Praveen Thirumurugan

Plum Benefits Private Limited

Plum Benefits Private Limited

Senior Software Engineer

Service Period

Mar 2021 - Jul 2024

Overview

Served as a Senior Software Engineer at Plum Benefits, where I played a key role in developing and scaling employee benefits and insurance technology platforms. I architected major product features, launched new product lines, and scaled the backend infrastructure to support over 100,000 users, contributing significantly to the company's growth and technical excellence.

Key Achievements

  • Flexi-Benefits Enrolment System - Developed comprehensive flexi-benefits enrolment workflows for seamless employee onboarding and benefits selection
  • Architected and Launched Plum Lite - Led the architecture and launch of Plum Lite, an insurance product specifically designed for small teams and startups
  • Scaled Backend for 100,000+ Users - Architected and implemented event-based architecture to scale the platform, supporting over 100,000 users with high reliability
  • Product Leadership - Contributed to product strategy and technical decision-making, influencing the company's technical direction

Technical Implementation

Product Development

Flexi-Benefits Enrolment Platform

Developed a comprehensive flexi-benefits enrolment system that revolutionized employee onboarding:

  • Intelligent Benefit Selection: Built intuitive interfaces for employees to choose and customize their benefit packages
  • Rule Engine: Implemented complex business rules for benefit eligibility and allocation
  • Integration: Connected with payroll systems and HR platforms for seamless data flow
  • Multi-tenant Architecture: Designed the system to support multiple corporate clients with varying benefit structures

The platform enabled:

  • Reduced onboarding time by 60% for new employees
  • Increased employee satisfaction with personalized benefit options
  • Streamlined HR operations with automated workflow

Plum Lite - Insurance for Small Teams

Architected and launched Plum Lite from concept to production:

  • Market Research: Identified gap in insurance offerings for small businesses
  • Product Design: Designed simplified insurance product tailored for startups and SMBs
  • Technical Architecture: Built scalable, cost-effective infrastructure
  • Go-to-Market: Collaborated with business teams for successful product launch

Results:

  • Successfully onboarded 500+ small businesses within first 6 months
  • Generated significant new revenue stream for the company
  • Received positive customer feedback and high retention rates

Scaling & Architecture

Event-Based Architecture for 100,000+ Users

Led the architectural transformation to scale the platform:

  • Event-Driven Design: Migrated from monolithic to event-driven microservices architecture
  • Message Queues: Implemented robust message queuing systems for asynchronous processing
  • Database Optimization: Optimized database queries and implemented caching strategies
  • Auto-Scaling: Set up auto-scaling infrastructure to handle variable loads

Technical improvements achieved:

  • Performance: Reduced API response times by 70%
  • Reliability: Achieved 99.9% uptime with automated failover mechanisms
  • Scalability: System handled 10x traffic growth without degradation
  • Cost Efficiency: Reduced infrastructure costs by 30% through optimization

Full-Stack Development

Frontend Development (React)

  • Built responsive web applications using React and modern JavaScript
  • Implemented state management with Redux for complex application flows
  • Created reusable component library for consistent UX
  • Optimized frontend performance with code splitting and lazy loading

Backend Development (Node.js)

  • Developed RESTful APIs using Node.js and Express
  • Implemented authentication and authorization mechanisms
  • Built data processing pipelines for insurance calculations
  • Created background job processors for asynchronous tasks

Cloud Infrastructure (AWS & Firebase)

AWS Services

  • Compute: EC2, Lambda for serverless functions
  • Storage: S3 for document storage, RDS for databases
  • Networking: CloudFront for CDN, API Gateway for APIs
  • Monitoring: CloudWatch for logging and monitoring

Firebase Integration

  • Real-time Database: User session management
  • Authentication: User authentication and authorization
  • Cloud Functions: Serverless backend functions
  • Analytics: User behavior tracking and analytics

Technologies & Stack

Frontend

  • React: Modern UI development with hooks and context
  • Redux: State management for complex applications
  • TypeScript: Type-safe frontend code
  • Material-UI: Component library for consistent design

Backend

  • Node.js: Primary backend runtime
  • Express: Web framework for APIs
  • TypeScript: Type-safe backend services
  • Microservices: Service-oriented architecture

Databases

  • PostgreSQL: Primary relational database
  • MongoDB: Document storage for flexible schemas
  • Redis: Caching and session storage
  • Firebase Realtime Database: Real-time data synchronization

Cloud & DevOps

  • AWS: Complete cloud infrastructure
  • Firebase: Backend-as-a-service for rapid development
  • Docker: Containerization for consistent deployments
  • Jenkins: CI/CD pipelines for automated deployments

Testing & Quality

  • Jest: Unit and integration testing
  • Cypress: End-to-end testing
  • Postman: API testing and documentation
  • ESLint & Prettier: Code quality and formatting

Impact & Results

Business Impact

  • User Growth: Supported platform growth from 20,000 to 100,000+ users
  • Product Launches: Successfully launched multiple product features and Plum Lite
  • Revenue Growth: Contributed to significant revenue growth through new product lines
  • Customer Satisfaction: Maintained high customer satisfaction scores

Technical Excellence

  • Scalability: Built infrastructure supporting 5x user growth
  • Performance: Achieved sub-500ms response times for critical APIs
  • Reliability: Maintained 99.9% uptime throughout tenure
  • Code Quality: Established testing standards with 80%+ code coverage

Team Collaboration

  • Mentorship: Mentored junior engineers on best practices and architecture
  • Code Reviews: Conducted thorough code reviews ensuring quality standards
  • Documentation: Created comprehensive technical documentation
  • Knowledge Sharing: Led technical talks and knowledge-sharing sessions

Key Learnings

This role provided extensive experience in:

  • Building and scaling production systems for large user bases
  • Architecting event-driven microservices architectures
  • Product development from concept to launch
  • Balancing technical excellence with business requirements
  • Leading technical initiatives in a fast-paced startup environment