Steve Zhang
Verified Expert in Engineering
Full-stack Developer
Markham, ON, Canada
Toptal member since November 25, 2025
Steve Zhang is a senior full-stack developer with over 20 years of professional experience spanning Canadian banking, telecommunications, and startups. He specializes in React and Next.js and has championed Playwright test adoption with a strong commitment to automation. Drawing on deep expertise in Java and Spring Boot, Steve has also architected CI/CD pipelines that streamlined enterprise delivery and consistently produced scalable solutions with measurable impact.
Portfolio
Experience
- Java - 20 years
- JavaScript - 15 years
- Node.js - 10 years
- TypeScript - 7 years
- React - 7 years
- Spring Boot - 7 years
- Playwright - 4 years
- Next.js - 3 years
Preferred Environment
MacOS, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Git, Node.js, Next.js, React, Slack, Claude, Spring Boot, Vitest, Gemini, FastAPI, Claude Agent SDK
The most amazing...
...achievement I've delivered was adopting Playwright tests and reducing a Next.js app's bundle size by 80%, which improved reliability and accelerated delivery.
Work Experience
Senior Full-stack Developer
Scotiabank
- Built and maintained Scotia Online web applications using React, Next.js, Express.js, and monorepo architecture.
- Developed a console application for managing Azure PCF and GCP environments using React and Spring Boot, enabling unified cloud operations and scalability.
- Engineered multiple back-end microservices with Java Spring Boot and NestJS TypeScript, supporting scalable enterprise workflows and modernizing legacy systems.
- Reduced Docker build time from 120 minutes to 11 minutes and cut image size by 80%, dramatically improving CI/CD efficiency.
- Adopted Playwright integration testing at Scotiabank, achieving over 90% coverage with fewer test cases and reducing reliance on unit tests.
- Leveraged AI-assisted development tools such as Copilot, Claude, and GPT‑4 to generate over 90% of project code, accelerating delivery while maintaining quality.
- Migrated Node.js micro applications from Azure PCF to GCP, refactoring code and automating pipelines for scalability and reliability.
- Designed reusable Jenkins pipelines with Job DSLs and pipeline libraries, standardizing CI/CD practices across multiple Scrum teams.
- Automated Bitbucket PR-triggered builds to start Jenkins pipelines, improving developer productivity and reducing manual effort.
- Delivered tailored DevOps onboarding and Agile coaching for multiple teams, closing skill gaps and accelerating adoption of CI/CD.
Senior Developer Analyst
TELUS
- Reduced deployment time from 45 minutes to 12 minutes by designing Jenkins and uDeploy pipelines, delivering more than 900 deployments in one year.
- Integrated SonarQube into CI/CD pipelines, enabling automated quality checks and improving code reliability.
- Built 86 Robot Framework test cases in under 50 hours and fully integrated them into CI/CD for continuous validation.
- Supported ATG‑based Jakarta EE web store applications, ensuring stability and scalability for high‑traffic eCommerce systems.
Senior Software Developer
Acklands-Grainger Inc.
- Automated builds and deployments using Ant and Gant scripts with Jenkins, reducing manual effort and improving release consistency.
- Developed new order management system (OMS) applications in Grails, enhancing order processing efficiency and scalability.
- Leveraged Oracle Endeca and Dynatrace for performance monitoring, improving system reliability and troubleshooting speed.
Senior Software Developer
Fleet Complete
- Built and maintained courier dispatch mobile apps across iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile, enabling real‑time logistics tracking.
- Automated builds with Rake and Jenkins across Windows and macOS, publishing iOS builds to TestFlight for faster QA cycles.
- Implemented native barcode scanning extensions in Rhodes and RhoElements, improving accuracy and efficiency in courier operations.
Senior Software Developer
Grapple Mobile Ltd.
- Maintained Grapple's mobile platform across iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, ensuring stability and scalability for enterprise clients.
- Automated daily build and release pipelines using Hudson and Jenkins, increasing release frequency and reducing manual effort.
- Designed Kanban workflows with Jira automation and integrated Sonar into CI, improving productivity and code quality.
Software Developer
QuickPlay Media Inc
- Invented progressive download playback technology (US Patent 8,892,761 B1), enabling chunk-based streaming with queuing algorithms that improved playback quality and user experience across mobile devices.
- Co-invented digital rights management in a mobile environment (US Patent 20110225417 A1), designing secure methods for content encryption and device identification to protect media rights on mobile platforms.
- Designed MVC architecture for J2ME and BREW applications using hierarchical finite state machines, improving maintainability and flexibility.
- Built a C++ BREW application framework with state machine, wrapper libraries, STL, and ARM makefiles, enabling faster and more reliable development.
