Dhaval Shah — Software Engineer

I design and scale backend systems that move money. Principal Software Engineer with 20+ years of experience architecting high-throughput, low-latency fintech systems. I specialize in distributed systems, payment infrastructure, and performance engineering - delivering resilient systems where scale and reliability directly drive revenue. At Mastercard, I’ve built and optimized backend systems handling 1K+ TPS with sub-50 ms latency, designed large-scale data movements, and driven architectural decisions for high-availability, revenue-critical systems. Core Competencies: 1. Payment processing & Transaction Flows - Deep expertise in designing secure, scalable transaction systems 2. Distributed Backend Platforms - Architecting resilient systems using Java, Spring Boot, and Kafka. 3. Event-Driven Microservices Architecture - Building modular, high-performance architectures for scale. 4. Performance Optimization - Reducing latency and tuning JVM/GC for mission-critical workloads. 5. Reliability & Observability - Embedding SRE practices, monitoring, and chaos engineering 6. Cloud-Native Systems - Deploying and optimizing workloads on Azure and Kubernetes 7. Cost Optimization - Driving efficiency and reducing cloud / operational cost through FinOps I operate at the intersection of architecture, scalability, and business impact - owning systems end-to-end, from design to production resilience. Achievements - Architected card service applications exceeding 1K+ TPS at sub-50 ms latency. - Reduced user provisioning time by 37% across > 150K users and 15+ downstream API invocations - Resolved JVM/GC bottlenecks, improving latency stability and heap utilization. - Instituted enterprise-wide performance engineering standards and chaos engineering practices. - Mentored engineering teams, fostering ownership and continuous improvement. I’m particularly interested in opportunities where backend performance, scalability, and reliability are mission critical - roles that demand resilient architecture and directly influence business outcomes and revenue. Open to opportunities in APAC, Middle East and Global Remote roles aligned with platform architecture and high-scale distributed systems.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech Backend Architect with expertise in high-scale distributed systems.

Location: Vadodara, Gujarat, India

Experience: 20 yrs 3 mos

Skills

Distributed Backend Platforms
Performance Optimization
Payment Processing & Transaction Flows
Reliability Engineering

Career Highlights

20+ years in backend system architecture.
Expert in high-throughput payment systems.
Proven track record in performance optimization.

Work Experience

Mastercard

Principal Software Engineer (3 yrs 9 mos)

Lead - Software Development Engineering (7 yrs 6 mos)

C-SAM -- A MasterCard Company

Consultant - Enterprise Architecture (5 mos)

Tech. Specialist (3 mos)

Tech. Specialist (1 yr 9 mos)

Project Lead (9 mos)

Team Leader (11 mos)

Paul Mason Consulting

Module Leader (1 yr 10 mos)

Cognizant Technology Solutions

Programmer Analyst (3 yrs 1 mo)

Education

Master of Computer Applications (M.C.A.) at The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda

Bachelor of Engineering - BE at SVIT, Vasad Official

Science at Sabari Vidyalaya

Dhaval Shah

Software Engineer

Vadodara, Gujarat, India20 yrs 3 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

20+ years in backend system architecture.
Expert in high-throughput payment systems.
Proven track record in performance optimization.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Fintech Backend Architect with expertise in high-scale distributed systems.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Distributed Backend PlatformsPerformance OptimizationPayment Processing & Transaction FlowsReliability Engineering

Other Skills

DynatraceSplunk CloudAzure Cosmos DBChaos EngineeringPerformance EngineeringPayment ProcessingDistributed SystemsSplunkIT Cost OptimizationScalable ArchitectureSystem MonitoringAzureKubernetesSpring BootMicroservices

About

Experience

20 yrs 3 mos

Total Experience

5 yrs

Average Tenure

11 yrs 3 mos

Current Experience

Mastercard

2 roles

Principal Software Engineer

Promoted

Aug 2022 – Present · 3 yrs 9 mos

DynatraceSplunk CloudAzure Cosmos DBChaos EngineeringDistributed Backend PlatformsPerformance Optimization

Lead - Software Development Engineering

Jan 2015 – Jul 2022 · 7 yrs 6 mos

DynatraceSplunkPerformance OptimizationReliability Engineering

C-sam -- a mastercard company

5 roles

Consultant - Enterprise Architecture

Jul 2014 – Dec 2014 · 5 mos

Tech. Specialist

Mar 2014 – Jun 2014 · 3 mos

Tech. Specialist

May 2012 – Feb 2014 · 1 yr 9 mos

Worked as a key member of horizontal (i.e. as cross cutting) group working on multiple projects, where in I was mainly involved in :
Outlining high level system architecture, component architecture etc.
Preparing security design and implementation of critical use cases
Formulating REST like APIs
Enhancing existing enterprise application to expose RESTful services with minimal impact and maximum reuse
Implementation of socket server using Spring Integration
Application performance optimization
Code review
Outlining DB schema for the enabling layer and custom application
Executing POC on
+ AJAJ based approach for RIA
+ Spring security framework
+ Usage of Apache Rampart for securing SOAP based services
+ Implementing reports using BIRT
Conducting tech talk on 'Design Principles and Heuristics'
Analysis and Evaluation of software code quality measurment tools
Analysis and high level estimation of several RFPs
Interviewing candidates for senior technical positions
Vendor evaluation w.r.t technical requirement identification

Project Lead

Jul 2011 – Apr 2012 · 9 mos

Worked for Axis bank mbanking application where I was primarily involved in -
1. Estimation, Design and implementation of their services
2. Code reviews for the components implemented by team members
3. Troubleshooting of performance issues
4. Live and UAT issues

Team Leader

Jul 2010 – Jun 2011 · 11 mos

Worked for Axis bank mbanking application where I was primarily involved in -
1. Design, Implementation, Testing & Deployment of IMPS service.
2. Support of IMPS component
3. Implementation of simulators to test all the scenarios w.r.t IMPS
4. Review of design and code implemented by team members

Paul mason consulting

Module Leader

Sep 2008 – Jul 2010 · 1 yr 10 mos

Worked for "British Telecom - Fresca" client wherein I was mainly entrusted upon to
Coordinate with team for the development tasks to be accomplished as per the scheduled time lines
Interact with client for gathering requirement
Preparing requirement and design specs
Designing and implementing generic and scalable solutions for the tasks assigned
Conducting technical interview to ramp up the team
Help team members to troubleshoot technical problems they faced whilst doing implementation
Conducting technical training sessions

Cognizant technology solutions

Programmer Analyst

Jul 2005 – Aug 2008 · 3 yrs 1 mo

I have been associated with maintenance & development projects. I had lead a team of 5 people. I was involved in all the phases (SDLC) of the project. I have also carried out POC for comparative study of various frameworks.