Chapter 01 · Introduction

Cameron Nickert

I make money move without drama - fast, safe, and merchant-first.I build reliable payments software for small businesses.

Senior software engineer shipping money-critical systems that stay boringly stable while scale goes wild.Senior software engineer focused on reliability, performance, and trust in payments systems.

  • RoleSenior Software Engineer
  • FocusPayments + reliability
  • BasedDetroit Metro
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Who I Am

Off-dutyOn-duty

Off-duty operating mode

I am motivated by work that is close to real users and grounded in real-world problems. Outside of work, I am a Detroit sports fan who enjoys travel, hiking, camping, boating, and fatherhood.

Fatherhood illustration

Father

Building small moments, stories, and routines that matter.

Hiking illustration

Hiking

Trail time resets my brain and finds fresh perspective away from screens.

Camping illustration

Camping

I like building camp routines and keeping gear dialed in for simple weekends.

Boating illustration

Boating

Time on the water brings a different pace and a favorite view of Michigan.

Sports illustration

Sports

Detroit teams are a year-round conversation, win or lose.

Board games illustration

Board games

Friendly competition, co-op strategy, and a good tabletop night.

On-duty operating mode

I build for merchants and small businesses, sweating latency, accuracy, and trust. My experience spans global payments platforms and startups where ownership and speed matter.

  • Own the problem end-to-end with product + design.
  • Design systems with reliability and observability first.
  • Communicate early, document clearly, unblock teams fast.

Systems Design & Reliability

Architecting resilient distributed systems, enforcing idempotency, and driving incident response for complex payment platforms.

Performance Engineering

Establishing latency budgets, leading high-impact optimization sprints, and scaling throughput across critical payment flows.

Observability Leadership

Defining actionable SLOs and SLIs, building robust monitoring and alerting, and evolving incident processes to minimize downtime.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Partnering with product, infrastructure, security, and data to design robust APIs, mitigate risk, and ship impactful features safely.

Technical Delivery & Mentorship

Leading technical scoping and execution, driving roadmap clarity, and mentoring engineers to raise execution standards and foster growth.

Story

From MySpace chaos to money-moving platforms.From early web experiments to payments platforms.

When I was 12, I built MySpace layouts and launched fusionlayouts.com. At 16, I joined FIRST Robotics (2013) and programmed the robot, then returned in 2015 and 2016 as a weekend mentor at my hometown school to teach wiring and programming.

I studied Computer Science at Central Michigan University (minors in IT and Math), started at Ford, bought my first home in Michigan, and got engaged at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. I grew into an anchor software engineering lead role, got married in Mt. Rainier National Park, completed my M.S. in Software Engineering at University of Michigan - Dearborn, built Nerd Nibble for several years, bought my current home in Michigan, spent a short stint at Indeed, and eventually joined Shopify as a Senior Software Engineer. Today, I still build side projects and focus on helping small businesses thrive.

  1. 2008 - 2016

    MySpace + FIRST Robotics

    Started with MySpace layouts and fusionlayouts.com, then programmed robots in FIRST and later mentored students on weekends.

  2. 2014 - 2021

    CMU, Ford, and Leadership Growth

    Completed CS at CMU (minors in IT and Math), joined Ford, and grew into an anchor software engineering lead role.

  3. 2019 - 2021

    M.S. + Nerd Nibble

    Finished an M.S. in Software Engineering at University of Michigan - Dearborn while building Nerd Nibble.

  4. 2021 - 2022

    Indeed — Software Engineer II

    Worked on identity and authentication services across the Indeed platform.

  5. 2022 - Present

    Shopify — Senior Software Engineer

    Built and scaled money-critical payments systems while continuing side projects that support small businesses.

Selected Work

Case studies with receiptsCase studies from payments and SaaS.

  • Payments
  • Reliability
  • Platform
  • Checkout
  • Fintech
  • Performance
  • SaaS
  • Serverless
  • Founding
Illustration of a payments platform with dashboards and connected services.

Senior Software Engineer

2023 - Present

Shopify Payments Platform

Money-critical systems that keep global payouts calm and on time.

  • Payments
  • Reliability
  • Platform
More details
Illustration of a shopper using split payments with checkout steps.

Software Engineer

2022 - 2023

Shop Pay Installments

Installment checkout that stays fast, clear, and risk-aware.

  • Checkout
  • Fintech
  • Performance
More details
Illustration of an ordering workflow with delivery and fulfillment cues.

Co-Founder

2020 - 2022

Web Appetizer (Nerd Nibble)

Serverless ordering for local restaurants with Stripe-powered payments.

  • SaaS
  • Serverless
  • Founding
More details
See all projectsFull project history

Resume

Experience across enterprise, startups, and scrappy builds.Experience across enterprise and startups.

I've built payment, identity, and commerce systems that keep trust high and outcomes measurable.I build payment, identity, and commerce systems that prioritize reliability and customer trust.

  • Senior Software Engineer, ShopifyPayments Platform · 2022 - Present
  • Software Engineer II, IndeedIdentity Platform · 2021 - 2022
  • Software Engineering Team Lead, FordPayments + Web Experiences · 2018 - 2021
  • M.S., Software EngineeringUniversity of Michigan - Dearborn · 2019 - 2021
  • B.S., Computer ScienceCentral Michigan University (Minors: IT, Mathematics) · 2014 - 2018
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Contact

Need software that doesn't flinch? Let's talk.Need software? Let's talk.

Reach out for payments, SaaS, or merchant-first product builds.Reach out for payments, SaaS, or merchant-focused product work.

cameron@nickert.devlinkedin.com/in/cameron-nickert

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