Heading the Engineering team at Quintype

I look after all of the Engineering efforts at Quintype.

On a day to day basis, I ensure all aspects of Engineering, from Technology to people and infra are running smoothly. I, ofcourse, am supported by peers who help drive Technology, QA and DevOps.

As a team, we have to ensure that we’re looking ahead and taking the right decisions in terms of best practices, technology and product. Interaction with other stakeholders in Customer Success, Sales & Marketing, HR is a key aspect of my role.

Being part of a startup requires us to be agile enough to wear other hats based on the need of the hour. While we hunt for our Head of Product, I have been helping drive Product decisions as well.

I was never a WFH person, the most I had worked from home before the pandemic could be counted on hand in my 20+ years of career. While the pandemic has taught me to be more adaptable, it really is the video meetings that help keep the day to day connect with colleagues going. It’s very easy to become isolated and disconnected from work even while you spend longer hours than usual working from home.

As the pandemic has eased a bit, it’s been refreshing to work out of office once in a while.

Most engineering teams start the day with a standup. After which we end up either getting into architecture or implementation discussions, debugging or fixing oncall or support issues. There are also the occasional customer calls, staffing discussions, interviews etc that keep us moving. Working remotely, we ensure to connect with everyone and ensure effective communication.

The 2 years with Quintype have been fun. Like any other place, there have been ups and downs but the people at QT make it worth it.

Getting into the pandemic and shutdown was difficult overall, with economic uncertainty for businesses etc, but having overcome that obstacle together as a team gives a deep sense of achievement.

At the end of the day it’s the culture at Quintype that keeps you going through the tough days, having had a good laugh over witty remarks or easy jokes, all while balancing a debugging issue or making some key decisions.

A friend who wants to grow and expand while holding your hand and tugging you along, at times letting you lead the way.

A drive to learn and own like it was their product and technology. And to work well as a team.

Debugging or fixing a technical issue still gives me the high that none can match. But being able to help people grow while balancing the company’s growth is the best part of my role. Having worked for quite some time, I focus on the bits that bring me joy and satisfaction which weigh out the struggles of the job by a long margin.

I include a reflection on the things that got done, hopefully a good mix of tech, people and product growth, some days more focused on one area than another.

I end each day with the same question to myself “Am I still making a difference?”