If you’re walking around Outrider’s headquarters in Golden, Colorado, you may hear joyful exultations or see a group of people enthusiastically high-fiving.
It’s a common occurrence, Suhail Pallath Sulaiman says, but not because they’re cheering on a Broncos win. Rather, after a ton of hard work and collaboration, teams are celebrating because they finally smoothed out some technical issues for their robot, which will be deployed to complete autonomous yard operations in logistics hubs.
“When you talk and work with team members, one thing you can easily notice is how much they are emotionally invested in this product,”said Pallath Sulaiman, a senior software engineer on the robotics team. “All of them want to see the product they have worked on be deployed in thousands of logistic yards, making an impact on the environment and making logistic yards safer and more efficient.”
Outrider is one of six Colorado-based companies that were eager to discuss their creative and invested technical teams, which several leaders likened to families. As these featured companies quickly expand — in dynamic industries ranging from child care to aerospace — they are seeking passionate, collaborative people to join their teams as engineers, data scientists, product experts and more.
Built In Colorado connected with technical leaders from Outrider, Zoom Video Communications, Sierra Space and three other fast-growing companies to get the scoop on their top traits for candidates, as well as details for the ambitious and exciting projects that new hires can expect to join.
As Zoom Video Communications experienced massive growth over the past 18 months, engineering team members had to stay nimble in order to adapt to the company’s quickly changing landscape and meet customers’ rising needs. Moving forward, as the Denver-based video communications company tackles exciting new projects, such as improving its platform for ChromeOS users, leaders are looking for candidates who act as customer advocates.
What’s one skill set that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
Usually, I’m looking for candidates who approach their work first and foremost as customer advocates. These individuals will incorporate technical solutions with particular attention to the who, what and why of problem solving. This is opposed to simply building a feature to meet basic functional requirements.
There are other traits that are important to being successful on my team, and I generally recommend that people read The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni to get a sense of what those traits could look like.
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
My teams are responsible for building Zoom’s browser-based communication tools, most notably meetings, while working to create parity in feature richness and performance across browsers and operating systems.
For customers using ChromeOS, this will take on a particular importance in late 2022 and into 2023 as we launch our new ChromeOS client, built on a progressive web application framework. This will be the standard paradigm for application development in that operating system.
This shift is significant because it will bring the Zoom on ChromeOS experience closer to full feature and performance parity with our other native platform clients.
Nimble learning, prioritization and execution have made our team and team members successful.”
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
I can choose many words to describe our team culture, but if I had to choose one, I would say nimble.
Our team has grown exponentially, alongside the rest of Zoom, over the last 18 months. Our team members had to learn existing code quickly, identify areas of opportunity for improvement, navigate an ever-shifting growth landscape (both internally and externally) and respond to the unique needs of customers and organizations operating strictly in browser-based environments.
Nimble learning, prioritization and execution have made our team and team members successful.
Teams at Sierra Space work in the high-risk, high-reward industry of human spaceflight, so it is imperative that they are passionate, committed and skilled in several programming languages. Next year, the Louisville-based aerospace company expects to complete developing, testing and certifying software and simulations that are crucial to launching its first mission to the International Space Station.
What’s one character trait that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
Sierra Space’s projects are inspiring and rewarding, yet challenging. Thus, a vital character trait we search for is passion. Demonstrating passion and commitment to our work is essential to succeeding in our fast-paced and demanding work environment.
Our group includes the flight software; guidance, navigation and control simulations; and software tools teams. One of the most critical skill sets we seek is proficiency with programming languages, notably C++ and Python.
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
Next year, our team will complete developing, testing and certifying the Dream Chaser flight software and simulations. This work is critical to the success of the spacecraft’s first mission to the International Space Station.
Human spaceflight is a risky endeavor that demands every team member’s utmost attention to detail.”
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
Excellence. Human spaceflight is a risky endeavor that demands every team member’s utmost attention to detail. Consequently, it has been imperative for our organization to cultivate a culture of excellence around the development of our safety-critical software.
