Capstone Software Engineer / Backend Lead / Team Leader
UNSW — Sydney, Australia
May 2025 - Oct 2025
- Led a capstone team delivering a client-facing research project management system with Java, Spring Boot, React, and Docker.
- Owned backend development end-to-end: relational database design, REST API implementation, and integration with frontend developers.
- Acted as the main client contact, running weekly video meetings to report progress, gather feedback, and adjust the design to requirements.
- Coordinated team priorities and delivery milestones to keep work aligned with client expectations and final handover.
Java
Spring Boot
React
Docker
PostgreSQL
GitSoftware Developer
DAPPA — Sydney, Australia
Sep 2024 - Jun 2025
- Cut worst-case AI response latency from ~80s to 6s by refactoring synchronous model calls into an async workflow on GCP Workflows and Cloud Tasks.
- Introduced throttling to keep AI inference containers stable under traffic spikes, preventing upstream saturation.
- Set 5-second timeouts and replaced blocking request patterns with polling-based status endpoints to keep core APIs responsive.
- Built RESTful API endpoints integrating AI workflows, with consistent error handling and input validation across services.
- Designed relational schemas and authored SQL queries powering core project and task management features.
Node.js
TypeScriptPostgreSQL
Google CloudDockerSoftware Developer (Freelance)
IT Creation Society — Australia (Hybrid)
Dec 2023 - Dec 2024
- Built and maintained Django backend services, prioritising performance and reliability across releases.
- Contributed to frontend development in JavaScript, collaborating on UI structure, state flow, and feature implementation.
- Implemented and iteratively optimised RESTful APIs, improving data-retrieval latency and overall system efficiency.
- Handled CRUD operations and database management underpinning core application functionality.
- Used Git for version control, participating in code reviews and branching workflows.
Python
Django
JavaScriptPostgreSQLGitContact Form
Please contact me directly at gavin.xiuqi.zhang(at)gmail.com or drop your info here.