Understand first
I read the existing system before proposing changes to it. Most bad decisions in software come from acting on assumptions about code nobody re-read.
software engineer · engineering leader
Liliana IturribarriaWeb applications, APIs & SaaS
I've spent my career building for the web across the stack — interfaces, backend systems, media and advertising technology, SaaS and production infrastructure. You work directly with the engineer doing the work.
services
What I help with
Four areas where experienced engineering makes the difference between software that grows with you and software you outgrow.
Laravel Development
New applications and existing systems: architecture, authentication, databases, queues and production care.
- architecture
- auth
- queues
- testing
SaaS Development
Tenancy, memberships, roles, subscriptions and billing — the parts that have to be correct after launch.
- multi-tenancy
- billing
- entitlements
- webhooks
API Development
REST design, integrations and reliability for interfaces other systems depend on.
- rest
- versioning
- rate limiting
- observability
Application Modernization
Legacy PHP and JavaScript brought up to date in measured steps: version migrations, framework moves and technical-debt reduction — no rewrite gamble.
- php migrations
- laravel upgrades
- technical debt
- framework moves
sound familiar?
Problems worth solving properly
- The Laravel app has become hard to maintain
- It works, but every change takes longer than it should and nobody is confident about side effects. The structure needs attention before the next feature does.
- Your SaaS needs a real backend foundation
- Users are turning into organizations, access into plans, and "who can see what" into a question with consequences. That layer has to be designed, not accumulated.
- Systems need to talk to each other
- Data moves by hand between tools that should exchange it automatically — reliably, observably and without a human as the error handler.
- A legacy application needs a future without a rewrite
- It still earns its keep — whether it is PHP that started years ago or a frontend nobody wants to touch. It needs an upgrade path, tests and structural care, while feature development continues.
how i work
Working principles
Simple over clever
The best architecture is usually the most boring one that fits the problem. Cleverness is a cost your team pays every time they open the file.
Modernize incrementally
When a system needs to change, I prefer measurable steps with the business running — each one leaving the codebase safer than the last.
Quality is part of engineering
Automated tests, code review and CI gates are how I build — not a phase bolted on at the end. Verification happens continuously, so regressions surface before users find them.
Production is the point
Code is not finished when it passes locally. Queues behave under load, errors are observable, deployments are reversible. Reality is where quality is judged.
Delivery without shortcuts
Shipping means balancing scope, risk and timelines against maintainability — not treating quality as optional. No miracle promises; predictable progress and honest estimates.
capabilities
What I can help you solve
Web applications & frontend systems
From semantic HTML to large frontend applications. Vue is my favorite tool, but substantial shipped work exists in Angular and React too.
- JavaScript
- TypeScript
- Vue · Angular · React
- modern frontend tooling
Backend, APIs & business systems
The systems behind real applications: data models, business rules, integrations and background processing — not just endpoints.
- PHP
- Laravel
- Symfony
- Node.js
- REST & GraphQL APIs
- MySQL · PostgreSQL · Redis
Application modernization & technical debt
Legacy applications carried forward in measured steps while production keeps running — debt reduced deliberately, not ceremonially.
- PHP upgrades across major versions
- Laravel major-version upgrades
- migrations off older frameworks like CakePHP
- dependency & build-tool modernization
SaaS & operational software
The concerns that turn an application into a product people pay for and teams run day to day.
- authentication & permissions
- multi-tenant organizations
- subscriptions & billing
- files · notifications · background jobs
- integrations & reporting
Advertising, interactive & media technology
Specialized web systems beyond conventional CRUD: video advertising pipelines, rich media and browser-based interactive experiences.
- VAST · VPAID · SIMID · MRAID
- video playback & integration
- media processing (FFmpeg)
- Phaser browser games
- web AR experiences
Production systems & delivery
What happens after localhost: understanding what a system is doing, catching failures early, diagnosing issues where users actually are.
- AWS (S3, SQS)
- Cloudflare
- Docker
- CI/CD pipelines
- queues & workers
- logging & monitoring
// tools serve the problem; they don't define it
about
One engineer, end to end
I've built everything from semantic HTML and marketing sites to internal operational platforms, SaaS products, video players, interactive advertising and browser games. Clients hire me because the person discussing their system is the person changing it — no handoffs, no telephone game.
Next step
Discuss a project
Tell me about the system you have and where you want it to go. I will reply personally, usually within two business days.
Discuss a project →