20+ Years in Enterprise Software: Engineering Leadership Journey

From hands-on technical expert to engineering leadership, I've experienced both the IC and management tracks at scale. Two decades of technical excellence combined with 10+ years leading teams across Shanghai and Palo Alto.

Career Timeline

Both IC Technical Excellence and Leadership Roles

December 2021 - Present

Engineering Manager

Leading multiple high-impact teams in Palo Alto, managing critical UI infrastructure and feature toggle systems serving thousands of developers and millions of users.

  • Lead Core UI team: 78 React components, 42 JavaScript libraries
  • Support 250+ frontend developers on Slack
  • Feature Toggle Service: Go service, 4,000 req/min, 99.99% availability
  • • Implemented modern design system themes across enterprise
  • Maintained hands-on technical leadership alongside people management
  • • Team OKRs, quarterly roadmaps, bi-weekly 1:1s
August 2015 - December 2021

Development Expert

Senior IC technical consulting role across multiple teams, demonstrating Staff+ engineer impact through modern development practices and team transformation.

  • • Technical consulting across multiple HR and CRM product teams
  • • Expertise: Kanban, TDD, BDD, microservices architecture
  • • Built full-stack applications for cloud maturity assessment
  • • Developed feedback and assessment tools for teams
  • • Legacy code refactoring and continuous delivery practices
December 2009 - August 2015

Engineering Manager - Shanghai

Peak leadership role managing three agile teams focused on financial solutions for the Chinese market and Asia-Pacific region.

  • Led 3 agile teams of 34 professionals total
  • • Engineers, product managers, and UX designers
  • • Electric Payment Integration and Cash Management projects
  • • Globalization Services Financials China division
  • • Fostered innovation culture, influenced ~100 staff
December 2005 - November 2009

Tech Lead / Senior Software Engineer

Led agile team development for SaaS business management solution, focusing on ITSAM Monitoring and Health Check systems.

  • Led agile team of 6 engineers
  • • ITSAM Monitoring/Health Check to reduce TCO
  • • Delivered Health Checks for 3 major product versions
  • Filed patent: “Health Check Framework”
  • • SaaS business management solution architecture
1994 - 1998

Bachelor's Degree - Computer Science

Beihang University, Beijing - Built the technical foundation that launched my career in enterprise software development.

  • • Computer Science and Technology
  • • Software engineering fundamentals
  • • Prepared for enterprise software career
  • • Foundation for 20+ year leadership journey

Key Achievements

💻

Technical IC Excellence

Deep technical expertise spanning React, JavaScript, Go, enterprise architecture—demonstrating that strong technical foundation enables both IC and leadership success

🏆

Leadership Award Winner

“All Star of Digital Transformation” - Recognized for exceptional contribution to company-wide digital transformation initiatives and technical leadership excellence.

📱

UI Infrastructure at Scale

Leading Core UI team managing 78 React components and 42 JavaScript libraries, supporting over 250 frontend developers across the enterprise.

High-Performance Systems

Built Go-based Feature Toggle service achieving 4,000 requests/minutewith 3.5ms TP99 latency and 99.99% availability.

🔬

Patent Inventor

Successfully filed patent for “Health Check Framework” - innovative monitoring solution for SaaS enterprise platform.

👥

Team Scaling Excellence

Scaled engineering teams from 6 to 34 professionals across multiple roles, maintaining high performance while fostering innovation culture.

🌏

Cross-Cultural Leadership

20+ years bridging Shanghai and Palo Alto teams, successfully leading multicultural engineering organizations across Asia-Pacific and US markets.

Technical + Leadership Competencies

Technical Expertise

React & JavaScriptExpert
Go ProgrammingIntermediate
Enterprise Software ArchitectureExpert
Microservices & SaaSExpert
Agile & Kanban MethodologiesExpert
TDD/BDD & TestingAdvanced

Leadership Capabilities

Engineering Team ManagementExpert
Cross-Cultural LeadershipExpert
Technical Vision & StrategyExpert
Operational ExcellenceExpert
Skill Development & MentoringExpert
Technical ConsultingExpert

Education & Professional Certifications

🎓

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Computer Science and Technology

Beihang University, Beijing

1994 - 1998

📜

Certifications

Certified SD Consultant
Certified Junior BW Consultant
Tomorrow Manager Development Program
Situational Leadership
Trainer of LEAN Leadership
🌐

Languages

Chinese

Native / Bilingual

English

Full Professional

Real Career & Technical Transformations

Building UI Infrastructure Supporting 250+ Developers

Led the transformation of enterprise Core UI infrastructure, managing 78 React components and 42 JavaScript libraries while supporting a massive developer community and implementing consistent design systems across the entire ecosystem.

Challenge: Scale UI infrastructure for 250+ frontend developers
Approach: Component library, design systems, developer support on Slack
Result: Modern design themes, improved UI consistency across all products

High-Performance Go Service: 99.99% Availability

Spearheaded the Feature Toggle team, launching a Go-based microservice from concept to production within one year, achieving enterprise-grade performance and reliability serving critical business functions.

Challenge: Build reliable feature toggle service from scratch
Approach: Go microservices, performance optimization, monitoring
Result: 4,000 req/min, 3.5ms TP99, 99.99% availability

Scaling Engineering Teams: 6 to 34 People

Led three agile teams of 34 professionals in Shanghai, managing engineers, product managers, and UX designers for Electric Payment Integration and Cash Management projects while fostering innovation culture across the broader organization.

Challenge: Manage 34 professionals across multiple disciplines
Approach: Agile methodology, cross-functional collaboration, culture building
Result: Successful payment solutions, influenced ~100 staff

These are real projects with measurable outcomes. Learn the frameworks and approaches that made these transformations possible.

Learn From My Experience