Humans of Atlassian: Data Engineering
July marked the beginning of a new and exciting fiscal year at Atlassian. The optimism is fueled by the ambitious goals to support our company’s OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and the TEAM growth globally, as well as the momentum of strong financial results at the end of the previous fiscal year. The scope of the Data Engineering team has also expanded to support hundreds of our valued stakeholders and become their true thought partners. In this journey, we keep ourselves honest by asking questions about our motivation and a sense of purpose to help shed some light on what it means to become a Data Engineer and have fun in the process.
This time, we’ve met with representatives of various Data Engineering squads to get the inside scoop on each individual’s experience at Atlassian.
Content edited for clarity and consistency by Olga Gabris, Senior Data Product Manager, Go-to-Market Data Engineering (California, USA).
We started with a few serious questions to get to know each interviewee’s path to data.
What profession did you want to have as a child?
Bruce: As a child, I wanted to become a military honor guard since they are calm and handsome. Though, I soon realized it’s a mission impossible as the entry barrier is the height of 6’2”…
Ross: I remember wanting to be an astronaut, a doctor, and later dreaming of being a rock star, but I don’t think I ever definitively made up my mind.
James: There was never really any specific job I wanted to do as a kid. I do remember completing one of those generic ‘What is my ideal job?’ questionnaires and getting a mixed bag of suggestions, including sign maker, musician, policeman, and priest (none of which I’ve pursued). I’m still not sure what I want to do, so for now, I’m just focused on enjoying the ride.
Prakash: In my early school years (back in India), I was told by my parents that the only two professions that guaranteed success in life were either becoming a medical doctor or an engineer (no matter what kind). I knew for a fact I didn’t have it in me to take up biology, so the only other alternative was to become an engineer.
What path led you to data engineering?
Ross: During my undergrad and graduate years, I focused on information systems and their role in supporting the business. I started my career as a database administrator and spent a few years managing MS SQL Server instances. During my stint as an IBM consultant, a more experienced colleague suggested I look into becoming a data architect. Back then, I had no idea what that meant, but the role intrigued me, and after some research, my new course was set.
James: I studied philosophy and psychology at uni but ended up taking a job in finance because I thought the pay would be better. After a few years of building financial models, I realized there’s more to business than just the bottom line. Wanting to dive into a broader analytical space, I joined an e-commerce company to head up the Business Intelligence team. Due to the work-life balance challenges with a kid on the way, I decided I needed a change. At the time, a few friends were raving about this tech company they worked for that had an ice cream fridge… Which led me to Atlassian in 2014 when a role in Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) popped up. After a couple more years in finance, I wanted to get closer to the data again and moved back into analytics. Eventually, I ended up in the Data Engineering team.
Prakash: Immediately after my bachelor’s in engineering, I joined IBM in 2010 and was trained to work on Teradata, Datastage (ETL Tool), and Hyperion (Reporting Tool). This way, the path was laid out for me to start my career in data. After IBM, I was given a chance to work at LinkedIn, where I learned and worked on Hadoop, Big Data, and building scalable data pipelines and products on top of Petabytes of data. After 7.5 years of working at LinkedIn, I joined Atlassian. Once a Data Engineer, forever a Data Engineer, isn’t it?
Bruce: My career in data started accidentally, as my uni degrees have nothing to do with computer science. One day, I saw a campus recruiting advertisement from an Aussie consulting firm hiring an “associate consultant” for business intelligence. With a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s in professional accounting and international business, I was fairly confident I could tackle it. At that time, I had no idea what business intelligence or data engineering was. Somehow I managed to pass the interviews (3 rounds, including one with the founder directly), and the first training course I was sent to was Oracle 101 — how to write select * from table.
What would you say to yourself on your first day as a data engineer?
Ross: Whether it is your first or last day as a data engineer, you will never know everything. This is an incredibly deep field with constantly evolving technologies and practices. One thing that doesn’t change is that poor-quality data is useless. Ensuring your pipeline produces fit-for-purpose data must be your first priority (unless you’re optimizing for latency). And if you are making a trade-off, make sure it is a conscious decision that is explicitly agreed upon by your business stakeholders.
Bruce: Know your customers. One key difference between a data engineer and a software engineer is that data engineers are much closer to their customers (analysts, data scientists, product managers, business users, and senior management). It’s very important to know your customers and their pain points and determine their requirements. Then you’ll be able to deliver the data solution to fulfill their requirement and help the business make data-driven decisions.
Prakash: Technology and infrastructure within data engineering change and evolve every couple of years. However, fundamental concepts of data engineering, ETL, and modeling remain the same. Spend quality time learning and mastering the fundamental concepts and skills.
James: You’re joining a pretty special bunch of people. Your team is at the heart of analytics at Atlassian, and you have the opportunity to shape the way data is used right across the company. You’ll work with folks from nearly every department trying to solve all sorts of real business problems. It’ll be a crazy but rewarding journey, and you’ll have an amazing team beside you. Enjoy it!
At the end of the interview, we transitioned to playful questions to learn more about each team member’s unofficial interpretation of their current role.
What does your family think you do at work?
Prakash: They think I spend all my day writing Confluence pages or taking meetings. They refuse to believe that I code!
Bruce: [uses a popular cartoon meme]: “Data Engineering takes this data set and moves it somewhere else.”
Ross: My father keeps telling people that I’m a database architect (which is different). But otherwise, my family knows I work on helping companies manage their data better in terms of data structure, quality, and usability.
James: Dad sits in front of a computer and has meetings with people.
How would you describe your role to a 5-year-old?
James: See the answer from my 5-year-old above.
Bruce: I’m like a Lego master who grabs all kinds of bricks and uses them to build a fancy warehouse. The only difference is the brick I’m using is called “Data.”
Prakash: I’d probably say I am a “transporter of data with a twist”.
Ross: I design magical jigsaw puzzle pieces for grown-ups that can be used to make different cool pictures.
In true Atlassian fashion to promote transparency and spread the word, we hope this article brought more clarity and understanding of the Data Engineering world.
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