Tell us a little more about yourself?

I was born in Pakistan, but I grew up in a small village called Vighizzolo in Italy. The rumour was that the village is so small, there are more speed bumps than citizens! The best thing was being close to the Garda lake, where I used to spend a lot of time. 
 
I moved to England and went to Leeds Beckett University where I studied Computing.  
The industry and university courses around computing seemed more relevant and up to date than in Italy so I decided to move. 

How long have you worked at BrightCloud Group?

Almost 2 years! I joined around February 2019.

Describe to us a typical day as a Lead Developer?

To start my day, I usually check that all the live applications are running ok and try to plan my day. We have a daily stand-up call in the morning where we discuss what we’ve achieved in the previous day and what we are going to do today. We also bring to light any issues that we’ve had.  
 
My daily activities can be very mixed! I still do plenty of coding but there is a lot of research and investigation/prototyping work that I get involved with. I often review and help other members with the issues and look for new technologies or platforms that we can use to improve our productivity. 

What were you doing before working at BrightCloud Group?

Whilst I was at university I worked at Tesco and as a part-time developer for a small company in Roundhay – Leeds. We built a platform to collect all the data released from hospitals, councils and other such bodies. After University I saw that NHS digital, the company publishing that data, was looking for people, I really wanted to know how they managed that amount of data so I applied and ended up working there. 
 
NHS Digital had hundreds of developers and I felt very lucky to have had the opportunity to work there. I managed to work on many different projects at the same time and was able to see and learn how problems can be solved in many ways. 
 
After a few years at NHS Digital, I decided to venture out to other opportunities and became a contractor, I had the opportunity to work on very interesting applications, while doing this I joined BrightCloud Group. 

What would you say is the most rewarding aspect of your role?

I enjoy improving things – the most rewarding aspect I find is not necessarily building applications, it’s developing them as a team to improve the efficiency in the long-term! We tackle a lot of technical backlog to automate and improve ourselves for the future. Working as a team makes a big difference. It is very rewarding to set good practices for the future by working smarter and together.

What is your biggest achievement since working at BrightCloud Group?

I wish I could say I have 7 balled Jon Zoltie at pool! However, my biggest achievement so far has been developing the Call Recording Archive Manager. We managed to tackle a lot of technical backlog very quickly, we managed to provide a very cost-effective solution for a complex problem in the industry. I can see that at BrightCloud Group we get better every day. We think about the long-term not just what’s necessary and we are all united in that as a team.

What three words would your colleagues use to describe you?

Friendly, helpful, technical geek.

Tell us the most memorable moment that has happened at BrightCloud Group whilst you’ve been working there?

The night out in London for the summer party 2019 was a really good night! 
We have a great group of people as a whole – we’re very social and company events/nights out are always memorable!

What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought and why?

My portable BOSE SoundLink Revolve speakers. I listen to music a lot so it’s great to have a quality pair of speakers to listen to music at home. 

What item could you not live without?

Headphones – like I mentioned I listen to music a lot, but I also listen to music whilst I’m running, and music helps me concentrate at work.

What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?

There are now a lot more specialised roles, previously one person might have covered all the aspects of software development, this is not the case anymore. Now because of the complexity and scale of applications, there are more specialised roles in many different aspects. I think this is good because it pushes boundaries for everything.  
 
There is so much knowledge within the industry, lots of things are advancing at a faster pace and people are sharing this knowledge!

Who or what has most influenced your career and why?

My time at NHS Digital influenced my career a lot. I was able to work across many different teams and I was surrounded by lots of bright people who tackled a multitude of complex problems. 
 
I was also able to see the pros and cons of working in different ways and also realised the importance of having good communication within the team.