At Hotel Engine, a travel tech company that connects businesses and hotels, leaders are searching for candidates who are passionate about software engineering and technology. With no signs of slowing down anytime soon, the Denver-based software company is excited to continue maintaining its core booking product while expanding some automated features.
What’s one character trait that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
Passion for technology, specifically a true passion for software engineering.
Our team is extremely passionate about tech, and we’re always looking for others to bring in unique and diverse perspectives around technology. If you’re passionate about software engineering and have a desire to continue learning and growing in the tech space, you have a great chance of being successful here.
Candidates who have that passion will also find that Hotel Engine is a challenging and exciting place to work. One cool thing that our teams get to experience is really seeing their work pay off in real time.
At a bigger organization, it may take more than a year for you to see anything that you work on go live. For people who are really passionate about their work, a huge pro to this job is that you’ll work on a project and quickly see it come to fruition.
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
In 2023 and beyond, the future for us is continuing to deliver a great, seamless core booking product while also building out some of the automation that can support business growth. We have a massive opportunity to continue growing Hotel Engine.
There are so many big things on the horizon that will offer the opportunity for candidates to work on exciting projects in the immediate future but also long term, in existing roles as well as in new roles that will open up as we take on new types of projects. It’s really exciting to know that we’re not going to be slowing down any time soon.
More important than finding someone who is the perfect technical fit, we look for people who can show that they’ve come up with really unique ways to solve problems in the past.”
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
Creative. This team is creative not only in how they complete projects and solve problems but also in how they build their teams and plan for the future.
We want people who aren’t afraid to speak up and bring ideas to the table — people who understand that there’s no such thing as a bad idea. That’s why we look to hire people who have unique and different backgrounds, rather than people all from the same school, industry or type of job.
Above all, we try to bring in creative thinkers. More important than finding someone who is the perfect technical fit, we look for people who can show that they’ve come up with really unique ways to solve problems in the past. Having that creativity ensures you’ll fit in with our culture really well.
At Procare Solutions, a child care management software company, Director of Software Engineering Jeff Esshaki characterizes his team as a family. After a recent investment in Amazon Web Services, the Denver-based company is looking for new hires with a collaborative spirit to join the engineering team in modernizing its platform.
What’s one skill set that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
Collaboration is key to the success of our team, so a strong collaborative spirit is something sought after in any candidate with whom I get the chance to speak.
Being able to work well with your teammates, both on your direct team and around the entire organization, makes for a better team experience. Having that team mindset serves to nurture a healthy and thriving environment that makes coming to work a great experience each and every day.
It’s never been a more exciting time to be a part of our company and help the business grow.”
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
Pushing the boundaries of technology is something we hold dear at Procare Solutions. With our investment in the Amazon Web Services ecosystem, modernizing our platforms has been an exciting endeavor for our engineering and infrastructure teams.
Looking ahead, as we continue to scale our business, we are adopting AWS cloud-native tools such as Aurora for database instances, AWS Batch for a modern approach to cron tasks, AWS Lambdas for true serverless infrastructure and much more. It’s never been a more exciting time to be a part of our company and help the business grow.
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
Family. We are in this day in and day out together, and the care I see our team members have for one another inspires me and others alike.
Trusting one another, picking each other up in the tough times and collectively celebrating victories all work in concert to bring the team together as a strong family unit that can face any and all challenges.
Engineers on the trailerconnect team at Outrider collaborate to build software and hardware for robotic arms that help complete autonomous logistics yard operations. In the year ahead, the Golden-based company is working on deploying its adapterless trailerconnect to multiple customer sites.
What’s one skill set that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
At Outrider, I'm part of the team developing the robotic arm that connects and disconnects air lines between our autonomous yard truck and a myriad of semi-trailers. Our team is made up of both software and hardware engineers working together on a first-of-a-kind solution in the freight and transportation industry. To be a successful candidate, you must first be a great collaborator, then a good roboticist.
