Justin-George Popa

About Me

Engineering leader with a passion for technical creativity

I'm an engineering leader with proven expertise in building and scaling digital insurance platforms. My passion for constant adaptation has taken me from VR to rail industry solutions, from games to finance. Regardless of the challenge, I believe any problem can be solved by giving teams clear vision and the autonomy to pursue their goals.

I have demonstrated success in leading cloud-native development teams and implementing AI-driven solutions in the insurance sector. With a track record of delivering complex technical initiatives while fostering innovation and driving business value through digital transformation.

Currently working as an Engineering Manager at Ryan Specialty in London, where I lead engineering initiatives and digital transformation projects.

Skills

Cloud & Architecture

Azure Services (Functions, Cosmos DB, SQL)
API Manager
App Insights
Microservices Architecture
Software Architecture

Development & DevOps

C#/.NET Core
CI/CD, Azure DevOps
GitHubFlow
DevOps practices
Web Development

AI & Automation

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Document processing
Machine Learning implementation
AI-powered development tools

Leadership & Management

Engineering Management
Strategic project planning
Cross-functional team leadership
Stakeholder management
Agile/SCRUM/Kanban
Process improvement

Experience

November 2024 - Present

Engineering Manager

Ryan Specialty, London

Leading engineering initiatives and digital transformation projects. Managing technical delivery and team development.

January 2021 - November 2024

Software Engineering Manager / Technical Product Owner

Innovisk Capital Partners, London

Led the development and implementation of cloud-native insurance platforms using Azure. Designed and implemented critical insurance systems including Policy Numbering Service, Sanctions checking system, and AI-based document analysis system. Established and managed Agile development practices across multiple teams.

June 2020 - January 2021

Product Technical Lead

Innovisk Capital Partners, London

Designed microservices architecture for insurance quote processing. Led migration from legacy systems to modern cloud-based architecture. Implemented robust logging and monitoring systems. Mentored junior and mid-level developers.

October 2019 - June 2020

Software Development Senior Engineer

Audatex UK, Bracknell

Part of a versatile team developing new systems and delivering complex features in an Agile environment. Developed a bespoke IdentityServer, facilitating company-wide authentication and authorization.

October 2017 - October 2019

Software Developer

Blackbox Company (UK) Ltd, Bracknell

Developed a microservices-based architecture for real-time train information systems. Created a high-performance system to replace legacy solutions, significantly improving speed and information quality.

November 2015 - October 2019

Games Developer

Taranasus Studio Ltd, Datchet

Self-published videogame for VR and Desktop PC. Took ownership in conceiving, developing, publishing and marketing video-games on the PC and VR platforms.

Projects

SKYNET

AI-powered document analyzer for processing non-standardized insurance submissions. Significantly improved operational efficiency in document processing.

Vecter

Racer videogame released for PC with a Synthwave aesthetic. Available on Steam.

View on Steam

Void 21

Endless racer videogame released for PC and PC-based VR. Available on Steam.