Timothy Gaul
Principal Cloud Architect & Technical Leader
Specialising in AWS, Serverless Architecture, and AI-Augmented Systems
About Me
I architect the invisible stuff — the infrastructure, systems, and automation layers that let products scale with confidence.
Over two decades, I've gone from hands-on coder to team mentor and platform architect. I've worked across startups and scale-ups, led teams through serverless transformations, and integrated LLMs into production systems — all while staying close to the code.
I'm currently looking for Principal Engineer or Staff-level roles where I can apply deep AWS and backend architecture skills to solve hard, meaningful problems.
Experience Highlights
Affinda
AI Development Manager & Architect
Jun 2025 – Present
Leading AI development teams to build custom AI solutions that enhance customer productivity and foster an AI-first culture across our clients' organisations.
- • Architecting end-to-end AI solutions using GPT-5, Claude, and ElevenLabs
- • Managing cross-functional AI development teams across GCP and Azure platforms
- • Implementing AI evaluation frameworks and quality assurance protocols
On The Monee / Valorem Networks
Principal Software Engineer / Technical Lead
Sep 2023 – May 2025
Architecting real-time, event-driven payment systems on AWS.
- • Designed a serverless disbursement engine using Lambda, DynamoDB, and CloudFormation
- • Delivered multi-tenant infrastructure with secure, scalable CI/CD pipelines
- • Mentored globally distributed engineers, implementing clean DevOps workflows
Provectus Algae
Lead Cloud Engineer
Oct 2022 – Aug 2023
Led AI-integrated infrastructure for biotech research systems.
- • Built data ingestion pipelines for lab telemetry and time-series analytics
- • Integrated LangChain/GPT-4 for internal tool automation and strategic insight
- • Hardened cloud security and optimised deployment with IaC
Affinda
AI Development Manager & Architect
Australia (Remote) | Jun 2025 – Present
Leading AI development teams to build custom AI solutions that enhance customer productivity and foster an AI-first culture across our clients' organisations.
- Architecting end-to-end AI solutions using GPT-5, Claude, and ElevenLabs
- Managing cross-functional AI development teams across GCP and Azure platforms
- Implementing AI evaluation frameworks and quality assurance protocols
On The Monee / Valorem Networks
Principal Software Engineer / Technical Lead
Brisbane (Remote) | Sep 2023 – May 2025
Architecting real-time, event-driven payment systems on AWS, leading a remote team delivering scalable cloud infrastructure.
- Built a secure, serverless disbursement engine using Lambda, DynamoDB, and API Gateway
- Delivered multi-tenant architecture with CloudFormation and GitHub Actions
- Mentored devs across time zones and improved internal tooling with React
Provectus Algae
Lead Cloud Engineer
Noosa | Oct 2022 – Aug 2023
Designed secure, AI-augmented cloud platforms to support biotech R&D and algae lifecycle monitoring.
- Built telemetry pipelines for time-series lab data
- Applied LangChain + GPT-4 to identify strategic insights from R&D data
- Led cloud security hardening and infrastructure automation using IaC
FuPay
Technical Lead
Brisbane | Aug 2021 – Sep 2022
Led backend development and serverless architecture for FuPay's money management platform.
- Designed event-driven data flows with SNS, SQS, and Lambda
- Delivered OAuth-secured APIs and PostgreSQL-backed services
- Oversaw developer mentorship and cross-functional agile delivery
Swyftx
Team Lead
Brisbane | Apr 2020 – Mar 2021
Led team modernising Swyftx's crypto trading platform and backend infrastructure.
- Migrated core backend from JavaScript to TypeScript
- Maintained and enhanced Angular frontend; prototyped React migration
- Improved CI/CD, monitoring, and mentoring workflows
Belts & Braces Software
Founder & Principal Architect
Johannesburg | Nov 2015 – Apr 2020
Founded a consultancy building solutions across smart home, logistics, and retail sectors.
- Architected a retail logistics platform rolled out to 200+ sites
- Developed full-stack IoT smart home system (React Native + Django)
- Delivered custom SaaS for hotel booking and internal CRM tools
Paramita Software
Engineering Manager
Johannesburg | Dec 2005 – Oct 2015
Managed product teams delivering enterprise systems for government and retail clients.
- Delivered CRM and ERP systems using Oracle Apex, Firebird, Java
- Scaled retail reporting platform for 300+ stores
- Supervised agile development and mentored junior engineers
iFactory Solutions
Senior Developer → Junior Manager
Johannesburg | Oct 2001 – Nov 2006
Progressed from junior developer to team lead building custom portals and web systems.
- Developed J2EE web apps for government and telecom clients
- Built AJAX-enabled frontends and custom backends for procurement systems
- Led delivery of CRM portals and internal admin tools
Education
University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika
BSc(Hons), Computer Science
South Africa | 2003 - 2005
BSc(Hons) in Computer Science
Skills: RDBMS
Rhodes University
B.Sc(InfoSys), Computer Science
South Africa | 1999 - 2001
B.Sc(InfoSys) majoring in Computer Science and Information Systems
Activities and societies: RUCUS
Skills: RDBMS
Featured Projects
Serverless Disbursement Platform
Principal Engineer @ On The Monee
A scalable AWS serverless engine powering real-time shift payments for casual workers. Integrates with payroll systems, third-party APIs, and internal dashboards.
LangChain for Market Discovery
Lead Cloud Engineer @ Provectus Algae
Developed an LLM tool using GPT-4 + LangChain to identify commercial insights from scientific and R&D datasets for a biotech scale-up.
Smart Home Automation Platform
Principal Architect @ Belts & Braces Software
Built a full-stack IoT platform allowing users to control lighting, appliances, and security systems from mobile devices.
Retail Logistics Rollout
Founder @ Belts & Braces Software
Led development and nationwide deployment of an integrated retail logistics and POS platform across 200+ physical stores.
Tech Stack
Cloud & DevOps
Languages
Architecture
AI & Data
Soft Skills
Let's Connect
Interested in working together? I'm currently open to Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, or Cloud Architect roles — remote or Brisbane-based.