A day in the life of a Senior Backend Engineer at Inviqa
Software engineers play a critical role in bringing software to life. While frontend engineers are responsible for implementing visual elements that users see and interact with in a web application, backend engineers are responsible for server-side application logic and integration for the work frontend developers do.
Here we sit down with Daniel Leech, a Senior Backend Engineer at Inviqa, based in our Berlin office, to learn more about the role within the context of a digital agency.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities?
My day-to-day responsibilities include coding, pairing with other developers, helping QA, and keeping the Kanban board alive. In addition I clarify information with the product owner and other stakeholders and help to ensure that we are delivering high-quality, well-tested features. Since I am involved in the recruitment of new developers, I am also reviewing job applications and tests.
Where does your role sit within the wider team?
I am one Senior Backend Engineer in a large team consisting of a Technical Team Lead, a Principal Engineer, two Frontend Engineers, eight Backend Engineers, two QAs, a project manager, and a product owner who represents the client.
We are an internationally distributed team but are all ready to pair up on a Slack call at a moment’s notice. We have daily 15-minute syncs in addition to fun weekly retrospectives.
What do you enjoy most about working at Inviqa?
Inviqa is a large organization and it is great to work with so many talented people. We have a lively Slack community and a regular company conference in London, produced by and for our colleagues.
Self-development is important to Inviqa and the company provides a generous annual learning budget (which can be spent on conferences, books, evening classes, etc). There are also regular opportunities to attend hour long ‘communities of practice’ and ‘clubs’ during the working week.
What have you found most challenging?
Software development is challenging in many different ways. Joining Inviqa and working in teams makes you realise that value lies in team, not individual, productivity.
Why did you choose a career in software development?
I was interested in programming from a young age, and decided to pursue it as a career after leaving university (where I studied music technology). I always have enjoyed the challenge of solving problems with software.
What’s your best advice for someone looking to become a software developer?
Never stop learning. Strive to do the best that you can.
What are your interests outside work?
I enjoy running, playing the piano, reading, and working on various programming side-projects.