Rabiu Aliyu Abdul
Abuja
Summary
Engineering and Technology Leader with extensive experience delivering secure, scalable banking and fintech platforms. Expertise spans digital banking channels, payments, core banking integrations, AML/fraud systems, enterprise architecture, and engineering leadership in regulated financial environments.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Consultant - Head of Engineering & Technology
Alert Microfinance Bank
Lagos, Nigeria
01.2025 - Current
- Provided executive technology leadership as consultant, acting as Head of Engineering & Technology across digital banking platforms.
- Led and coordinated engineering teams responsible for mobile banking, business banking, POS, loans, investments, and core banking integrations.
- Designed and governed end-to-end system architectures for digital channels, middleware, and core banking integrations.
- Oversaw platform stability and operational health, leading incident management, root-cause analysis, and service recovery across all channels.
- Partnered with business, operations, risk, and compliance stakeholders to align technology delivery with banking objectives and regulatory requirements.
- Led recruitment, assessment, and onboarding of engineering talent and evaluated technology vendors and strategic partners.
- Directed security initiatives including VAPT execution, remediation tracking, and risk closure across all digital banking channels.
- Defined engineering standards, delivery processes, and governance frameworks to improve reliability, security, and scalability.
Engineering & Technology Lead
Union Bank
Lagos, Nigeria
09.2022 - 01.2025
- Led engineering teams delivering fintech platforms including digital wallets, investment products, and loan systems.
- Architected and enhanced e-channels (mobile, web, USSD, APIs) with high availability, security, and regulatory compliance.
- Integrated and optimized core banking services and transaction switches to support real-time payments and third-party integrations.
- Built scalable wallet and loan platforms covering onboarding, credit processing, disbursement, and repayments.
- Partnered with business, risk, and compliance teams to deliver secure, production-ready banking solutions.
- Monitored system performance and led incident response to improve platform stability and resilience.
Engineering Lead (Software Developer, Cybersecurity Expert)
MTN Group
Cape Town, South Africa
12.2020 - 08.2022
- Led design and development of AML and fraud monitoring systems for MTN MoMo agent financial platforms deployed across multiple countries.
- Built and integrated transaction monitoring engines to detect suspicious activities, including abnormal agent behavior, velocity breaches, and high-risk transaction patterns.
- Designed secure financial integrations with banks, payment switches, and settlement partners to support compliant mobile money operations.
- Implemented financial controls and risk rules across agent onboarding, cash-in/cash-out, transfers, and merchant payments.
- Collaborated with compliance, risk, and security teams to align systems with AML, KYC, and regulatory requirements across different markets.
- Monitored high-volume financial transactions in near real time, improving fraud detection accuracy and platform trust.
- Provided end-to-end technical leadership covering system architecture, security, integrations, and production stability.
Senior Software Engineer
MTN Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria
04.2018 - 12.2020
- Worked on MTN Nigeria’s postpaid billing systems, integrating charging platforms and downstream systems to accurately collect, rate, and bill subscriber financial transactions.
- Built and maintained integrations between the billing system, charging system, and enterprise platforms to ensure end-to-end transaction integrity and revenue assurance.
- Supported the development and operation of MTN Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) and Core Billing System (CBS), enabling reliable subscriber account management and billing operations.
- Collaborated closely with the TechnoTree team on system delivery, production rollout, and post-deployment support of large-scale billing platforms.
- Monitored system health, transaction flows, and service stability after go-live, resolving issues to ensure continuous availability and billing accuracy.
- Participated in incident resolution, root-cause analysis, and performance tuning for high-volume, mission-critical financial systems.
- Ensured secure data exchange and consistency across integrated systems handling subscriber usage, charges, and billing records.
Software Engineer
State Bank of India
New Delhi, India
01.2016 - 03.2018
- Contributed to the development of Indi-Pay digital payment platforms, including payment gateway and wallet systems supporting large-scale retail banking transactions.
- Built and integrated payment services across multiple banking channels, ensuring secure, reliable transaction processing.
- Supported fraud monitoring and transaction oversight for digital payment flows, identifying anomalies and escalating risks for resolution.
- Handled incident response and root-cause analysis for payment and channel-related issues to ensure continuous service availability.
- Worked with operations and security teams to maintain health, performance, and stability across all digital channels.
- Assisted in production support, monitoring, and issue resolution to ensure seamless customer payment experiences.
Software Engineer Intern
OPPO Mobile
01.2015 - 01.2016
- Supported software development activities for internal systems and mobile-related platforms under senior engineers.
- Assisted in building and testing application features, bug fixes, and performance improvements.
- Participated in system testing, debugging, and issue resolution across development and staging environments.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to understand requirements and translate them into technical tasks.
- Gained hands-on experience with software development lifecycle practices, version control, and code reviews.
- Contributed to system stability by supporting testing and post-deployment validation activities.
