Samir Merchant
New York, New York, United States
Summary
🤩
Rockstar🎓
Top SchoolSamir Merchant is a seasoned software engineer and engineering lead with a decade of experience building full-stack, cloud-native systems that prioritize performance, reliability, and user experience. He has driven high-impact payments and shipping integrations at Automattic—architecting multi-processor tokenization, express checkout APIs, and Buy Now, Pay Later flows that lifted conversion and scaled across 800K+ merchants. Comfortable from low-latency backend services to polished front-end work, Samir has contributed to well-known open-source WordPress projects like Jetpack and Calypso, fixing core plugin logic and UI issues. He pairs hands-on coding across PHP, JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js and MySQL with strong DevOps and cloud skills (Docker, AWS), and a knack for translating product goals into robust engineering outcomes. Beyond delivery, he mentors teams, champions process improvements, and has a track record of launching complex integrations (DHL, Stripe PIE) with zero launch issues. A security- and scalability-minded technologist with a 4.0 master's in Information, Networks, and Computer Security, he brings both strategic leadership and pragmatic execution to product-driven engineering challenges.
10 years of coding experience
7 years of employment as a software developer
Master's degree, Information, Networks, and Computer Security, 4.0, Master's degree, Information, Networks, and Computer Security, 4.0 at New York Institute of TechnologyBachelor of Arts (B.A.), Economics, 3.54, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Economics, 3.54 at University of ChicagoPostgraduate Diploma in Information Technology (Java Specialization), Information Technology (Java Specialization), Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology (Java Specialization), Information Technology (Java Specialization) at NIIT InstituteInternational Baccalaureate, N/A, 3.7, International Baccalaureate, N/A, 3.7 at American School of BombayFull-Stack Web Development (Ruby on Rails), Full-Stack Web Development (Ruby on Rails) at Starter League
English, French, Hindi, flemish
Stackoverflow
1reputation
0reached
0answers
0questions
Github Skills (13)
plugin-development10
wordpress10
php10
javascript10
api10
seo10
apidoc10
react10
gutenberg9
s69
redux8
jetpack8
phpunit6
Programming languages (7)
Github contributions (5)
Automattic/jetpack
Jan 2021 - Jan 2023
Security, performance, marketing, and design tools — Jetpack is made by WordPress experts to make WP sites safer and faster, and help you grow your traffic.
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Back-end DeveloperContributions:952 reviews, 375 commits, 827 PRs in 2 years
Contributions summary:Samir made several commits focused on improving the functionality and maintainability of the Jetpack plugin. Their contributions include fixing JavaScript errors within the Gutenberg block widget editor and updating plugin API endpoints to use `should_update()`, demonstrating a focus on core plugin logic and API interactions. They also addressed issues within the Publicize and SEO features.
reactexpertswordpressphpsecurity
Automattic/wp-calypso
Apr 2019 - Dec 2022
The JavaScript and API powered WordPress.com
Role in this project:Front-end Developer
Front-end DeveloperContributions:8 reviews, 13 commits, 29 PRs in 3 years 8 months
Contributions summary:Samir primarily focused on front-end development within the WordPress.com Calypso environment. They contributed to the Jetpack backup plugin by modifying authorization flows and testing components. They also fixed a UI rendering issue related to the `FormattedHeader` component, ensuring compatibility with different data types. Furthermore, the user made changes to SEO tools, adding and enabling features like the archive title token within the title format editor and related components.
apireactwordpressjavascriptes6
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