Samuel Li

Entrepreneur, Engineer, Designer

Education

California Polytechnic State University

Computer Science, B.S. (Emphasis in AI and HCI)

San Luis Obispo, CA; 2004 - 2009

California Polytechnic State University

Art/Design Minor

San Luis Obispo, CA; 2004 - 2009

Work Experience

Senior Manager - Software Engineering

Workday, Inc

Jan. 2016 - Present; Pleasanton, CA

  • Led teams of up to 13 engineers and QAs in our UX and Emerging Technology orgs
  • Delivered stunning new data visualization for Workday's core UI
  • Launched our no-code app builder enabling our customers to easily create Workday apps
  • Architected the quality and resilience initiatives for Workday Extend's platform go-live
  • Spearheaded novel recruiting methods such as our networking nights and event-driven hackathons
  • Designed company-wide initiative of engineering apprenticeships to help expand diversity talent acquisition
  • Certified Scrum Master on innovative project teams such as Workday Cloud Platform, Data Visualization, and Web Accessibility

Board Director - Finance and Mission Advancement Committee

YMCA of San Francisco

Sep. 2018 - Present; San Francisco, CA

  • Advocate and publicize the organization's mission and goals
  • Organize fundraising, volunteering, and athletic events such as our annual SF Chinatown Run and Thingamajig STEM Convention
  • Oversee our digital transformation strategy
  • Evaluate financial statements and capital asset projects in the SF Bay Area with revenues up to $100M per annum
  • Provide governance on operational and financial strategy
  • Coordinate donor management and appreciation initiatives
  • Work with other board members on establishing fundraising targets
  • Assess performance and compensation for the CEO and other executives

Vice-GM - Internet Payments R&D

Allinpay Nework Services Co. Ltd.

May 2015 - Dec. 2015; Shanghai, China

  • Manage the internet payments dev team for one of China’s largest third-party payments provider
  • Developed the Customs Declaration API, enabling merchants to easily deal with cross-border transactions
  • Upgraded our payment gateway integration package for our clients using PHP
  • Work with vendors and stakeholders on number of procurement projects including negotiating contract terms
  • Team up with HR to meet our recruiting needs
  • Keeping project progress on-track with the help of our project management team

Co-Founder/CTO

Zuodao.com and 365fanyi.com (Acquired by Alibaba)

Dec. 2010 - May 2015; Beijing, China

  • Helped grow company from a scrappy garage startup to a 100-person, revenue-rich business
  • Received venture funding from Sequoia Capital and CBC Capital; acquired by Alibaba Group in 2015
  • Architected and developed the initial framework, database schema, and core codebase of our systems
  • Led and managed teams of execution-driven developers, QAs, product managers, and infrastructure engineers
  • Collaborated with HR department on establishing recruitment goals and strategies
  • Established team's agile+SCRUM process, allowing us to ship 70+ projects per year
  • Designed and executed the initial continuous integration and software build system
  • Established an on-call system for promoting orderly communication between different departments
  • Spearheaded and managed a $500,000+ contract with a key client

Software Engineer

Workday, Inc.

Apr. 2010 - Nov. 2010; Pleasanton, CA

  • Implemented the Anytime Feedback feature allowing users to easily give ad-hoc feedback to colleagues
  • Helped with developing the Generation Workday college recruiting program
  • Interviewed candidates and promoted Workday during recruitment events
  • Assisted marketing department by designing company t-shirts and logos

Software Developer

ReelSurfer

Oct. 2009 - Dec. 2009; Menlo Park, CA

  • Developed a video scene note-taking system for this Y Combinator startup
  • Designed and developed the database, frontend, and backend logic

Web and Database Developer

Cal Poly, SLO

Sep. 2008 - Dec. 2009; San Luis Obispo, CA

  • Used FileMaker Pro to develop layouts, relational models, reports, tables, and scripts to meet user needs
  • Created custom web apps using PHP/MySQL as a versatile and cost-effective alternative to FileMaker Server

Computation Intern

Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Jun. 2009 - Sep. 2009; Livermore, CA

  • Developed a new visualization tool for the Environmental Restoration Division that improved the user experience for scientists analyzing groundwater contamination data; project was nominated for the 2009 DOE SERCh
  • Obtained DOE P security clearance

Enterprise Business Solutions Engineer

Agilent Technologies

Apr. 2008 - Sep. 2008; Santa Clara, CA

  • Used Six Sigma to reengineer the incentive pay process, improving flexibility and efficiency of sales force
  • Created a Google Maps application for plotting sales districts, reducing the cost of using MS MapPoint
  • Developed a project planning and tracking web tool that eliminates the use of spreadsheets
  • Developed an anonymous feedback web forum which improved overall candor within my division
  • Participated in the testing of the iPhone as a replacement for all enterprise Blackberry devices

Projects

CubeSat CMS

Apr. 2009; San Luis Obispo, CA

  • Upgraded the CubeSat project website by using a new CMS to improve user experience for non-technical users
  • Conducted user experience surveys and studies by working with the Intuit User Experience Lab

CubeSat Expert Earth Station

Jan. 2009; San Luis Obispo, CA

  • Utilized Java/JESS expert system to develop an earth station agent with a team of engineers in order to automate communications between Earth and our satellites in space

iOS App: SimpleDraw

Jan. 2009; San Luis Obispo, CA

  • App reached the top-4 downloaded free productivity app in iTunes App store shortly after launch
  • Designed, prototyped, and developed this simple drawing app for the early generation iPhone
  • Tools utilized: Adobe Flash, Xcode, Interface Builder

Open Source Contributions

  • CodeIgniter download module bugfixes
  • CodeIgniter multisession issues with ajax
  • Selenium Python docs

Awards and Honors

2009 DOE Science & Energy Research Challenge Nominee

eBay Foundation and Ashoka Changemaker “Create a World that Works” Finalist

Languages

  • English - Native
  • Chinese - Native
  • French - Beginner

Skills

Software Engineering Management, Project Management, Agile, Scrum, Data Mining, Entrepreneurship, Web Development, Graphic Design, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, NLP, Cloud Computing, CodeIgniter, PHP, jQuery, JavaScript, Python, nodeJS, MySql, Jenkins, Selenium, iOS Development, Phing, Linux, Apache, Nginx, Git, SVN, Sphinx, Postfix