Mishka Manilal
South Africa
Summary
IT Software Engineer with strong Product Engineering exposure, delivering production-ready platforms within highly regulated iGaming environments. Proven track record of leading technical initiatives from concept through delivery, including automation projects that significantly reduce manual effort and operational risk. Experienced in translating business and regulatory requirements into scalable technical solutions using CI/CD pipelines, Azure DevOps, Octopus Deploy, and SQL Server. Strong focus on production quality, reliability, and performance across UAT and Production environments.
Overview
6
6
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
IT Systems Engineer – Product Delivery (US Markets)
Games Global
09.2024 - Current
- Own the planning, configuration, deployment, and monitoring of Production and UAT environments for regulated iGaming US markets
- Deliver agile and scheduled software releases using Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines, followed by controlled deployments via Octopus Deploy, ensuring minimal downtime and release risk.
- Execute configuration changes, hotfixes, and platform updates across live environments, following strict change and release management controls.
- Maintain 24/7 production awareness, including participation in scheduled and emergency out-of-hours support for deployments, incidents, and escalations.
- Act as a technical delivery owner for new initiatives, coordinating requirements, timelines, and implementation across teams.
- Collect and validate game artefacts from internal distribution platforms (GTP), ensuring regulatory compliance, correct file structures, and version integrity prior to deployment.
- Build and verify deployment folders on application servers, validating critical assets, configuration files, and jurisdiction-specific requirements.
- Configure platform and game parameters directly in SQL Server, including bet settings, engine scripts, launch identifiers, and market-specific configuration flags.
- Perform post-deployment validation and UAT verification to ensure all components function correctly before operator go-live.
- Monitor live environments and game performance using Grafana and Elastic, proactively identifying issues and responding to production incidents.
- Analyse, prioritise, and resolve incidents with strong SLA and customer-impact awareness.
- Support customer and operator onboarding by enabling platform configuration and release readiness.
- Create and maintain operational technical documentation, runbooks, and feature-level technical specifications.
- Provide mentorship and technical guidance to junior engineers and new team members.
- Participate in scheduled and emergency out-of-hours support for production deployments and incidents.
- Analyse, prioritise, and resolve incidents with strong technical and commercial awareness, consistently meeting agreed SLA targets.
- Take technical ownership of projects, delivering solutions that reduce operational risk while clearly communicating milestones, dependencies, and outcomes to stakeholders.
- Drive automation, process improvement, and innovation, reducing manual effort and improving deployment consistency and reliability.
- Deploy and support Windows Server and IIS-hosted services, including game services, configuration layers, and supporting components.
- Support and monitor F5 BIG-IP load balancers, ensuring traffic stability and high availability in high-volume environments.
- Consistently achieve KPIs and customer satisfaction metrics through proactive support and high-quality delivery.
- Led cross-functional teams to enhance system performance and reliability.
Software Quality Engineer
Games Global
04.2024 - 08.2024
- Defined and executed test strategies supporting production releases across multiple environments.
- Partnered with development and operations teams to identify quality gaps and improve deployment reliability.
- Supported UAT and production validation for gaming platforms and services.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to identify and resolve software defects.
- Led quality assurance initiatives to improve product reliability and user experience.
- Designed comprehensive test plans and strategies for new software releases.
Software Quality Analyst
Derivco
04.2022 - 04.2024
- Conducted end-to-end system, regression, and integration testing for gaming applications.
- Developed test plans, documented outcomes, and participated in product validation and release planning.
- Coordinated defect resolution across cross-functional teams.
- Supported release readiness and environment stability initiatives.
- Led quality assurance initiatives to enhance software reliability and performance.
- Developed and executed comprehensive test plans to ensure optimal software functionality.
- Analyzed defect trends to drive continuous improvement in software development processes.
Software Test Engineer – Simulation Systems
ThoroughTec Simulations
07.2021 - 03.2022
- Executed system, integration, and regression testing on complex simulation software used in training and operational environments.
- Validated software behaviour across multiple configurations and environments, identifying issues related to configuration, performance, and system stability.
- Worked closely with developers to reproduce defects, analyse root causes, and verify fixes prior to release.
- Supported release readiness by validating builds, configurations, and deployment outcomes across test environments.
- Built a strong foundation in software quality, system behaviour, and failure analysis.
- Developed and executed comprehensive test plans for software applications in simulation environments.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to define testing requirements, aligning QA efforts with project objectives.
Junior Software Developer
Integrity Software
04.2020 - 07.2021
- Developed and maintained application components using C# and .NET.
- Designed and maintained SQL database structures.
- Delivered bug fixes, enhancements, and internal tooling.
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and translate them into technical specifications.
Education
Software & Application Development
IIE Varsity College
01.2019
Skills
- CI/CD & Release: Azure DevOps Pipelines, Octopus Deploy, Jenkins, Scheduled & Agile Releases
- Monitoring & Observability: Grafana, Elastic Stack (ELK) proactive alerting & incident response
- Platforms & OS: Windows Server, IIS
- Databases: Microsoft SQL Server (configuration, scripting, troubleshooting, release support)
- Programming & Scripting: PowerShell (automation & tooling), Python, C#, NET, SQL, JavaScript
- Infrastructure & Networking: F5 BIG-IP Load Balancers (configuration & monitoring)
- DevOps Practices: Automation, environment standardisation, risk-controlled deployments Environment monitoring, customer onboarding, incident prioritisation, SLA-driven support, out-of-hours production support
- Methodologies: Agile / Scrum, SAFe, DevOps, ITIL-aligned incident management
- Analytical Problem Solving
- Stakeholder Collaboration
- Backlog-driven Delivery
- Incident Management & SLA Support
- Production Risk Management
- Continuous Improvement
- Feature Analysis
- Product Research
- Mentorship & Leadership
Certification
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner – In Progress
- CISM – Information Security Management (Future Goal)
- Immedia Summer School – Software Development & Agile Methodologies
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Timeline
IT Systems Engineer – Product Delivery (US Markets)
Games Global
09.2024 - Current
Software Quality Engineer
Games Global
04.2024 - 08.2024
Software Quality Analyst
Derivco
04.2022 - 04.2024
Software Test Engineer – Simulation Systems
ThoroughTec Simulations
07.2021 - 03.2022
Junior Software Developer
Integrity Software
04.2020 - 07.2021
Software & Application Development
IIE Varsity College