Amazing things happen when great engineering minds come together to brainstorm, collaborate and build. On any given day, you'll see software engineers and hardware engineers working side by side on the robotic arm, trying to solve the next big challenge. Regardless of job titles, you'll see close collaboration between our software and hardware engineers, and even crossover between the two. For example, a software engineer may help fix and debug the hardware, while a hardware engineer debugs and helps develop the software side. This ability to transcend your discipline makes every team member a true roboticist.
At the end of the day, it's about how you apply your expertise in the context of working together as a team toward the end goal.
To be a successful candidate, you must first be a great collaborator, then a good roboticist.”
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
Our engineering premise was not to modify the trailers themselves, as there are millions of trailers — all with thousands of configurations of type, size and locations of the air line connection points — in the U.S. alone. Until recently, we focused on connecting and disconnecting air lines on a few common configurations. In 2023, we’re planning to deliver this capability on nearly all configurations. Outrider is not only the first company to solve this specific problem with a robotics solution but it’s also the first to address the broadest set of configurations, setting us well ahead of competitors.
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
If there is one word to describe the team culture, it would be "invested." I would choose this word because we are all in to have a product we built deployed in thousands of logistic yards, making them safer and more efficient.
When you walk around Outrider's headquarters, test site and customer sites, you'll notice people cheering and giving high-fives. It's not because the Broncos won a game, but it will be because they've achieved a great technical milestone that makes our autonomous system work even better. People love bringing their families by our development sites to see the latest autonomous vehicles with robotic arms being assembled and tested. You can quickly see the "work is play” mentality in practice because people really do enjoy the work they're doing at Outrider.
At Resi Media, provider of a digital engagement platform for live streaming technology, Vice President of Engineering Matt Hawkes says that building strong relationships is valued just as much as creating great code. Looking ahead to 2023, the Westminster-based information technology company plans to expand the number of social media platforms where creators can stream their content, while also upscaling their enterprise offering.
What’s one skill set that a successful candidate should have to land a spot on your team?
The ability to learn. I don’t hire people for the skills they have; I hire them for who they will become.
Anyone who can demonstrate that they have the ability to pick something up quickly also usually has the work ethic and drive that I look for in an employee. Some of my best hires were former interns at previous stops who have gone on to become chief technology officers, founders and principal engineers here at Resi.
Giving someone a shot to prove what they can do is highly motivating for employees, and it allows people to stretch and grow to where they want to be, not where they are now.
My favorite question to ask in an interview is “What are you most proud of in your career?” This may sound like a softball question, but it tells me about what motivates and drives you. By understanding that, I can see if you are a fit for the team.
What’s the biggest project your technical teams are planning for 2023, and why is it important for the success of the business as a whole?
We are planning to venture into two new and exciting areas in the upcoming year. The first is making all social media destinations available to our customers via supporting Resilient real-time messaging protocol destinations. This helps our customers schedule and send streams out to whatever mediums their customers want to consume them on, including LinkedIn, Twitch and Instagram, rather than just Facebook and YouTube.
In addition, we are upscaling our enterprise offering to move our streams from 1080p to full 4K resolution — from the encoder all the way through the live product and into our content library (archive) solution. This involves many technical challenges and will keep our engineers busy well into next year.
We work as hard on our relationships here as we do on our code.”
How would you describe your tech team culture in a single word, and why would you choose that word?
Family. When I came to Resi three years ago, my wife asked me: Why do you want to go there so much? My response was that it was like going home to where I was loved and appreciated by the people who know me.
At that time, we had a total of eight people on the engineering team, and when I walked into our office, it was like walking into Cheers and everyone yelling my name. As we quadrupled in size, we have managed to keep that family culture and stay as close knit as we can, even when we were separated by distance (e.g., during the Covid-19 pandemic).
We work as hard on our relationships here as we do on our code. My management team always has peoples’ best interests at the forefront of their minds. Just like any family, we may have our disagreements, but we always find a way to come back together in the end and work toward our common goal.
Our attrition has been very low as a result of this culture, and we continue to grow as a team and delve into new verticals that require new and emerging skill sets.
