PactFlow Engineering Manager
I lead a team spread across 3 continents, building contract-testing tools on top of the open-source Pact framework.
Ilia Mogilevsky Engineering Manager in Melbourne, leading AI-assisted engineering
I run an engineering team at PactFlow across 3 continents. Before that: chief architect at Astute Payroll and team lead at Hanes Brands. I like the unglamorous middle of software: legacy systems, big integrations, and teams that work.
CAREER
Astute Payroll Chief Architect, Team Lead
Brought a large legacy payroll system back under control, then built the new parts event-driven and serverless on AWS.
Hanes Brands Team Lead
Designed the MultiBrand order-processing platform behind omni-channel and Click & Collect, and moved the team onto gitflow and real code review. My second stint there; the first was 2007–11.
Combitel Senior Software Engineer
Built the REST API and middleware for the Omniscreen pilot, plus JavaScript libraries that had to run on all sorts of set-top boxes and TVs.
Monash University Bachelor of Computing
HOW I WORK
Leadership
I care about how a team collaborates and how it feels about the work, so a small team can get good outcomes without heroics.
Architecture
I’ve spent years inside big legacy monoliths, refactoring them until they’re stable enough to keep building on.
Integration
I design large integrations, then stay hands-on through the build instead of handing over a diagram.
Toolkit
PHP, JavaScript, Python, Swift. MySQL, PostgreSQL. AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, SAM. Event-driven and serverless. Docker, CI/CD.
ALSO BUILT
Earlier: urbanscapes.com.au, whywhitepages.com.au, snickerssessions.com.au, slapastory.com, numberplates4fun.com.
AI IN ENGINEERING
I want agents doing real engineering work, with the quality bar going up, not down.
2,410
of 2,634 commits in ShutterTime’s first year were co-authored with an AI agent. One engineer, shipping to web, iPhone and Android. As of November 2026.
Contract testing as an agent skill
With the PactFlow team, I helped turn our contract-testing onboarding method into a skill any coding agent can run.
Gates, not trust
Agent-written code isn’t done until mutation testing and CRAP scores say so. A green suite is only the starting point.
Specs before code
A requirement turns into a change spec that cites its evidence across every repo it touches, and an engineer signs off at each checkpoint.
Plans people can review
Agents write structured plans. Engineers comment on them like a document and approve before anything runs.
SHUTTERTIME, MY PHOTOGRAPHY PLANNING APP
Know which of your spots will be good, and when.
My own product, from first commit to the app stores. It keeps an eye on weather, tides, moon, sun and aurora, and boils them down to one 0–100 score per spot, so you know when to go.
- 28
- conditions tracked
- 7
- kinds of photography
- 0–100
- one score per spot
On the web, iPhone, iPad and Android. Built with Laravel 12, Vue 3 and Capacitor. Free for your first 5 spots.
AFTER HOURS: LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY
The other thing I do is get up early and stand in fog with a tripod. Twelve recent frames.