- Ported QuickPlay J2ME MobileToolkit and XML parser to BREW C++, extending cross‑platform compatibility and reducing duplication of effort.
Software Engineer
Beijing Unicom‑BREW Ltd. (Qualcomm Joint Venture)
- Designed a new C++ BREW application framework, improving reusability and maintainability for mobile developers.
- Developed a BREW SMS push Jakarta EE web application, enabling targeted advertising of popular apps directly to users.
- Built a True BREW Test administration Jakarta EE web application, streamlining certification and compliance workflows.
- Provided technical support for BREW developers via email, phone, training, and documentation, boosting adoption and developer success.
Senior Software Engineer
Motorola China Ltd.
- Designed, coded, debugged, and tested mobile phone applications across application and device layers, ensuring reliability and performance.
- Contributed to multimedia video and audio application development, handling feature requirement analysis, test design, and coding for new features.
- Developed automated phone test cases using Motorola's Java Phone Test Suite framework, improving QA efficiency and reducing manual effort.
Software Engineer
Beijing Research Institute of Telemetry, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
- Leveraged master's degree research on GPS/GLONASS navigation algorithms to design and implement China's first combined GPS/GLONASS navigation software in 1995.
- Served as core software designer for China's first native 12‑channel GPS/GLONASS combined receiver, awarded the Second Class Prize of China Aerospace Science and Technology in 1996.
- Developed GPS receiver software used to measure the orbit of Motorola's Iridium satellite, contributing to international satellite projects.
- Designed core software for multiple GPS and GPS/GLONASS receivers using TI TMS320 C31 embedded systems, advancing China's domestic navigation technology.
Experience
Next.js Applications Build Performance & Efficiency Optimization
Playwright Test Automation Adoption at Scotiabank
I designed reusable test suites, integrated them into CI/CD pipelines, and enabled developers to adopt Playwright efficiently. Additionally, I researched dashboard reporting, integrated Slack and email notifications for test results, investigated BrowserStack for cross-browser testing, and applied Lighthouse testing to enhance performance and accessibility.
I also collaborated with the QA team to help them adopt Playwright, ensuring consistency across development and testing practices. This reduced redundancy, accelerated regression cycles, and significantly improved release confidence in a regulated banking environment.
nextcov - Test Coverage Merging Library for Next.js
https://github.com/stevez/nextcovKEY ACHIEVEMENTS
• Released 40+ published versions following semantic versioning.
• Built a companion package ecosystem, including eslint-plugin-v8-coverage and vitest-coverage-merge.
• Handled complex V8 coverage format parsing and Istanbul mapping.
• Supported diverse Next.js configurations and testing setups.
• Maintained active community adoption with ongoing GitHub issue support.
TECHNICAL STACK
TypeScript, Node.js, V8 Coverage API, Istanbul, and Next.js
DevOps Transformation at Scotiabank
I facilitated workshops, designed onboarding materials, and worked closely with product owners and engineering managers to embed DevOps practices into daily workflows. This transformation enabled teams to scale delivery across multiple applications while maintaining compliance and quality standards.
Patent‑backed Mobile Streaming & DRM Solution (Legacy Innovation)
I also contributed to a digital rights management (DRM) innovation, recognized with US Patent Application No. 20110225417A1 — Digital Rights Management in a Mobile Environment (published Oct 12, 2010), which ensured secure content distribution on mobile platforms.
Together, these patent‑backed innovations demonstrated my ability to engineer solutions under tight hardware and bandwidth constraints, while anticipating industry needs for both performance and security in mobile video delivery.
GPS/GLONASS Combined Receiver Development (Legacy Innovation)
I served as the core software designer for the country's first 12-channel GPS/GLONASS receiver on the TI TMS320C31 DSP. I developed the receiver software used to measure the orbit of Motorola's Iridium satellite. This innovation earned the Second Class Prize of China Aerospace Science and Technology (1996), underscoring its national significance and establishing me as a trusted engineer capable of delivering results under severe resource constraints.
