Technology

What do you do at Gamma?  

I’m a lead software engineer. I head up a team of 6 developers working on APIs and UIs for one of Gamma products. I work closely with business analysts and our product owner to translate requirements into development tasks. I work with solutions architects to design the architecture for the software that we build. I also actively work on development tasks, coding new features, investigating bugs and writing automated tests. I also support my team, and often other more junior engineers on Gamma’s systems and technologies.

Why did you choose to be a software engineer?

Coding has always been a hobby of mine, it’s what motivated me to read computing at university. I’ve always enjoyed learning and working with new technologies – just to discover what’s possible. I’m fortunate in that these elements are all part of my role at Gamma. Whilst my role has evolved over the years and now incorporates more analysis, design and architecture – I’ve found this to be just as enjoyable as writing code.

What’s been your greatest achievement so far?

I’ve been fortunate to work on many of Gamma’s products from the first line of code to their release. It’s always a great sense of accomplishment when customers begin using it for the first time as it is often the culmination of many months of work. A few years ago I worked with several others, redesigning and modernising the user interface for our wholesale web portal. Not only was it gratifying to bring it up-to-date but after launching, we got positive feedback from many users which is very rewarding.

What type(s) of challenges do you face on a regular basis and how do you work through them?

We work in a very agile way and frequently things will change completely. It can sometimes be a bit frustrating but that is often the nature of software engineering. It can be challenging to keep on top of changing requirements, particularly when wanting to build a clean and well-structured codebase, but we work in a highly collaborative way so that myself and the development team are always aware that changes are happening, and having a diligent development team who take as much pride in their code as I do, means that we’re able to assimilate changes without compromising the quality of our codebase.

How would you describe your team?

I thoroughly enjoy working with my team – they’re not just excellent engineers, they’re excellent people. We often have a laugh whilst working together and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

What would you say to anyone thinking of applying for a role at Gamma but aren’t quite sure yet?

Gamma is in the middle of a technological transformation. We’re working to modernise a lot of our technologies and processes. There’s a lot of new “green-field” development underway and an excellent opportunity to get stuck into something brand new and in some cases – cutting edge.

What’s next for you in your career?

Fortunately, moving up into management isn’t the only option I have. I don’t want to move to an exclusive management role, I want to continue working in a role that still allows me to write code – because that’s what I enjoy most. I’m focusing on improving my skills with the new technologies that we’re adopting and hoping to progress onto a principal engineer or technical architect in the future.

Martin
Lead Software Engineer, Gamma

What do you do at Gamma?

I’m a UX designer at Gamma, meaning I research, design and test prototypes of our products. This allows us to get feedback and make sure we’re making useful and enjoyable services for our customers.

What excites you about your role?

The most exciting thing about my role is that UX is a moving target. There are always things to improve and new challenges that arise out of changes in the way people interact with digital technology. In this role at Gamma I have had the chance to get stuck into many different areas of UX, including research studies, app design, iconography, writing, and a lot more.

What’s the most challenging aspects of your role?

For me one of the overall challenges has been the level of autonomy over the projects I work with. In roles at other companies, it has felt like I was part of a production line. Coming to UX within Gamma was a shift towards taking more control over where I apply my time and skills, which ultimately leads to a better UX output, but getting used to steering my own ship took some getting used to.

What’s been your biggest achievement to date?

Alongside a few close colleagues, we set up a brand new help-centre to provide ancillary support for one of our call products, PhoneLine+. Although we will be continuing to improve, update and monitor the site, I’m proud of what we were able to achieve within a limited timescale before launch.

How flexible is the working environment?

I’ve found Gamma very flexible in terms of getting things done on a schedule which suits me best, but also in terms of getting access to what I need. My role is inherently pretty flexible in that I need to be able to shift gears and wear different hats according to the needs of my project.

How does Gamma compare to other work experiences?

