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Franklin Zhang

@franklinzhang

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Staff Software Engineer with 12+ years of experience in large-scale systems.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I am looking for a role in a collaborative environment that values innovation and offers opportunities for growth.

I am a Staff Software Engineer with over 12 years of experience in building large-scale systems across various domains, including commerce, healthcare, and publishing. My expertise lies in designing microservices, backend APIs, and frontend platforms using a diverse tech stack that includes JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, Python, Ruby, and PHP. I thrive in fast-paced environments where thoughtful code and reliable systems create a meaningful impact.

At Shopify, I successfully rebuilt the merchant finance dashboard, which reduced finance-related support tickets by 18% in the first quarter. My contributions also included creating shared Vue.js widgets and refactoring legacy logic into dedicated microservices, significantly improving developer onboarding and API test coverage. I am passionate about mentoring fellow engineers and leading architecture reviews to foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Throughout my career, I have consistently focused on optimizing performance and enhancing user experience. For instance, I implemented Redis-based caching and created analytics APIs that reduced refresh latency by 45% during peak traffic. I am eager to bring my skills in cloud environments, DevOps workflows, and observability to a team that values innovation and collaboration.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Staff Software Engineer

Current

Shopify

Feb 2021 - Present (4 years 4 months)

Rebuilt the merchant finance dashboard using React, GraphQL, and Ruby on Rails, consolidating payouts, tax config, and sales data, which reduced finance-related support tickets by 18% in Q1. Built a Node.js middleware layer to unify data across Rails and Java (Spring Boot) services, implemented Redis-based caching to improve response speed, reduced API duplication, and improved reliability.

React GraphQL Ruby on Rails Node Redis Java Spring Boot Vue.Js Vite Python PostgreSQL

Senior Fullstack Engineer

SimplePractice

Mar 2017 - Jan 2021 (3 years 10 months)

Led migration of invoice and billing logic from monolithic PHP into modular Python (FastAPI) and Java (Spring Boot) services, reducing billing errors by 30% and supporting real-time audit logging. Rebuilt the scheduling interface from a legacy PHP/Laravel stack to a modern Vue.js + REST frontend, enabling real-time availability and reducing booking-related support volume by 24%.

PHP Python fastAPI Java Spring Boot Vue.Js REST Redis Datadog)GitHub Actions

Software Engineer

Automattic

Jul 2013 - Mar 2017 (3 years 8 months)

Migrated core editorial interfaces from PHP templates to modular React components, reducing page load time by 35% and simplifying onboarding for frontend contributors. Built a unified media management module using React and PHP-backed APIs, allowing inline image editing and dynamic resizing, which improved editor satisfaction and reduced media-related support tickets.

PHP React REST Vue.Js CI CD HTML CSS

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

University of Texas at Austin

Bachelor of Computer Science, Computer Science

Activities and societies: Involved in various projects and coursework related to software development and system design.

Studied computer science fundamentals, including programming languages, data structures, and algorithms. Gained expertise in various cloud platforms and development tools.