Senior Software Engineer - LLM Systems

Mingjie Zhao

Senior Software Engineer

***************@*****.*** 1-206-***-**** Sunnyvale, CA https://www.linkedin.com/in/mingjie-zhao/ Summary

Senior Software Engineer with over 5 years of full-stack development experience, specializing in building scalable, production-grade systems at Google and YouTube. Proficient in Python, TypeScript, React, and Node.js, with a strong track record of shipping user-facing and backend features that serve millions of users. Hands-on experience integrating Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities into production workflows, including prompt engineering and multi-turn agents, supported by certifications in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Generative AI. Skilled in cloud platforms such as Google Cloud Platform (GCP), container orchestration with Kubernetes, and CI/CD pipelines, ensuring high reliability and performance. Adept at collaborating with cross-functional teams, owning projects end-to-end, and driving technical excellence in fast-paced environments. Skills

Programming Languages: Python, TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, C++, SQL, Rust, Go, Kotlin, Swift, Ruby, Scala Frameworks & Libraries: React, Node.js, TensorFlow, PyTorch, LangChain, Express.js, Next.js, Django, Flask, GraphQL, REST APIs, gRPC, WebSockets

Databases & Data Stores: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, BigQuery, Cloud Spanner, Firestore, Cassandra, Elasticsearch, DynamoDB, SQLite, Snowflake Cloud & DevOps: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, Docker, CI/CD, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Ansible, Prometheus, Grafana, CloudFormation AI & Machine Learning: Large Language Models (LLMs), Prompt Engineering, Multi-turn Agents, Conversational AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Generative AI, TensorFlow, PyTorch, Hugging Face Transformers, LangChain, Speech Recognition, Text-to-Speech, Model Deployment Tools & Platforms: Git, Jira, Confluence, Slack, VS Code, IntelliJ IDEA, Postman, Docker Compose, Kubernetes Dashboard, Google Workspace, Figma, Sentry

Soft Skills: Cross-functional Collaboration, Technical Leadership, Project Management, Agile Methodologies, Code Review, Mentoring, Problem Solving, Communication, Ownership, Adaptability, Critical Thinking, Teamwork Experience

Senior Software Engineer, Google (Mountain View, CA) 02/2025 - Present

• Designed and shipped full-stack features for AI-powered voice and chat products using TypeScript, React, and Node.js, improving user engagement and enabling seamless multi-turn conversations for enterprise customers.

• Integrated Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities into production systems by implementing prompt engineering and multi-turn agent workflows, enhancing response quality and reliability for customer-facing interactions.

• Improved speech recognition and text-to-speech integration by optimizing conversational AI pipelines, reducing latency and increasing system reliability for natural language understanding across millions of customer calls.

• Owned production systems at scale by identifying bottlenecks and implementing performance optimizations in Python and PostgreSQL, achieving cost efficiency while maintaining sub-second response times for enterprise workloads.

• Collaborated with cross-functional teams including product, machine learning, and forward-deployed engineering to prioritize and execute projects, translating customer requirements into practical technical solutions.

• Contributed to engineering standards by participating in code reviews, sharing technical knowledge, and driving architectural improvements in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Kubernetes environments.

• Built and maintained CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and GitHub Actions, streamlining deployment workflows and ensuring maintainable, testable, and production-ready code across multiple initiatives.

• Independently drove projects from problem definition through deployment and iteration, demonstrating strong ownership and adaptability in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. Senior Software Engineer, YouTube (San Bruno, CA) 10/2023 - 02/2025

• Developed and enhanced LLM-powered features for YouTube's recommendation and content discovery systems, leveraging Python and TensorFlow to integrate prompt engineering and multi-turn agents into production workflows.

• Shipped full-stack product features using TypeScript, React, and Node.js, improving user-facing capabilities and backend scalability for millions of daily active users.

• Improved voice and conversational AI systems by integrating speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies, reducing response latency and enhancing conversation quality for interactive experiences.

• Owned production systems at scale by diagnosing and resolving complex issues in MySQL and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), implementing durable solutions that improved system reliability and performance.

• Collaborated with product and machine learning teams to experiment with new approaches for AI-driven interactions, turning model capabilities into practical features that increased user engagement.

• Contributed to engineering practices by writing maintainable code, participating in code reviews, and helping maintain high standards across the team in a lean, high-impact environment. Software Engineer III, YouTube (San Bruno, CA) 09/2021 - 10/2023

• Built and shipped full-stack features for YouTube's content management and analytics platforms using Python, TypeScript, and React, enabling creators to manage and analyze their content more effectively.

• Integrated Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities into internal tools by implementing prompt engineering and LangChain orchestration, improving automated content moderation and recommendation quality.

• Improved system scalability by optimizing backend services in Node.js and PostgreSQL, handling high-volume traffic and reducing latency for millions of users.

• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to define project requirements and deliver features from concept to production, ensuring alignment with product goals and user needs.

• Participated in code reviews and contributed to engineering standards, helping maintain a culture of quality and continuous improvement within the team.

• Investigated and resolved production issues using Kubernetes and GCP monitoring tools, implementing fixes that enhanced system stability and user experience. Software Engineer III, Google (Mountain View, CA) 10/2020 - 09/2021

• Developed backend services and APIs using Python and Go for Google's cloud infrastructure, supporting high-volume data processing and ensuring reliable performance for enterprise customers.

• Contributed to the design and implementation of conversational AI features by integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP) models, improving the accuracy and naturalness of multi-turn interactions.

• Optimized database queries and schema designs in MySQL and BigQuery, reducing query latency and improving data retrieval efficiency for large-scale analytics workloads.

• Collaborated with product managers and senior engineers to prioritize features and deliver solutions that met business requirements and user needs in a timely manner.

• Wrote maintainable, testable code and participated in code reviews, helping uphold engineering best practices and contributing to team knowledge sharing.

Software Engineer II, Google (Mountain View, CA) 03/2019 - 10/2020

• Implemented frontend components using React and TypeScript for Google's internal tools, improving user experience and enabling efficient data visualization for engineering teams.

• Built and maintained backend microservices in Node.js and Python, ensuring seamless integration with existing systems and supporting scalable data flows.

• Participated in the development of CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins and Docker, automating deployment processes and reducing time-to-production for new features.

• Collaborated with cross-functional teams to troubleshoot and resolve production issues, applying sound engineering judgment to implement durable fixes and improve system reliability.

• Contributed to code reviews and team documentation, fostering a culture of learning and continuous improvement while gaining exposure to large-scale distributed systems. Education

Master of Science Computer Science, Columbia University 2017 - 2018 Bachelor of Engineering Computer Science, Nankai University 2013 - 2017 Certifications

Natural Language Processing with Attention Models, DeepLearning.AI Natural Language Processing with Classification and Vector Spaces, DeepLearning.AI Natural Language Processing with Sequence Models, DeepLearning.AI Natural Language Processing with Probabilistic Models, DeepLearning.AI Generative AI with Large Language Models, Amazon Web Services

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