M Nurul Akbar (Babono)
Hi, I'm Babono, a Tech Leader & Frontend Specialist with 11+ years of experience shaping digital transformation across E-commerce, Games, Social Media, and Retail. I combine a strong product mindset with design sensibility to bridge the gap between business strategy and technical execution. I specialize in translating complex requirements into pragmatic yet empathic solutions, ensuring reliable, high-performance delivery.
Previously, I've led engineering teams at Shopee driving impactful growth projects that enhance user experiences and help the company to grow even more. As a leader, I foster a supportive culture that generates consistently exceptional output and strong positive feedback from engineering teams.
When I'm not building software, you'll find me playing football, hunting for local culinary gems, or hangingout with my cats.
Experience
babon.io
Jan 2015 - PresentTech Consultant
Helped businesses transform and scale their digital presence by offering a complete product lifecycle vision and a wide range of expertise: end-to-end full-stack development, system architecture, engineering team leadership, and data-driven product observability. Check my portfolio website to see all the projects.
Micron Technology
Jan 2025 - Jul 2025Capstone Project Fullstack Engineer
- Developed an AI-driven prescriptive analysis dashboard for the procurement team, successfully reducing lead times and optimizing material consumption rates.
- Engineered the full-stack solution using Next.js and FastAPI, integrating Google Gemini API to deliver actionable supply chain insights.
NUS School of Computing
Jan 2025 - Jun 2025Postgraduate Teaching Assistant
Provided in-class assistance and graded assignments and quizes to ~80 master students for IT5007 Software Engineering on Application Architecture module (Fullstack Development course).
Shopee
Apr 2020 - Aug 2024Engineering Manager - Games
Jan 2022 - Aug 2024- Served as a Engineering Manager / Studio Lead, leading a Games Studio of 20+ BE and FE engineers.
- Collaborated closely with the Shenzhen Games Studio to deliver high-performance games for Shopee's multi-country platform.
- Implemented end-to-end product telemetry (client & backend) and observability (dashboards, SLOs, alerting) to proactively detect issues and guide data-driven improvements.
- Managed performance appraisals for all team members and served as Hiring Manager, conducting 100+ software engineer interviews.
- Fostered a learning culture by maintaining knowledge repositories and facilitating sharing sessions.
Lead Software Engineer, Frontend - Growth
Apr 2020 - Dec 2021- Entrusted by the Head of Engineering to lead the Frontend Chapter, managing over 20 frontend engineers across 5 units team.
- Directed over 40 growth projects, implementing key initiatives to enhance deliverable quality and streamline development workflows of frontend domain.
- Served as reporting manager, providing direct people management and professional development for team members.
Gawean
Jan 2016 - Jul 2020Co-Founder & Lead Engineer
- Co-founded Gawean, a web-based job platform for blue-collar workers in the Food & Beverages, Retail, and Hospitality industries. Contributed to key business strategies and direction for the venture.
- Served as Lead Developer, overseeing all technical aspects and development of the platform.
CT Corp Digital
Sep 2019 - Mar 2020UX Engineer
- Spearheaded the end-to-end development of the CT Corp Digital Company Profile website, showcasing its role as CT Corpora's digital transformation arm.
- Developed and launched multiple campaign websites for Transfashion brands, including GEOX and Hugo Boss.
- Led the prototyping of key digital platforms, such as the Aigner Online Store and the Transmart Website.
- Collaborated with design teams to establish and develop the Transmart Design System website.
KASKUS
Jan 2015 - Aug 2019Principal Software Engineer
Apr 2017 - Aug 2019- Led the Front-end team, overseeing team performance and workflow optimization. Growing the team from 2 to 7 members. Interviewed 50+ frontend developers candidates.
- Created essential automation tools to ensure efficient operations and high-quality results, including an EDM (Electronic Direct Mail) Marketing and Microsite Generator.
Senior Software Engineer
Oct 2016 - Mar 2017- Advanced to Senior Software Engineer, leveraging expertise to develop sophisticated and creative user interface designs while providing mentorship to junior engineers.
- Achieved a 95% reduction in website CSS size by implementing a comprehensive functional CSS strategy.
- Spearheaded research and early adoption of new technologies (Google AMP, Progressive Web Apps, Facebook Instant Articles), leading to the company's feature at Google I/O.
Software Engineer
Jan 2015 - Dec 2015- Built the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) of the KASKUS JUAL BELI mobile app for Android from scratch.
- Implemented new features across core KASKUS products (Forum, Jual Beli, Microsites) utilizing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Definite Studio
Sep 2013 - Dec 2013Frontend Developer Intern
Developed mobile responsive websites for clients such as Indofood, BSDCITY, Sinarmas and AMINEF.
Education
National University of Singapore
University of Queensland
University of Indonesia
SMA Labschool Kebayoran
Community
Skills
Frontend
Backend
Platform
Tools
Languages
Awards
