Hi, my name is
Gary Hou.
I build distributed software systems.
With over a decade of experience, I excel at delivering high-performance, user-centric software at scale.
About Me
I'm a problem solver and software engineer with 10 years of industry experience.
Over my career, I've had the privilege of working at large-scale tech companies like Amazon and PayPal, impactful platforms like GoFundMe, and growing startups like NimbleRx. My expertise lies in building distributed service architectures and systems that demand strong consistency.
When I'm not coding, I run marathons.
Experience
Senior Software Engineer
Amazon | Aug 2022 – Present
- Designed and implemented a data annotation/comparison framework (AWS DynamoDB, SQS, AppConfig, Lambda) enabling safe dual-service migration, improving scalability for a system handling 100B monthly traffic.
- Diagnosed and resolved a JVM memory leak in Amazon's refund system (EC2, ECS, Java, DocumentDB), reducing failed refunds by 2% and improving service stability.
Senior Software Engineer
PayPal | Jun 2018 – Jul 2022
- Reduced merchant onboarding time 3x by rebuilding the Unified Onboarding service (NodeJS, Spring, Redis). Achieved a 60% reduction in page request latency and cross-device compatibilities.
- Built Payouts product (Java, Spring, Akka, OracleDB), enabling 13K+ merchants to perform asynchronous mass payments across PayPal & Venmo.
- Increased consumer signups 1.3% yearly by developing incentive features in 'Login with PayPal' unified login product (NodeJS, ReactJS).
Software Engineer
NimbleRx | Jul 2017 – Apr 2018
- Developed consumer-facing API services (Python 2.7), driving 12% DAU growth.
- Streamlined new-patient onboarding via single-page app (Spring, AngularJS).
- Implemented prescription status newsfeed (NodeJS, ReactJS) improving patient visibility.
Software Engineer
GoFundMe | Oct 2015 – May 2017
- Increased monthly Gross Donation Volume 1.5% (US$1.8M) by launching various product features via A/B testing (PlanOut).
Software Engineer
Eversnap | Jun 2013 – Aug 2015
- Developed web APIs (Python/Django), increasing DAU 23%.
Education
National University of Singapore
Aug 2008 – Apr 2013Bachelor of Computing (B.Comp) in Computer Engineering
Specialization: Embedded Systems
Awards: Best Project Award (Wireless Computing Systems)