PROFILE
EMILIO

SPATOLA

SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER · TECH LEAD

10+ years building web products — from IBM to the Italian Government, from Translated to TheFork (TripAdvisor). Specialized in Node.js, TypeScript, API, Software Architecture and Postgres.

"The hardest thing is to find the simplest one."

YEARS EXP.
10+
STACK
Node.js / TypeScript
BASE
ITALY
STATUS
OPEN
BRIEF / ABOUT

Code is the means, product is the goal. Never allow your technical debt to overtake your decisions. Perfect but useless software is a waste of time worse than the technical debt.

I define myself as a pragmatic and minimalist engineer. Complexity is easy to achieve whereas simplicity is hard. In the long run, simplicity always wins. Complexity slows your product down until it stagnates, and AI won't save you from that.

MY STORY

Started at IBM, learning to design and develop large-scale software using Agile practices.

In 2016 joined Translated as a Full Stack Engineer, spending six years growing across frontend and backend, including a collaboration with the Italian Government at the Ministry of Technological Innovation.

Most recently at TheFork (TripAdvisor) as Senior Software Engineer and Tech Lead, designing complex backend systems, mentoring developers, and owning cross-team technical initiatives.

→ Currently looking for a new opportunity.

IN A NUTSHELL

I'm a simple person. I don't like many things, but what I do like, I love passionately, and I enjoy building things that actually work.

Pragmatic & minimalist by design
Simplicity is the key. Complexity is the enemy
Product focus over technical ego
Hands-on mentor and collaborator
WORK EXPERIENCE
THEFORK · TRIPADVISOR
Senior Software Engineer · Tech Lead
2022 — 2025

Senior Software Engineer in the Core Marketplace team, working on core, transversal systems powering TheFork's B2C and B2B platforms, with a strong focus on gift cards and enterprise partners integration.

  • Designed and delivered complex backend solutions end-to-end (discovery, technical analysis, delivery and production validation).
  • Technical owner for cross-team initiatives and partner integrations.
  • Led and contributed to large technical initiatives and migrations to newer systems.
  • Documented technical details, processes, and project information.
  • Collaborated closely with Product and QA on discovery and delivery phases.
  • Mentored and guided junior and intermediate developers through a hands-on, examples-based approach, fostering a collaborative learning environment.
  • Conducted regular code reviews, contributing to the professional growth of team members.
Node.js TypeScript AWS Microservices RabbitMQ Gift Cards
TRANSLATED
Senior Software Engineer
2016 — 2022

Design and implementation of the TranslationOS APIs — the backbone of the Translated environment, used by customers to implement the continuous translation flow.

  • The APIs are the foundation of all internal software used every day by the operations team.
  • Designed to achieve a high level of automation — essential to guarantee the high productivity reached by the operations team.
  • Full stack ownership across frontend and backend; worked closely with management and end-users to gather requirements.
  • Hosted infrastructure: on-premise Docker Swarm + AWS.
Node.js React Docker Docker Swarm MySQL AWS
ITALIAN MINISTRY OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Senior Software Engineer · Italian Government
2020 — 2021

Software Engineer for the Italian government at the Minister of Technology Innovation and Digital Transformation. Mainly as Frontend Engineer, contributing to many open source projects in the Italia GitHub organization.

  • Refactored the "Software catalogue" section of developers.italia.it — removed jQuery entirely in favor of React.
  • Developed cloud.italia.it using Gatsby.js (JAMstack).
  • Built an Open API 3.0 checker with a live editor, helping users validate OpenAPI schemas against defined rulesets.
React Gatsby.js JAMstack TypeScript Open Source
IBM
Software Engineer
2012 — 2016

Covered many roles: frontend developer, REST API developer, test engineer and inventor.

  • Frontend developer on the product IBM Workload Automation.
  • Design and development of REST APIs (both server and client).
  • Patents applications in the technology area aligned with IBM strategy.
  • Design and implementation of automated test suites.
Java JavaScript REST APIs Agile OSLC
LOADED MODULES / TECHNICAL SKILLS
LANGUAGES & RUNTIME
TypeScript Node.js
DATA
PostgreSQL MySQL Modern SQL CTE / Window Functions
ARCHITECTURE
API Development Microservices RabbitMQ Software Design
INFRASTRUCTURE
Docker Docker Swarm Git CI/CD · GitHub Actions
APPROACH
Automatic Programming Problem Solving Effective Communication Pragmatic Engineering Mentoring
EDUCATION & PATENTS
DEGREES
Master's Degree
2008–2012
Computer Science
University of Salerno
110/110 with honors
Bachelor's Degree
2004–2008
Computer Science
University of Salerno
110/110 with honors