Tech-009: From Junior to Lead Developer in Two Years

Sometimes careers accelerate in unexpected ways. After just over a year at DMS, our development manager moved on to a new opportunity. That left a huge gap — and somehow, I found myself stepping into his boots

I hadn’t expected it, but when opportunity knocks, you either step up or step aside

After just over 1 year at the business the development manager moved on to other opportunities, this left quite a large hole to fill.

I kind of fell into his boots Picking up his management duties and workload naturally, this did nothing but accelerate my career as the; challenges, unknowns and steep learning curves drove me to consume more and more knowledge, honing my skills and taking the leap from software development into software engineering

After just 2 years at DMS I was promoted to role of Lead Developer… yes that’s right… I skipped senior straight to lead…

At the same time the business went through a huge transformation stage moving to shiny new offices on Attercliffe Road, exploring new tech, hiring new people and rebranding to the exciting new DMS Navigator as it's known today.

The business had grown and so had I

I spent the next three years working alongside my new team — Tarinder, Simon E, and Gyorgy — where we continuously learned from one another, shared coaching, and pushed both the business and myself forward.

I worked with key automotive manufacturers like; Ford, Volkswagen Auto Group (VAG), Kia and Nissan working on large integration projects using technologies I had no experience with like SOAP and Java.

I also regular visited customer sites and engaged directly with customers, this helped to build my soft skills and help communicate better

Reflection

There were sleepless nights and moments of doubt. But every challenge made me stronger. Each problem stretched my skills, each project expanded my horizons, and each success proved to me that I was capable of more than I thought