For me, the most important things in a business are drive and culture. I’ve worked in environments with big ambitions, but terrible internal politics and attitude – and I’ve worked in places with a fantastic culture, but where it’s impossible to get improvements out of the door.
So far my experience with Gamma has been the best of both worlds. There’s a hunger for getting things done and making things better, but with a supportive and passionate community behind it.

How do you keep yourself upskilled in the latest UX trends and technology?

UX moves fast! So I’ve got a few ways I keep on top of things. Number one is networking, I can always rely on past and present colleagues to spill the gossip about a juicy new trend or UX tool. Secondly, email newsletters (e.g. UX cc) are really handy for keeping an eye on what people are talking about.
Lastly, when it comes to more in-depth learning I’m a huge fan of video classes. I like LinkedIn Learning, Udemy, Skillshare,and even YouTube. I’ve always got a long list of bookmarked courses, and there are many I find myself returning to for a refresher after a few years.

Alex
UX Designer, Gamma

What do you do at Gamma?

I am the UCaaS engineering manager. I manage a team of engineers who are responsible for bringing alive all things unified communications as a service or UCaaS related (you can see why they opted to abbreviate it!).

These include services such as:

• Telephony
• Instant messaging and presence
• Meetings (audio and video conferencing)
• Screen sharing
• Mobile

My team and I generally focus more on the server/cloud components of these solutions, with the actual clients that consume these services being developed by the software development team. We have to collaborate very closely with this team as the front end cannot exist without the backend and vice versa.

What excites you most about your role?

UCaaS is something that is being consumed more and more every day by different industries given the recent rise of the working from home trend. These UCaaS tools enable people to do their jobs, in fact in a lot of cases, without tools to collaborate, it would make some jobs near impossible to carry out remotely.

So the fact that the decisions I make go onto influence the design and implementation of these solutions really gives me a good reason to be enthusiastic when I power up my laptop every day.

There’s probably a joke about ‘with great power comes great responsibility in there somewhere, but don’t worry, I’ve never been one for being a villain.

What type(s) of challenges do you face on a regular basis and how do you work through them?

Given the nature of my role, the majority of the challenges that I face are of the technical variety. But as they are technical problems, there are always logical solutions since software and hardware all abide by a set of specific rules and instructions (fortunately machines have not yet developed human emotions, not yet anyway).

This means that you can tackle a problem simply by examining the evidence and tracing the issue to its origin. Then it’s just a case of thinking ‘okay, this is a problem with X, how can I change X’s behaviour? What impacts would changing X’s behaviour have on the overall solution?’ then picking the most elegant, non-intrusive option.

How do you keep yourself up to speed with the latest technologies?

I am subscribed to various google groups, message boards and Github repositories. We also have a team of technical architects whose job is to look far into the future, so they also often forward me drafts of upcoming RFC’s which they think could be relevant.

You haven’t lived until you’ve read an RFC!

What’s the culture like within your team?

In Engineering we try to promote a friendly, approachable culture that promotes an atmosphere where there are no stupid questions, just the sharing of knowledge.  We also believe in autonomy, where engineers are trusted to get the job done, with their activities not being micromanaged and nobody looking over their shoulder.

Mark
UCaaS Engineering Manager, Gamma

What do you do at Gamma?

I’m the UX design & researcher at Gamma. I am responsible for conducting research for all of our products, listening to customer feedback and translating their needs and wants into useful and usable products that they enjoy using.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I love the variety of work and that no two days are the same.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Joining Gamma during the Covid-19 lockdowns and having moved from London to Manchester. I thought would be a challenge to make friends and connections, however it’s been quite the opposite. Everyone is friendly and always willing to help out.

Gamma also provided great ways for us all to stay in touch during the lockdown by adding in virtual coffee breaks, mental health talks, exercise classes and these activities have continued throughout.

How easy has it been to fit into the culture within Technology?

It’s a great culture and working environment at Gamma.
There is almost a start-up feel to the company with flexible working combined with the corporate stability and benefits, it’s the best of both worlds. It’s a great place to work, where the company really cares about the individuals.

Rachael
UX Designer, Gamma