Harlan Zhao
Software Engineer at TikTok
Old Toronto, Ontario, United States
Summary
👤
Senior🎓
Top SchoolHarlan Zhao is a software engineer with 7 years of full-stack experience, currently building backend systems at TikTok after leading core platform work at Cognota. He specializes in designing scalable, resilient APIs and services—often built with Go, TypeScript, and Python—that anticipate extreme loads and edge cases, and he practices test-driven development to keep systems robust. At Cognota he owned several core modules end-to-end, refactored a data export service to cut latency by 90%, and routinely partnered with product teams on early-stage design and cost/timeline estimation. Known for strong ownership and collaboration, he frequently mentors peers and prioritizes work that directly improves client experience and service health. With an MEng in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a background in IoT, he combines systems thinking with product-focused engineering to deliver practical, well-architected solutions.
7 years of coding experience
5 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor's degree Internet of Things Engineering, Bachelor's degree Internet of Things Engineering at Chengdu University of TechnologyMaster's degree Electrical Computer Engineering , Master's degree Electrical Computer Engineering at University of Windsor
Github Skills (11)
django1
css1
django-rest1
python1
api1
rest1
science1
django-react1
django-rest-framework1
react1
data-science1
Programming languages (1)
Github contributions (5)
harlan-zhao/Your_Chatbot
May 2019 - May 2019
Contributions:19 commits, 17 pushes, 1 branch in 11 days
zhaohehe520/Kaggle-Predict-Future-Sales
Jun 2019 - Jun 2019
Contributions:10 commits, 8 pushes, 1 branch in 4 days
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