Valeriia is a Full Stack Engineer, based in the London office, responsible for developing user-facing web applications.

Prior to joining Vortexa, Valeriia worked in e-commerce in Kyiv, Ukraine, as a Front-End Developer.

Fun fact: Valeriia trained as a professional rhythmic gymnast!

What does day-to-day life in your role look like?

My responsibilities can change from day to day. For example, one day I’m developing a new feature and the next I might be doing support duty. It’s good to have a reasonable amount of context switching, so I like that no two days are the same at Vortexa.

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

It’s actually the first time I’m working as a Full-stack Engineer (hopefully not the last), as previously I was doing mostly front-end stuff. Therefore, the opportunity to dig deeper into back-end related things like databases, containers, cloud services and AWS is really exciting. I really like Vortexa’s engineering practices; like having a fully remote dev environment without the complexities of local project setup.

What was your path to joining Vortexa?

I moved to London in September of last year and started to look for opportunities to work as a software engineer, and before that, I worked in a large e-commerce company and wanted to try a more fast-paced, startup-like environment. After a couple of weeks of interviews, I came across Vortexa and its mission seemed more exciting in comparison to other opportunities – so it felt like the perfect fit!

What kind of qualities does a person need to have to succeed at Vortexa?

Passionate about the mission, keen to learn new things and the desire to keep constantly striving for improvement.

What do you like about the culture?

The great team spirit! Since joining, I’ve worked remotely for most of the time (as have most others), but the distance wasn’t noticeable at all. Everyone in Vortexa is always keen to help, not only within one team but throughout the whole company.

Who do you collaborate most with at Vortexa?

Most of the time I work alongside my colleagues in the full stack engineering team but I will also work with our product, machine learning and data science teams.

What are the first three things you do on a Monday morning?

My morning starts with a cup of matcha! I have loved it for the last 15 years (never thought it would become mainstream), and I try to wake up early – but I’m not always successful. Then I do yoga and meditation to set myself for the day, and after breakfast straight to the computer to check Slack, my calendar and to get ready for my team’s morning stand-up.

What energises you most about working as a Full Stack Engineer?

I believe I can say that I’m inspired by my teammates. The way they do their job, with such high standards of ownership and professionalism; starting from tech skills ending with ethics. I’m lucky to be surrounded by these people and to have the opportunity to learn from them.