Babono, 31 Years Old
My name is Muhammad Nurul Akbar, though most people know me as Babono. I am an Engineering Manager and Software Engineer with over 10 years of experience building web solutions and leading technical teams across various industries.
I recently completed my Master’s degree from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and currently I am applying my new expertise at Arketipe, a venture I co-founded to provide digital transformation consultancy and end-to-end product development for clients in Singapore and Indonesia. Previously, I led the Games Studio engineering team at Shopee , served as a Principal Engineer at Kaskus , and built the startup Gawean from scratch.
I am driven by a desire to keep growing, learning new technologies, and managing high-performing teams. Outside of work, I enjoy football, exploring local culinary hidden gems, and spending time with my cats.
ResumeExperience
Co-Founder & Tech Consultant
Arketipe
May 2023 - Present · 2 yrs 7 mos
- Co-founded a digital transformation consulting firm specializing in end-to-end product development, from discovery to impact monitoring.
- Provided expert technical guidance, collaborating closely with internal designers, product managers, and client organizations.
- Integrated technical solutions across the entire product development lifecycle for diverse client projects.
Postgraduate Teaching Assistant
NUS School of Computing
Jan 2025 - Jun 2025 · 5 mos
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 2024 · 4 yrs 4 mos
Engineering Manager - Games
- 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
- 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.
Co-Founder & Lead Developer
Gawean
Jan 2016 - Jul 2020 · 4 yrs 6 mos
- 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.
UX Engineer
CT Corp Digital
Sep 2019 - Mar 2020 · 6 mos
- 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 2019 · 4 yrs 7 mos
Principal Software Engineer
- 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.
- 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.
Senior Software Engineer
- 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.
Software Engineer
- 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.
Frontend Developer Intern
Definite Studio
Sep 2013 - Dec 2013 · 3 mos
Developed mobile responsive websites for clients such as Indofood, BSDCITY, Sinarmas and AMINEF. ◦ Developed mobile responsive websites for clients such as Indofood, BSDCITY, Sinarmas and AMINEF.
Education
National University of Singapore
Msc in Smart Industries and Digital Transformation
University of Queensland
Bachelor in Information Technology
University of Indonesia
Bachelor in Computer Science
SMA Labschool Kebayoran
High School