Education
M.Sc. - Cyber Security
University of Zambia
B.SC. - Information Technology
NIMS University
Jaipur, IndiaDiploma - Software Engineering
NIIT
Jaipur, Rajasthan, IndiaSkills
Core Banking & Fintech Systems
Architecture & Engineering Leadership
Cloud, DevOps & Platform Engineering
Delivery & Ways of Working
Digital Banking Platforms (Mobile & Business Banking)
Core Banking Systems (CBS) & Integrations
Payment Gateways & Switching Systems
Digital Wallet & Mobile Money Platforms
Loan Origination & Management Systems
Investment & Wealth Platforms
Postpaid Billing & Charging Systems
POS & Agent Banking Systems
AML & Fraud Monitoring Systems
Transaction Monitoring & Risk Rules
Financial Controls & Revenue Assurance
Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing (VAPT)
Secure Coding & Security Reviews
Data Privacy & Data Protection
Architecture & Engineering Leadership
Enterprise & Solution Architecture
Distributed Systems & Microservices
Event-Driven Architecture
API Design & Financial Integrations
System Reliability & Platform Stability
Performance Tuning & Scalability
Technology Governance & Standards
Vendor & Partner Evaluation
Engineering Team Leadership & Mentorship
Stakeholder & Executive Coordination
Cloud, DevOps & Platform Engineering
CI/CD & Release Management
Docker & Kubernetes
Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
Infrastructure as Code (Terraform)
Load Balancing, Proxies & API Gateways
Monitoring & Observability (Splunk, ELK)
High Availability & Disaster Recovery
Java, Spring Boot
Nodejs, NestJS, TypeScript
JavaScript, Python
React (Channel Platforms)
SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle)
NoSQL (MongoDB, Redis)
Messaging (Kafka, RabbitMQ, AMQP)
Delivery & Ways of Working
Agile / Scrum Delivery
Production Support & Go-Live Readiness
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Technical Documentation & Reviews
Achievements And Awards
- Engineer of the Year by MTN Nigeria
- Most outstanding engineer by India Skills Development Council
- Multi-talented African Student by NIMS University Jaipur, India
- Leader in Fintech by Union Bank of Nigeria
- Icon for Societal Development by National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)
- Pioneer of Leadership by Union Bank of Nigeria
- Tech Innovator by Andela
Why Work With Me
- Proven Leadership: Led international teams in high-stakes environments.
- End-to-End Expertise: Mastery of full software lifecycle.
- Security-First Mindset: Securing mission-critical systems.
- Regulatory Savvy: CBN & global compliance.
- Entrepreneurial Drive: Innovation + business acumen.
References
- Izekeo Okoyo, H.O.D, Union Bank of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria, +2347040003501
- Kehinde Adetimelehin, Manager, MTN Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria, +2348033616058
- Athar Ahmed, Skills Development Council, Ricco Industrial Area, Jaipur India, +918290997826
Technical Toolkit
Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Spring, Express, React, Visual C#, C++, Git & GitBash, JBoss, JUnit, AMQP & Twilio, Jira and Confluence, Load Balancer, Bootstrap/Tailwind, RabbitMq and Kafka, Agile Environment, Springboot 2 - 3.6 and Hibernate, AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, SQL, MYSQL, Oracle, Splunk, ELK, Snort, OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite
Projects Highlights
- Fraud Monitoring System (MTN Momo): Real-time alerting, ML anomaly detection, SIEM integration, Compliance Review.
- Payment Gateway & Wallet: Scalable wallet services, indiPay payment gateway with over 10M+ users, PCI-DSS compliance, Getta micro loan application for SBI.
- UnionPay, M36(Investment, Wallet) & NIP API Suite: Development, CBN-compliant review, high availability system design, system architectural design.
- MTN Billing System Redesign: Developed Convergent Billing System of MTN Nigeria, 40% throughput, 30% latency, hybrid system design architecture.
- Momo Agent App: Backend services and review of both iOS/Android hybrid, built the microservices for payment, identity, kyc and EMM integration.
- Business Banking, Mobile Banking Core System Design: System design, backend services structural architecture, microservices setup for payment, identity, kyc.
Timeline
Consultant - Head of Engineering & Technology
Alert Microfinance Bank
01.2025 - Current
Engineering & Technology Lead
Union Bank
09.2022 - 01.2025
Engineering Lead (Software Developer, Cybersecurity Expert)
MTN Group
12.2020 - 08.2022
Senior Software Engineer
MTN Nigeria
04.2018 - 12.2020
Software Engineer
State Bank of India
01.2016 - 03.2018
Software Engineer Intern
OPPO Mobile
01.2015 - 01.2016
M.Sc. - Cyber Security
University of Zambia
B.SC. - Information Technology
NIMS University
Diploma - Software Engineering
NIIT