# Zarir H.

> SWE II @ Datadog | Founder @ GameGrid

Location: Dayton, New Jersey, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/zarir

I like working on systems you can’t easily reason about — distributed services, real-time pipelines, and the kind of infrastructure where small changes show up at scale.

At Datadog, I lead OpenTelemetry efforts for serverless APM across AWS, GCP, and Azure, building tracing systems and observability pipelines used in production. A lot of my work sits at the intersection of performance, reliability, and developer experience.

Outside of that, I’m a founding engineer at Gamegrid, where I built a real-time gaming platform (Flutter + Go + AWS) that handles concurrent users and live game state. Before that, I worked on scaling backend systems at Knowt to 100K+ users.

I’m always interested in tough systems problems — especially ones involving concurrency, low latency, or messy real-world constraints.

## Work Experience
### Software Engineer II @ Datadog
Jan 2024 – Present | New York, United States
- Developed AWS API Gateway instrumentation extending APM tracing beyond serverless environments
- Engineered org-wide metric remapping system enabling interoperability between Datadog and OpenTelemetry without loss of fidelity
-Led OpenTelemetry strategy for serverless APM across AWS, GCP, and Azure, shaping multi-cloud tracing architecture

### Software Engineer @ Datadog
Jan 2022 – Jan 2024 | New York, United States
- Enhanced APM library support for Go, Ruby, Java, and Python, driving significant revenue. 
- Implemented log and APM compatibility between two top tier Datadog products. 
- Spearheaded integration testing pipeline overhaul increasing coverage significantly across popular integrations
- Orchestrated standardization of information extraction and display across six core APM tracer languages

### Co-Founder @ GameGrid
Jan 2025 – Present
- Built and launched a real-time gaming platform supporting 10+ leagues and 500+ users
- Designed distributed, event-driven architecture on AWS (API Gateway, Lambda, DynamoDB) with backend services in Go
- Implemented low-latency, real-time pipelines to process and synchronize concurrent game state across hundreds of users

### Lead Backend Engineer @ Knowt
Jan 2019 – Jan 2022 | Edison, New Jersey
- Architect and programmer for an infrastructure that supports over 40000 customers 
- Utilized several AWS services such as Appsync, API Gateway, Lambda, S3, Cognito, and Textract
- Implemented Google, Facebook, and Apple Sign In with complete overhaul of AWS Cognito Userpool and DynamoDB tables
- Designed searching system using Elasticsearch for entire application covering over 100000 pieces of data

### Software Engineer Intern @ Unity Technologies
Jan 2021 – Jan 2021
- Worked on Artifact Gateway Development on the Cloudbuild team
- Developed Proof of Concept storage solution for Unity services
- Integrated PlasticSCM internal API with Golang to create file storage system
- Coordinated development with teams from Seattle, Austin, and Spain

### Software Engineer @ IBM
Jan 2020 – Jan 2021
- Created an analysis tool for healthcare information on IBM Cognos Servers to be used by other developers
- Developed backend architecture with Java to interact with Cognos Servers based on user’s information
- Developed front-end website to allow remote usage for various developers onto different Cognos instances
- Utilized versioning software to synchronize collaboration efforts and maintain audit history

### Private Tutor @ Marlboro Learning Center
Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | Edison, New Jersey
-Developed program for teaching classes for various standardized tests (SAT, SAT Subject Tests, AP, ACT)
-Organized records for students of each class 
-Wrote analysis report per section identifying weaknesses and strengths

### Sales Associate @ CVS Health
Jan 2017 – Jan 2019 | North Brunswick, New Jersey
-Maintained inventory of 10,000 square feet building during rush hours on a daily basis.
-Attended to customer needs throughout front of store and pharmacy
-Worked with Point-Of-Sale machine at checkout

### Research Intern @ Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Jan 2017 – Jan 2017 | New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Research intern at Wireless Information Network Laboratory for Rutgers University
- Worked with Dr. Richard Martin to convert BASIC into synthesizable Verilog onto an FPGA board
- Created simple BASIC code that compiles within Ubuntu system and recognizable by FPGA
- Setup porting software that writes converted code into FPGA board via USB upload
- Wrote scientific report that recorded findings and results from different ports into FPGA


## Education
### Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Mathematics
Rutgers University–New Brunswick

### Program in Algorithmic and Combinatorial Thinking
Princeton University

### Middlesex County Vocational Academy Math Science &Engineering Techn


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/zarirhamza

---
Source: https://flows.cv/zarir
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/zarir/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-05