React
- jQuery
- AngularJS
- Semantic UI
./platforms-tools7 pkgs
- Linux/Ubuntu
- Docker
- Git
- CI/CD
- Agile/Scrum
- Jira
- macOS
- 2023 — PresentApplication Architect · GlobalLogic UK&I
Led migration of Gov.ie (200k+ pages) to Wagtail CMS. Architecture, team mentorship, CI/CD pipelines.
- 2022 — 2023SwapClear Risk Analyst (Python) · London Stock Exchange Group
Django-based automation patches and risk model analysis. Bridge between business analysis and automation.
- 2020 — 2022Digital Backend Developer · Dept for International Trade (UK Gov)
Wagtail CMS & Django microservices for Gov.uk. Code review, pair programming, CI/CD ownership.
- 2018 — 2020Python Engineer · HSBC · BT · Fidelity International
Secure fintech at HSBC, router automation at BT, Django CMS versioning at Fidelity International.
- 2007 — 2018Web Developer → Manager · UCL · Royal College of Surgeons
11 years across UCL (800+ Plone sites, team lead of 4) and RCS (Web APIs, third-line support).
( Free tools )
Things I've built for developers
Security
Password Generator
Client-side generator with entropy display, ambiguous-character exclusion, and a visual strength meter. Nothing leaves your browser.
Open tool →
Dev tool
JSON Formatter
Format, validate, minify JSON in-browser with syntax-highlighted output, clear error reporting, and character/line stats.
Open tool →
Dev tool
Regex Tester
Live regex testing with capture-group breakdown, flag toggles (g, i, m, s, u), and a built-in cheat sheet.
Open tool →
Security
JWT Decoder
Decode JWTs in-browser. Parses header, payload, and signature with human-readable timestamps and expiry badges.
Open tool →
Encoding
Base64 Encoder
Encode/decode text or binary data. URL-safe mode, file input, entirely client-side.
Open tool →
Django
Django Secret Key Generator
Cryptographically secure SECRET_KEY values for Django settings. Configurable, with ready-to-use code snippets.
Open tool →
( Writing · updated weekly )
Latest from the blog
AI-Assisted Python Web Development: Building Django Apps With Coding Agents
What to delegate and what never to, engineering a repo so the agent writes your Django, the failures generated code repeats — unscoped querysets, N+1s, fields = "__all__", blocking migrations — and the CI gates that catch them.
Python · AI · Workflow
Build an MCP Server in Django: Give AI Agents Safe Access to Your App
Mount a FastMCP streamable-HTTP server inside Django's ASGI stack, write tools over the async ORM, design signatures a model picks correctly, and authenticate every agent call with bearer tokens and scoped querysets.
Django · MCP · AI
Django Security Checklist: OWASP, Cryptography, and Zero-Trust
The hardening that matters — production settings, the OWASP Top 10 mapped to Django defenses (SQLi, XSS, IDOR, SSRF), Argon2 and rate-limited auth, signing and Fernet field encryption, a zero-trust posture, and pip-audit supply-chain checks.
Django · Security · OWASP
GraphQL vs REST: Building a Django GraphQL API with Strawberry
When GraphQL beats REST and when it doesn't, then a type-safe Strawberry Django API — schema from type hints, queries, mutations, the N+1 problem solved with the query optimizer and DataLoader, auth, and a performance comparison.
Django · GraphQL · Strawberry
Testing Async Django Code: Celery Tasks, Channels, and WebSockets
The patterns that work: eager-mode Celery tests, WebsocketCommunicator for Channels consumers, async ORM access via database_sync_to_async, group-send tests without a browser, and the eager-vs-real-broker decision.
Django · Celery · Testing
PostgreSQL for Django Developers: Beyond Raw SQL
JSONField querying and GIN indexes, full-text search, trigram fuzzy matching, window functions, CTEs, pgtrigger triggers and performance tuning — all from the ORM, with the SQL each query compiles to.
Django · Postgres · Perf
Type Hints in Django: From Optional to Generic Django Models
Modern Django typing for 2026 — null vs Optional, typed Managers and QuerySets, closed TypedDicts, PEP 695 generic syntax, custom generic Django models, type-safe JSONField, and a complete typed app.