Education
Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering
Beijing Research Institute of Telemetry (BRIT) - Beijing, China
Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering
Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) - Beijing, China
Certifications
Foundation: Introduction to LangChain - Python
LangChain Academy
Foundation: Introduction to LangGraph - Python
LangChain Academy
Claude with the Anthropic API
Anthropic
Digital Rights Management in a Mobile Environment
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
US Patent No. 8,892,761 — Progressive Download Playback
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance
Spring Framework Training
Spring Source
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Node.js, React, Playwright, REST APIs, Bitbucket API, React Testing Library, React Hook Form, API Development, Claude API, OpenAI API, jQuery, Java Servlets, Slack API, Jira REST API, Facebook API, X (formerly Twitter) API, Jenkins Job DSL, Jenkins Pipeline
Tools
Git, Webpack, GitHub, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), Slack, Claude, Prisma, Babel, NGINX, Claude Code, Helm, Jenkins, Nx, JSON Server, WireMock, Splunk, Dynatrace, Bitbucket, Jira, Confluence, Mocha, Gradle, Apache Maven, Apache Ant, NPM, Postman, Figma, LaunchDarkly, SonarQube, Checkmarx, BlackBuck, HP WebInspect, SoapUI, uDeploy, Microsoft Team Foundation Server, HashiCorp Vault, JBoss Drools, Artifactory, Flyway, Bamboo, Apache Tomcat, TestFlight, Rake, CVS, Bugzilla, Sonar, Nagios, Makefile, IBM Rational ClearCase, Vitest, Claude Agent SDK
Languages
TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, Python, SQL, HTML, Modern JavaScript, Ruby, CSS, HTML5, Groovy, Sass, XML, Kotlin, C, C++, Embedded C++
Frameworks
Next.js, Spring Boot, Jest, Selenium, Tailwind CSS, Spring, OAuth 2, Express.js, NestJS, Redux, JSON Web Tokens (JWT), Spring Microservice, Material UI, Ruby on Rails (RoR), JUnit, Cypress, Robot Framework, Mockito, Yarn, Jakarta Server Pages (JSP), TestNG, Spring 3, Spock Framework, Grails, Kendo UI, Knockout (Knockout.js), Hibernate, Apache Struts, LangGraph
Paradigms
Test-driven Development (TDD), Role-based Access Control (RBAC), Test Automation, Microservices, Penetration Testing, E2E Testing, REST, Testing, Web Application Architecture, Refactoring, Automated Testing, Microservices Architecture, Model Context Protocol (MCP), Responsive Web Design (RWD), DevOps, Behavior-driven Development (BDD), Scrum, Agile Software Development, Aspect-oriented Programming (AOP), Kanban, Model View ViewModel (MVVM)
Platforms
MacOS, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Kubernetes, Docker, Linux, Visual Studio Code (VS Code), Vercel, Azure, VMware Tanzu Application Service (TAS) (Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF)), Oracle, Ollama, Contentful, Jakarta EE (Java EE or J2EE), Nexus, RhodeCode, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, J2ME, BlackBerry, BREW, Unix, Mobile
Storage
PostgreSQL, Databases, MySQL, Redis, Azure SQL, JSON, SQL Server 2005
Other
GPS, GPS Tracker, Monorepos, CI/CD Pipelines, RESTFul APIs, Agentic AI, Web Development, UI Testing, RESTful Microservices, Full-stack, UI Animation, Cloud, IT Security, OWASP Top 10, OWASP, Security Audits, Vulnerability Assessment, Accessibility, SDKs, WCAG 2, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), Dashboards, Data Visualization, APIs, Identity & Access Management (IAM), Third-party APIs, Third-party Integration, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Full-stack Development, Web App Deployment, API Integration, Consumer-facing Products, Front-end, Finance, Financial Services, Fintech, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Front-end Development, Migration, Architecture, Legacy Code, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Prompt Engineering, Product Management, Containers, Quality Assurance (QA), AI-assisted Development, GitHub Actions, OpenAI, Webhooks, Large Language Models (LLMs), Large-scale Projects, Web Security, Application State Management, OAuth, Anthropic, Gemini, Security, Database Normalization, Database Schema Design, Single Sign-on (SSO), Server-side Rendering (SSR), Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Prisma Orm, Tailwind UI, AI Tools, AI Chatbots, Workflow Automation, AI Agents, LangChain, Technical Leadership, AI Architecture, AI Integration, RAG Architecture, Vector Databases, Enterprise SaaS, Semantic Kernel (SK), Agentic Engineering, RAG Pipelines, Supabase, Signals and Processing, Electronics Engineering, Software Development, GLONASS, Digital Signal Processing, Vite, Styled-components, GitHub Copilot Chat, Aqua Security, Unix Shell Scripting, Oracle ATG Commerce, WebLogic, SOAP, Web Services, ESLint, SSH, Domain-driven Design (DDD), Oracle Endeca Commerce, ARM, Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), DSP, Firmware, Jenkins Plugins, Leadership, Agile Coaching, Wireless, Digital Rights Management (DRM), Video Streaming, Audio Streaming, Multimedia Processing, Mobile Apps, Mobile Applications, Figma Prototyping, UML Diagrams, Storybook, Code Coverage, FastAPI
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