A Day in the Life of a Splitter: Ceci Sachetti

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a software engineer with over ten years of experience in backend design and development of multi-tenant web applications. I specialize in REST microservices architectures based on Java technologies. I’ve been working at Split for almost three years. I live in Tandil, a beautiful, but small and hilly city in Argentina that is roughly 500km away from Buenos Aires. Apart from my job, I enjoy dancing, baking, traveling, and crafting.

How did you hear about Split and what made you choose to work here? 

I heard about Split from a friend who had been working at the company for a couple of years at that time. Split was a small company back then, but well-known in town for hiring really good engineers. I knew that surrounding myself with such talented people would boost my career. It was a great opportunity for me to take. Also, after having gained most of my experience in the e-commerce field, moving to a whole new domain seemed appealing to me.

Tell us about your role and what you do at Split.

I’m a backend engineer and as such my role consists of designing and driving the technical execution of new features. It means that I need to have fluid and effective communication with my engineering manager, the product team that brings us the requirements, and the rest of the team who helps with the implementation.

I’m part of the API committee, where we discuss and review each new API that is going to be released to make sure they meet our best practices and standards. I also participate in other broader initiatives like the decomposition of our current domains into multiple microservices. Domain decomposition is an ongoing project that will help us separate our mono repository into multiple highly cohesive and loosely coupled services.

What is your favorite part of your role? 

I enjoy getting things working, done on time, and with an emphasis on quality. I also like being able to help others and share knowledge. Particularly at Split, I love having the opportunity to use our own product and experience firsthand all of our product’s benefits.

What challenges do you face and how do you deal with them?

As the company grows, the base code becomes bigger and more complex. Every new feature is a challenge. We cannot avoid complexity, so we must manage it. Besides coming up with good ideas, researching a topic as much as possible always gives me more options to move forward. The domain decomposition we’re carrying out is another challenge that naturally emerged as a result of the growth of the company. Last, but not least, I can always turn to the engineering team for feedback and advice. It’s guaranteed that other qualified people will bring support and helpful insights to the table.

What are the career growth opportunities as a Software Engineer at Split? 

There are a multitude of opportunities for professional development at Split. I have experienced that myself. I have grown a lot professionally since I joined. This is in part due to being exposed to the challenges I mentioned earlier but also because of the support from managers, human resources, fellow engineers, and the opportunities they gave me to prove and expand my capabilities. Besides being an individual contributor, you can also grow your skills and take ownership of bigger responsibilities. The engineering management path is another direction we can take.

How has Split supported your career and the career of other women? 

Split actively works on increasing diversity. Women remain underrepresented at tech companies, so knowing that the company I work at is aware of that and helping to bridge the gap is important. We have women in leadership roles and it’s very positive to see peers in such positions, so women in lower-level positions are aware that it is possible.

What does your team do and what’s it like to be on your team? 

My team is responsible for product-facing features that focus on the management of feature flags. Everyone on the team has a chance to technically lead the development of a new feature, according to their experience and knowledge. So sometimes I’m leading a project, and other times I’m helping with the project while another teammate leads. Besides working on new features, we also have to prioritize the tasks that the support team escalates to our team. Making sure that our product works as expected for our customers is very important.

What does your typical day look like at Split? Tell us about your favorite moment.

My typical day can’t start without a maté (a very traditional infused drink in Argentina). Once that’s ready, I catch up with all the new chat messages that were sent while I was off working hours. Currently, we are four hours ahead of our teammates in the United States and four hours behind our teammates in Europe. Most of my time is dedicated to the current project I’m leading and is either in the discovery or development phase.

The discovery phase implies dissipating any doubt with the product team about the requirements, specifying the technical approach in detail, and estimating the effort. During the development phase, we implement features with the help of my teammates. I also spend time reviewing other technical specifications, interviewing, and answering questions from other engineers on different teams about our features, APIs, and the way they’re implemented.

How have you stayed engaged in a remote environment?

The company has a great culture to keep us engaged and motivated in these almost 100% remote times. They organize virtual events, like video game nights where we have a lot of fun and laugh with our teammates. There are also several Slack channels where we can share some of our lives outside work to make us feel a little bit closer to what we would have in person. Always turning the camera on during meetings is very important as well, so we can see each other and let each other know that we’re listening.

What advice would you give future Splitters? 

Speak up when you see an opportunity for improvement. A proactive attitude towards doing things better is always welcomed and valued.

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