Matthew Yang
Backend Software Engineer
Building robust payment systems, scaling applications, and crafting reliable backend architectures with Ruby, C#, and modern cloud infrastructure.
Who I Am
I'm a backend software engineer based in the Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA metro area, with a career path that's anything but conventional. Before writing my first line of production code, I spent over a decade in public safety — four years as a 911 police dispatcher and seven years as a corrections officer.
That experience taught me to stay calm under pressure, think systematically, and communicate clearly — skills that translate directly into building reliable, well-architected software. Since transitioning to tech in 2016, I've focused on backend development, payment systems, and large-scale application migrations.
When I'm not coding, I'm spending time with my wife and two kids, exploring the Pacific Northwest.
Where I've Worked
Apartments.com
2019 — PresentSenior Software Engineer, Payments Team
Portland, OR
- Assisted in migrating thousands of users from Cozy.co to the Apartments.com platform
- Migrated a complete and mature Ruby application to C# / .NET
- Extensive integration with the Stripe payment processing platform, including Stripe Connect
- Worked on large-scale payment infrastructure serving a major real estate platform
Cozy.co
2019Senior Software Engineer
Portland, OR
- Full-stack development with Ruby and JavaScript
- Built and maintained features for a property management and payments platform
- Worked with PostgreSQL and integrated third-party payment services
Sportsrocket
2016 — 2019Software Engineer / Technical Team Lead
Bellevue, WA
- Full-stack development with Ruby on Rails and Angular for a sports streaming platform
- Gained foundational experience in professional software development
Prior Career
Corrections Officer
City Jail · 7 years
911 Police Dispatcher
Emergency Services · 4 years
Technologies & Tools
Languages
Frameworks
Databases & Messaging
Payments
Cloud & DevOps
Practices
Education
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
Code Fellows
Seattle, Washington
Get In Touch
Interested in working together or have a question? Send me a message and I'll get back to you.
Connect
Location
Portland, OR / Vancouver, WA Metro
Pacific Time Zone (PT)