Jakub is Head of Data Services at Vortexa and possesses over 14 years of experience in software engineering. Jakub’s team is responsible for creating and operating the cloud infrastructure that underpins Vortexa’s analytics platform.

Prior to Vortexa, Jakub spent four years working at two portfolio analytics companies; building visualisation-heavy frontend and backend services to allow portfolio and asset managers to get a handle on performance, allocation, attribution and risk of their investments. When not at work, Jakub can be found jamming on analogue synthesizers! 

We wanted to find out what inspired Jakub to join Vortexa, what advice he has for people hoping to join and what he really thinks of our company culture…

What inspired you to join Vortexa?

The possibility of building a platform from scratch that is an all seeing eye into the Oil & Gas industry is what really got me excited. What’s really important is what motivates me to stay; the intricate complexities of the real world, the challenge of serving the most comprehensive data set in the industry fast, and keeping it as fresh as possible, and the smartest bunch of people I’ve had a chance to work with in my career!

”…Our culture is meritocratic – best idea usually wins, and we approach discussing them very openly. There is a high sense of ownership and care for the good of the company – I’m yet to hear “I’ve done my bit” at Vortexa.”

What would you say is the most interesting aspect of your role?

The ultimate goal of the Data Services Team is to allow other development teams to focus purely on business logic, no boilerplate. Figuring out how the team can get there through an incredibly modern infrastructure with a smooth Developer Experience, while keeping everything we build operational and stable, is a puzzle I really enjoy solving!

What have been some significant milestone moments for you at Vortexa?

Experiencing all of our data processing, backend and frontend services connect to each other for the first time into one functional product was a moment that is really important to me. Being part of a product crossing the line in between idea and reality is a huge motivator.

What does day-to-day life look like for you as Head of Data Services? 

No two days are the same, apart from the morning coffee – that is constant! Activities vary from attending meetings, helping out team members with their project work and fire fighting, conducting interviews (we are doubling in size this year), to thinking about what we can do to help us scale our workforce smoothly.

What key qualities make a Head of Data Services successful?

Breadth of technical knowledge definitely helps. Eagerness to keep not only my team, but also other development teams happy is also quite important. I come from a UX background, and I’m really keen to apply this thinking to developing infrastructure.

”…What’s really important is what motivates me to stay; the intricate complexities of the real world, the challenge of serving the most comprehensive data set in the industry fast, and keeping it as fresh as possible, and the smartest bunch of people I’ve had a chance to work with in my career!”

How would you describe the culture at Vortexa?

Meritocratic – best idea usually wins, and we approach discussing them very openly. There is a high sense of ownership and care for the good of the company – I’m yet to hear “I’ve done my bit” at Vortexa. Last but not least, we are a very tight knit group – I’ve made quite a few good friends along the way.

What advice would you give people hoping to join Vortexa! 

Apply! Did I mention that we’re doubling in size this year? We’ve got plenty of positions available for people with variety of skills.

Describe your working life at Vortexa in three words! 

Making me proud!