Currently @ Foreign Policy Full-Time · Remote LAMP · WP · AI/ML

building resilient
web infrastructure
that ships.

I'm Zgjim — a senior web developer focused on the backend half of the web. REST microservices, cloud-native deployments, CMS platforms, and edge caching for products that serve millions.

view selected work get in touch
~ / zgjim — zsh — 80×24
$whoamizgjim.gjonbalaj // senior web developer $cat ~/Desktop/Profile/About.md# Building high-traffic web applications.# PHP · Laravel · WordPress · AI Integrations. $jq . ~/.status.json{  "availability": "open",  "timezone": "ET / UTC-5",  "remote": "required"} $
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01 · about

A backend-leaning
full-stack engineer.

I've spent the last two decades shipping web applications across media, marketing, and e-commerce — from custom CMSes to REST microservices that move millions of requests a day. Lately I've been embedding AI workflows into editorial and operational pipelines at Foreign Policy.

I care about code that's optimized, maintainable, and scalable — and admin tools that get out of your way. Comfortable owning a feature end-to-end — provisioning the box, writing the API, picking the framework, configuring the cache.

Currently remote out of Connecticut. Native English, fluent Albanian.

02 · skills

The stack I reach for.

Polyglot by necessity, opinionated by experience. Comfortable across the lifecycle — provisioning, building, deploying, monitoring.

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core langs

Languages & Protocols

PHP SQL JavaScript HTML CSS Liquid REST JWT OpenSSL
⚡
backend

Frameworks

Laravel WordPress ProcessWire HTMX Livewire CodeIgniter
◆
frontend

JS & CSS

Vue React Tailwind SCSS PostCSS Vite Webpack
☁
infra

Cloud & Ops

Docker containerd DigitalOcean Azure GCP Proxmox Debian/Ubuntu DRAC Cloudflare Workers
✦
ai / llm

AI & Automation

Claude OpenAI Gemini MCP / Skills Pipelines
⎇
vcs / ci

Source & CI

GitHub Bitbucket GitLab CircleCI
⌗
e-commerce

Commerce

Shopify Headless Contentful
⌥
networking

Systems

DNS Firewalls VMs Nginx Apache Solr
03 · experience

Where I've shipped.

Nineteen years across media, marketing, and e-commerce — plus a consultancy running in parallel since 2010.

03/2023 — Present

Senior Web Developer

Foreign Policy Magazine · Remote — Washington, D.C.

Developing and maintaining a suite of REST microservices powering both web and mobile delivery. Architected the search-appliance stack end-to-end, led platform modernization efforts, and built HTMX-powered interactive features. Operate edge caching that serves millions daily. Building AI workflows that power content recommendations and search results.

WordPress Laravel REST HTMX AI DevOps
02/2020 — 03/2023

Web Developer

Foreign Policy Magazine · Remote — Washington, D.C.

Built and maintained WordPress plugins, built ingestion pipelines for large datasets and powered high-traffic editorial features. Partnered cross-functionally on microsites and marketing tools via automated CI/CD pipelines.

Microservices Containerized Cloud CI/CD API Integrations
07/2019 — 02/2020

Lead Developer

Hidden Gears · Remote — Hudson, N.Y.

Delivered headless e-commerce solutions on Shopify using Contentful. Built custom WordPress backends. Owned client workflows from design hand-off through deployment.

Shopify Headless E-Commerce WordPress React Vue
01/2018 — 06/2019

Full-Stack Developer

Agency Labs · Bethel, CT

Architected micro backends in PHP / MySQL / Laravel paired with intuitive front-end portals. Stood up self-hosted infrastructure (Apache Solr) for client-specific needs. Migrated SharePoint sites to a Laravel platform. Built bespoke WordPress backends for client needs.

Laravel WordPress PHP/MySQL Apache Solr
04/2013 — 12/2017

Senior Web Developer

SFA Marketing · Trumbull, CT

Shipped static and dynamic sites across ProcessWire, WordPress, CodeIgniter, and custom in-house CMSes. Integrated platforms like Zillow, USPS, Salesforce, and Fandango; represented engineering in executive forecasting meetings. Set up infrastructure and deployed applications on a custom VPS.

ProcessWire CMF cPanel WHM API Integrations DevOps
02/2010 — Present

Owner / Developer

Logikbarn · Ansonia, CT

Solo consultancy delivering tailored web applications on a contract basis. Scoping, building, deploying, and supporting whatever the client's stack happens to be.

IT Consulting Custom Web Applications E-Commerce (Shopify)
04 · selected work

Things I've built lately.

Four projects that represent the range — editorial infrastructure, AI-powered automation, large-scale search, and personalized member experiences.

https://foreignpolicy.com
Foreign Policy Magazine - Home Page
01 / 04

Foreign Policy Magazine

editorial platform · 2020 — Present

CI/CD build flows, REST endpoints, HTMX-powered features, and an edge caching layer serving millions of readers. Performance and operational discipline are the brief.

PHP/WordPress HTMX REST JWT CI/CD
visit site
internal://inputiq · ai assistant
InputIQ - AI Assistant Plugin
02 / 04

InputIQ

ai automation · 2026

An AI assistant plugin for Foreign Policy Magazine — surfaces tag suggestions, summarizes drafts, and runs scheduled jobs for housekeeping the editorial team would otherwise do by hand.

React AI SDKs WordPress Plugin Internal Tool
internal tool
https://foreignpolicy.com/?s=United+States
Foreign Policy Magazine - Search Appliance
03 / 04

Search Appliance

content indexing · 2024 - 2025

Replaced the sites legacy search with a Meilisearch stack — auto-indexing at the CMS layer, an InstantSearch.js front end, and embedding-based semantic queries. Tens of thousands of articles, results in under a second.

Meilisearch InstantSearch.js AI Self-Hosted
view results
https://foreignpolicy.com/myfp
Foreign Policy Magazine - MyFP
04 / 04

MyFP

member experience · 2023

A personalized subscriber experience spanning web and mobile, letting readers follow topics, authors, and regions. Owned end-to-end — CMS, API, and the feed powering both clients.

Full-stack REST API Mobile Personalization
visit myfp
05 · contact

Let's build something.

Always happy to talk shop — senior / staff roles, consulting, or just interesting problems. Drop a note — I respond within a business day.

Reach me direct.

For anything async — interviews, scoping, technical questions — email is fastest. For freelance or contract work, send a short brief.

basedConnecticut, USA
timezoneET
statusCoffee · Code · Repeat