Portrait of Aleksei Lutkov

Aleksei Lutkov

Python Backend / Platform Engineer | Team Lead | AI Tooling

Tallinn, Estonia

Summary

Python Software Engineer and Team Lead with strong experience in backend development, platform operations, and DevOps practices. Currently leading Platform Operations at Relax Gaming in Tallinn. Also an AI coding enthusiast and open-source contributor — built claude-anvil, an evidence-first code review plugin for the Claude Code ecosystem.

Focused on system reliability, deployment automation, distributed systems, and B2B integrations. Interested in backend, platform engineering, and engineering leadership roles where I can improve reliability and deliver business impact.

Core Skills

Backend

  • Python (FastAPI, aiohttp, Django, Flask)
  • Backend development
  • API design

Infrastructure

  • CI/CD (Jenkins, Ansible, pipelines)
  • Docker
  • Containerization

AI & Tooling

  • AI-assisted development
  • Prompt engineering
  • GitHub Copilot CLI
  • Claude Code CLI

Other

  • Troubleshooting production systems
  • Integrations & automation
  • Operations & process management
  • Team leadership & mentoring

Experience

Team Lead Platform Operations

Relax Gaming Ltd

  • Led the Platform Operations team responsible for game deployments and releases, casino and Platform-to-Platform integrations, and configuration changes, improving reliability of operational tasks and processes.
  • Supervised and oversaw professional development and training of Software Engineers in the Platform Operations team, enhancing team capability, technical expertise, and ownership of platform operations.
  • Streamlined operational processes and reduced complexity, making them more structured, predictable, and easier to maintain.
  • Developed backend services in Python for distributed systems, enabling reliable platform operations, and supporting business-critical workflows.
  • Improved and maintained CI/CD pipelines, reducing manual work and increasing deployment stability.
  • Investigated and resolved production issues, improving system reliability and reducing downtime in production environments.

Software Engineer

Relax Gaming Ltd

  • Developed backend services in Python for distributed systems, enabling reliable platform operations and supporting business-critical workflows.
  • Improved and maintained CI/CD pipelines, reducing manual work and increasing deployment stability.
  • Performed casino integrations, configuration changes, and other operational tasks, ensuring stable and reliable platform operations.
  • Managed game deployments and releases, supporting business-critical game release workflows.
  • Curated, consulted, and tested Platform-to-Platform integrations, facilitating business expansion.
  • Investigated and resolved production issues, improving system reliability and reducing downtime in production environments.
  • Mentored junior engineers, increasing team knowledge and accelerating the onboarding process.

Head of Partner Support Engineering

Relax Gaming Ltd

  • Led the Partner Support Engineering team responsible for troubleshooting and resolving issues of Relax Gaming group's partners, improving support processes and supporting business-critical workflows.
  • Supervised and oversaw professional development and training of Partner Support Engineering team members, enhancing team capability, technical expertise, and support quality.
  • Ensured stable 24/7 Network Operations Center, enhancing monitoring and response processes.
  • Strengthened collaboration between internal teams and external partners, reducing communication gaps.
  • Improved support processes, making them more structured and efficient.

Partner Support Engineer

Relax Gaming Ltd

  • Troubleshot and resolved issues of Relax Gaming group's partners, ensuring system stability and customer satisfaction.
  • Coordinated between internal teams and external partners to resolve issues of Relax Gaming group's partners.
  • Used internal platform tools, managing the Relax Gaming platform to support platform operations.
  • Participated in Network Operations Center work, ensuring system availability.
  • Contributed to improvements in support processes.

Earlier Experience

  • Conscript service at Headquarters and Signal Battalion
  • (Senior) Customer Service Representative at Transcom Eesti OÜ

Selected Projects / Impact

Backend Development

Building and maintaining backend systems

Problem: Need to integrate multiple internal and external systems with different APIs, data formats, and architecture.

Action: Designed and developed backend services in Python, handling inter-system communication, complex data processing, and business-critical integration logic.

Result: Stable and scalable backend systems enabling reliable operation and reducing operational issues.

CI/CD

Improving deployment reliability

Problem: Deployment process for a key frontend system was ineffective and required manual intervention.

Action: Improved CI/CD pipelines, automated key steps, and reduced manual operations.

Result: Faster deployment process with fewer failures, faster testing, and more stable releases.

Platform Operations

Managing Platform Operations

Problem: Need for better structured, defined, and automated operational tasks and processes, and clearer segregation of responsibilities.

Action: Revised operational tasks, improved processes, rewrote and enriched documentation, and limited the area of responsibility.

Result: Well-defined and documented operational tasks and processes, several fully automated tasks, and several delegated areas.

P2P Integrations

Improving P2P integration process

Problem: Lack of clarity in the technical details of the Platform-to-Platform integration process and internal documentation.

Action: Rewrote and enriched internal documentation, added step-by-step instructions, and created a comprehensive list of integration items, specifics, and applicable scope.

Result: More streamlined Platform-to-Platform integration process, fewer delays, and faster integration times.

Leadership

Leading Platform Operations team

Problem: Lack of visibility, continuous communication cycles, and clear development directions within the team.

Action: Led the team, established continuous communication cycles, and defined development plans for team members.

Result: Open and honest atmosphere, improved team efficiency, and clear development directions for each team member.

Open Source

claude-anvil

Evidence-first code review plugin for Claude Code. Multi-model adversarial verification, SQL-backed audit trail. Ported from burkeholland/anvil.

Education

Languages

  • English — Professional
  • Estonian — Professional
  • Russian — Native