Python · Django · Typing
Complete Django Caching Guide: Redis, Per-View, Template, ORM
Every layer of Django caching covered — Redis backend, per-view, template fragments, low-level API, ORM patterns, invalidation, and stampede protection.
Django · Perf · Redis
AI-Native Architecture: Designing Django Applications Built Around Intelligence
Move beyond bolt-on AI. Design Django apps where intelligence is a load-bearing layer — async queues, token budgets, prompt registries, RAG, model routing, human-in-the-loop.
Python · Django · AI
Profiling Python for Energy Efficiency: Beyond Performance
Fast code isn't always green code. Measure CPU energy with pyRAPL, track CO₂ with CodeCarbon, fix the Django patterns silently burning the most power.
Python · Perf
Python 3.15: Every New Feature Worth Knowing
Lazy imports, frozendict, sentinel type, comprehension unpacking, UTF-8 default, Tachyon profiler, and an 8–9% JIT boost. Every production-relevant change with working code.
Python · Perf
Are Farming Robots Worth the Cost? A Practical ROI Analysis
Hardware costs, labour savings, hidden costs, and a Python break-even calculator. Honest look at when commercial & DIY ag robots actually pay for themselves.
Robotics · Python
AI-Powered Precision Farming Robots
GPS waypoint missions over MQTT, on-device TFLite weed detection on Raspberry Pi, variable-rate sprayer control over GPIO PWM, nightly Claude crop advisor.
Python · AI · Robotics
Generative AI with Python: From API Calls to Production Patterns
LLM mental models, token arithmetic, prompt engineering, structured output, tool use, embeddings, RAG, streaming, retries, prompt caching, cost tracking.
Python · GenAI
AI Exposure by Occupation: Inside Karpathy's Job Market Visualizer
342 US occupations scored for AI exposure by an LLM pipeline. Software devs hit 8–9/10. What that means and how to build the scoring pipeline in Python & Django.
AI · Python
Wagtail Custom Admin: Views, Menu Items, and ModelAdmin
Extend the Wagtail admin with snippets, SnippetViewSet, custom menu items, admin views, lifecycle hooks, dashboard panels, and permissions — with working code for each.
Wagtail · Python
Django Admin Customization Tricks: Beyond ModelAdmin
Advanced Django admin patterns — custom list filters, async bulk actions, custom AdminSite views, performance fixes, inlines, and audit trails. All stock Django, no third-party skin.
Django · Admin
Deploying Wagtail to Production: Docker, Nginx, and PostgreSQL
Full production setup: Dockerfile, docker-compose, Nginx, Gunicorn, PostgreSQL, Redis, WhiteNoise, volume-mounted media, SSL with Certbot, health checks.
Wagtail · DevOps
Build a Crypto Portfolio Tracker with Django and the CoinGecko API
Live price updates over WebSocket, Celery Beat refreshing prices every five minutes, price alerts, and a full DRF API — all on the free CoinGecko tier, no API key required.
Django · Python
Wagtail StreamField: A Deep Dive with Custom Blocks
Every block type, custom StructBlock, ListBlock, nested StreamBlock, ChooserBlocks, block templates, querying StreamField data, and handling rename migrations.
Wagtail · Python
( Now )
What I'm up to
BUILDING
A Wagtail × pgvector RAG demo
READING
Designing Data-Intensive Applications, Kleppmann
SHIPPING
Energy-profiling Django patterns
LISTENING
Talking Python To Me — ep. 482
( Kind words )
What colleagues say
“I loved working with Rizwan at DIT. His skills and professionalism as a smart, self-organising, focused developer were matched by his fantastic team spirit and a kind, patient, modest nature. A great addition to any team.”
Sr Staff Backend Engineer @ Mozilla
“Riz is an excellent Python developer and problem solver. Experienced in CMS systems and server-side logic. An integral member of my team always keen to offer solutions and take responsibility for a range of challenges.”
Senior Platforms Architect, UCL
“Rizwan took a leading role on backend development of the SILVA CMS and successfully stepped up as acting manager, showing excellent management skills to meet critical business targets. A popular figure, always professional.”
Senior Developer, Helio Intelligence
“Strong ownership and driving for results all the time. Sees and addresses everything from the big picture to the details. Creative, energetic, solutions-oriented, motivated. An asset to any company.”
Full Stack Developer, Charles Stanley & Co.