When Roberto was 10 years old, he went to the library with his dad. There was a little computer in the corner that caught his interest and he left with every book on computing he could find. At home, Roberto took out a pad of paper and started writing his first code. Years later, when Roberto decided he probably couldn’t follow his original dream of being a mathematician, he decided to pursue a career in computing.
What was the path that eventually brought you to the Guardian?
My first work experience was not really great. The first company I ever worked for went bust only a month after I started. The company after that unfortunately turned out to have a very negative work environment. I was there for several years before I decided I’d had enough and started looking for something else. Finally, searching through the Guardian newspaper - yes, the print edition - I came across an advert for a job at the Guardian itself.
When I got through to the phone interview stage I found the person on the other side so wonderfully enthusiastic, asking me all these fascinating geeky questions; I couldn’t believe my luck. Turns out that the Guardian is filled with wonderful people like that. I had spent years feeling I couldn’t be myself at work and suddenly I felt I was at the beginning of an exciting new journey. My wife remembers me on the morning of my second day at the Guardian, happily jumping out of bed to get back to back to my fantastic new job. She’d got her husband back.
What has your journey at the Guardian been like so far?
My years at The Guardian have been an amazing and exciting experience - I’ve rotated through many different teams, working with fantastic people and learning so much. I progressed to become a Senior Developer, then a Lead Developer. I was proactive about seeking out that promotion. My line manager was very supportive, making sure I was meeting the right targets and achievements in my performance development. Now I’m a staff developer on the Ophan team, which I love.
For engineers at the Guardian, you can stick with a development-focused role, as I’ve done, or become an engineering manager, where you can continue to code but are substantially focused on management duties, including line management. Our progression framework provides a lot of guidance and objective criteria about how you can progress on these paths!
What does a typical work day involve?
First thing in the morning I spend some quality time with my children before breakfast and a drop off to school. Then I take an invigorating walk around the beautiful park - something I’ve found very important to my mental health during the pandemic.
At ten I start work and catch up on messages and any urgent situations that need addressing. Half an hour later we have our team standup where we catch up on where we are with tasks and our goals for the day and then pair up or work individually. I love pairing and I accomplish a lot of work that way. In between that, I’m likely to be in meetings with other teams to work on any issues or requests as they might relate to Ophan.
Whilst working remotely has been a positive experience overall, it did come with some challenges. My wife is a key worker and it’s been a credit to my great understanding manager that I have been able to have the flexibility during the pandemic to be as supportive as possible to her and my family while also making sure my work and health (mental and physical) did not suffer adversely.
What is your favourite part of working at the Guardian?
When I first joined the Guardian, I was blown away by the practice of ‘pairing’ (where two software developers work on one computer, collaborating on the same design, algorithm, code, or test), something I’d never experienced before. It’s a great way to learn, there are so many benefits to it, including that knowledge never gets lost and it takes a lot of the guesswork and singular frustrations out of the task.
I’ve found such value in pairing that I’ve become a big advocate for it. So I occasionally send out communications to the wider department to let them know I am available if they ever need a pairing partner. I’ve also presented on it at our Tech Times (weekly departmental seminars which are often focused on software engineering topics) to make sure we continue to keep the practice at the forefront.
I also really appreciate the constant learning opportunities available. For example, in addition to Tech Time, we also have Learning Groups sessions. There are always slots available for anyone who would like to use the time to introduce a subject of their choice and educate the wider team.
But it’s not just learning; there’s a lot of fun as well. You always feel like you can organise any extra-curricular activities that interest you and find lots of people eager to join in! I’ve organised things like karaoke, comedy, cycling trips, lunchtime jogging sessions, and even trips to the theatre! In fact, I really look forward to when I can start seeing my colleagues again and planning some more karaoke!
Development of digital products is central to the Guardian. You could be building the products that showcase our progressive and independent journalism, crafting the tools that journalists use to write their stories, developing the services that allow those stories to be distributed across the globe, or safeguarding our financial future.
If you’re interested in joining our product and engineering team, please visit the Guardian News & Media careers page.