Employee Spotlight: Valerie Francisco, Systems Engineer

Valerie from our Development Operations (DevOps) team in London talks to us about her career to date and what drew her to Quantile.

Can you talk us through your academic and professional background?

So funnily enough I don’t have a STEM academic background, I studied to be a History and Politics Lecturer. My tech background developed organically, mostly because I enjoyed gaming. I had my first IT role at university working at the Student Help Desk. I worked there for almost 5 years, but I never considered it a career – I assumed I wasn’t the right kind of person to work in IT professionally. My first role out of university was for an international education company, but tech kept finding me. I was approached by the IT department due to my background and when my contract ended, I moved from the student exchange department to the IT/Infrastructure department. So, it turns out I am the kind of person who works in technology after all!

What drew you to a role at Quantile?

Quantile appealed to me because it was smaller company, which in my experience usually means more diverse work. At Quantile I’m involved in all parts of the network and get to enjoy the challenges and the multiple hats that I wear working for a smaller company.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There is no typical day in DevOps. Anything can happen at any moment, and you need to be ready. That being said, I check that backups are taking place correctly, updates are being installed that all our servers and network appliances are up and running as expected. I also work with all the teams across Quantile to field questions and conduct troubleshooting.

What key skills have you developed since joining Quantile?

I’d say the one that stands out to me the most is flexibility, I need to be ready for anything. I regularly run into things I’ve never seen before, and I relish the challenge of tackling them without being intimidated. I’ve also developed more independence, Quantile has taken my learning style onboard and allowed me to develop accordingly, that is, being given a task, being given the time to work it out and ask questions if necessary. It’s something I really appreciate and creates an environment which fosters growth.

Is there any advice you would pass on to anyone looking to apply for a role at Quantile?

Don’t be intimidated, there is so much you can learn here. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys a challenge, is a self-starter and wants to learn, you’ll do great at Quantile!