KWKhaled Waleed
Two figures in coats stand at the edge of a wood beside a leaning fir, looking up at a low evening moon.
a brief portrait

About

A little bit more about me and where I work

Two Men Contemplating the Moon·Caspar David Friedrich·c. 1820·Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden

I build software for a living, but curiosity is probably the more accurate description. For the last five years I have worked as a software engineer here in Baghdad, Iraq — a senior software engineer these days — mostly building web applications that have to survive contact with real users.

Most of that work has been in Iraq, which I have come to treat as an advantage rather than a footnote — government platforms, payment systems, work for democracy organisations, private companies, startups. The constraints are real and the stakes are rarely abstract, and you learn quickly which engineering virtues actually hold up when the thing simply has to work.

The work itself is straightforward to describe: TypeScript, Go, databases, APIs, production systems. But what keeps me interested is less the technology than the long, quiet business of understanding something well enough to make it simple. A page that loads fast. A form that doesn't lose its mind. A backend that doesn't wake anyone at three in the morning. The unglamorous virtues. I do this now at Qi and Vitex.

Away from the screen I spend an unreasonable amount of time reading, watching films, and wandering through the older parts of cities, chasing questions that never seem to stay answered for very long. Meaning, suffering, morality, love, failure, beauty, why people do what they do. Some people collect stamps. I collect questions.

I write occasionally too, mostly because some thoughts become annoying if you leave them alone for too long. I have found that most things become more bearable once they become interesting. Software included. If any of that travels well with yours, let's talk.

Where I’ve worked

  1. Full-time · Baghdad · on-site

    QiCard

    Aug 2025 — present

    Lead Software Engineer

    • Lead the front-end team behind 6+ large-scale governmental applications serving millions of citizens — owning architecture, code reviews, and engineering standards across the portfolio.
    • Scaled the Oil Coupon mini-app past 2 million families, one of the most widely used public-sector digital services in Iraq.
    • Drive modernization of legacy codebases to current Vue and Nuxt standards while keeping mission-critical systems stable in production.
    Jan 2025 — Aug 2025

    Senior Software Engineer

    • Hired as QiCard’s youngest engineer among 3,000+ employees; promoted to Lead Software Engineer within 8 months.
    • Built and maintained front-ends for public-sector mini-apps inside the Qi ecosystem (Vue, Nuxt), working in cross-functional Agile squads with product, backend, and QA.
    • Delivered features on mission-critical digital transformation projects for government partners.
  2. Mar 2022 — present · Self-employed · Baghdad · remote

    Founder & Software Engineer · Vitex

    Independent software studio delivering complete products for clients across Iraq — design, front-end, backend, and deployment.

    • Risha — Iraq’s leading e-learning platform for baccalaureate students. Designed and built the website, web app, dashboard, mobile app, and backend (Vue, Go).
    • Rocca Menu — multi-tenant SaaS for bilingual digital restaurant menus with per-tenant theming, live in production (SvelteKit, Nuxt, PocketBase).
    • Al-Nejoum Al-Zahera — vehicle-shipping management system with real-time tracking for US and Canada car imports to Iraq and Dubai.
    • Dozens of websites and dashboards for businesses across Iraq.
  3. Jun 2024 — Jan 2025 · Part-time · Baghdad · hybrid

    Software Engineer · EGi

    • Designed and built the Esports Gaming Iraq platform website with Nuxt.
    • Integrated QiCard payments end to end for a smooth gaming and checkout experience.
  4. Oct 2022 — Dec 2024 · Full-time · Baghdad · hybrid

    Software Engineer · Digital Logic

    • Led development of Vue.js applications for Iraqi government agencies — the Iraqi Electronic Passport, the General Company for Ports of Iraq, Scopesky HR, Durrat Al-Muheet ticketing, the Garage System, and Central Connections.
    • Mentored interns through their first production projects, from code reviews to shipping features.
  5. Jun 2021 — Mar 2024 · Part-time · Baghdad · hybrid

    Software Engineer · Morshed

    • Designed and implemented digital solutions tailored to streamline operations for a leading PR, business development, and research company in Iraq.
    • Collaborated with cross-functional teams to analyze, modernize, and integrate data-driven strategies across large-scale enterprise systems.
    • Leveraged modern technologies to optimize workflows, enhance decision-making, and drive measurable business impact.
  6. Aug 2022 — Jul 2023 · Part-time · Amsterdam · remote

    Web Designer · Speetu

    • Designed websites for Dutch brands as part of a fully remote team, collaborating across time zones.
  7. Jun 2021 — Oct 2021 · Full-time · Baghdad · on-site

    Graphic Designer · The Town Studio

    • Designed brand identities and print and digital assets — brochures, posters, social media, and web graphics — in collaboration with marketing teams.
  8. Apr 2019 — Feb 2021 · Full-time · Baghdad · on-site

    Cashier / Store Assistant · Nakhlat Baghdad

    • My first job ever, in a medium-sized supermarket in Al-Harithiya.
    • Learned how to deal with impatient adults before I even had a high school ID.
    • Managed inventory and restocked shelves.
    • Assisted customers and handled basic checkout operations.

The same story, in corporate dress, on LinkedIn.

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