3+
years experience
Production work across digital health, content strategy, client delivery, and independent product building.
Hello World
Software engineer + product builder
Faith Catherine Otieno
Software Engineer + Product Builder
Full-stack engineer turning ambitious ideas into real products across frontend, backend, and user experience.
Building with product sense
FO
Full-stack systems, mobile UX, and product loops.
Pursuit
Hyperlocal discovery for Nairobi.
Current focus
Mobile-first products
Walking on EarthPursuit HQAndela network
Experience snapshot
The range to shape, build, and ship.
I work best where product judgment and engineering execution meet: clarifying the value, designing the system, building the experience, and iterating with real constraints in mind.
10+
shipped projects
Mobile flows, GraphQL features, analytics instrumentation, dashboards, and end-to-end product experiments.
E2E
ownership
Comfortable moving from product question to schema, API, UI, deployment, QA, and iteration.
Mobile -> Backend
product engineering
React Native interfaces, Apollo/GraphQL integrations, Django services, PostgreSQL data models, and delivery workflows.
Featured work
Product stories with engineering underneath.
Each piece is framed by the product problem, what I built, and the impact or capability it represents.
Flagship product
Pursuit
Founder, sole engineer, and product owner
Problem
Nairobi event discovery is useful but fragmented. Good recommendations live across social feeds, posters, WhatsApp groups, and memory, which makes planning feel harder than it should.
What I built
I am building a mobile-first discovery product with React Native, Django, GraphQL, PostgreSQL, Redis caching, location-aware filtering, event deduplication, authentication, onboarding, and Render-hosted environments.
Impact
Pursuit is my clearest 0-to-1 product: I own the product decisions, schema, API, mobile UI, infrastructure, and case-study thinking behind the build.
React NativeExpoDjangoGraphQLPostgreSQLRedisRender
Open Pursuit Case Study->
Mobile + web product engineering
Walking on Earth
Full-stack software engineer on a UK digital health platform
Problem
A consumer wellness product needs calm user flows, reliable API-driven features, clear analytics, and stable release practices across both web and mobile surfaces.
What I built
I shipped GraphQL-integrated React and React Native features, worked with Apollo Client query/mutation/fragment patterns, contributed to reusable TypeScript component libraries, and collaborated on evolving schema contracts with backend engineers.
Impact
I helped improve delivery quality through Firebase/Mixpanel instrumentation, Sentry monitoring, WCAG accessibility improvements, legacy refactors, and async-first collaboration across UK and EAT timezones.
React NativeReactTypeScriptDjangoGraphQLApolloSentryMixpanel
View timeline context->
Data + recommendation systems
Reaction Power
Developer and data analyst
Problem
The team needed clearer content direction from audience signals: what topics were gaining traction, how users engaged, and what recommendations could guide digital strategy.
What I built
I built a Python-based content recommendation system using social listening signals and engagement trends, implemented GA4/GTM tracking, managed WordPress content, and produced Looker Studio reports.
Impact
The work translated scattered performance data into executive-facing insights and practical recommendations for content, SEO, and digital engagement decisions.
PythonGA4GTMLooker StudioWordPressSEO
View timeline context->About me
Engineer. Builder. Product thinker.
I am a software engineer who works across the full path from product question to shipped experience. I care about clear architecture, thoughtful interfaces, and the practical delivery decisions that make software usable.
I like products where the backend decisions, UI details, and business logic all have to make sense together.
That is why Pursuit matters to me: it is not just a codebase, it is an attempt to make local discovery feel cared for. The same thread runs through my client and team work: make the useful thing feel intentional.
Building products
Learning
Travel
Creativity
Community
Founder energy
How I work
I care about product clarity before implementation speed.
I like systems that are simple enough to maintain and strong enough to scale.
I learn quickly, document the messy parts, and keep the user in view.
Career timeline
The path has been practical, product-facing, and increasingly self-directed.
2023 - 2025
Mobile Product Engineer
Walking on Earth
Owned mindfulness session work across product spec, React Native implementation, and distributed collaboration between Nairobi and London.
2024 - Present
Founder-minded Builder
Pursuit HQ
Building a hyperlocal discovery platform for Nairobi with editorial workflows, GraphQL APIs, and mobile-first product design.
2023
Python + Analytics Engineer
Reaction Power
Worked on recommendation logic and translated product data into decision-ready reporting through GA4 and Looker Studio.
2022 - 2023
Full-Stack Developer
Nifty Works via Andela
Delivered client product work across frontend and backend surfaces while sharpening remote engineering habits.
Writing & side projects
The work around the work.
I keep a product-builder practice outside of job titles: writing down decisions, testing ideas, and turning curiosity into shipped artifacts.
Product lab
Pursuit
A Nairobi-first discovery product exploring curation, local culture, and mobile-first systems.
Thinking in public
Technical writing
Architecture notes, product tradeoffs, and lessons from building with React Native, Django, and GraphQL.
Small bets
Experiments
Prototype-driven explorations around AI-assisted workflows, low-bandwidth UX, and creator tooling.
Founder notebook
Startup ideas
Early concepts at the intersection of community, discovery, productivity, and creative work.