We’re excited to highlight Michelle Xue our Director of Engineering, Foundation!
In her role, Michelle leads and mentors the Infrastructure, Data and Platform teams. To get to know Michelle better, we sat down and asked her a few questions:
How did you get into engineering?
In high school, I really enjoyed math and science and was good at it. I decided to pick a practical degree that utilized my strength, which is engineering. I ended up choosing electrical engineering. While taking required computer science classes for my EECS degree, I absolutely fell in love with computer science and decided to focus more on CS track than EE track. After getting an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, I went on to Stanford to pursue a Master’s Degree in Management Science and Engineering.
What’s your role at Checkr?
I’m the Director of Engineering for Foundation. We take care of the core services, developer experience, data platform and infrastructure. Within that role, I lead the Infrastructure, Data, and Platform teams, which build the tools, services, and insights to accelerate product development and promote engineering excellence. We make our platform powerful and easy for Checkr’s engineers to build and operate on, as well as to draw insights from our rich data.
My other role is to help grow and scale the overall engineering team, as well as continue to promote gender diversity within it. I specifically drive initiatives like the engineering on-boarding program, maturing Checkr’s SDLC and quality improvement through metrics. I also sponsor a ‘Women in Engineering’ employee resource group where we host both internal and external meetups and tech talks, as well as an internal mentorship program to ensure female engineers are supported.
What drew you to Checkr?
After working at NetSuite for 8 years, I wanted to find a company that was experiencing high growth and truly disrupting an industry. I had experience building and scaling quickly at the beginning of my time at NetSuite and knew I wanted to be a part of that environment again. Checkr allows me to do that, and it’s exciting to be a part of such an important time in Checkr’s growth.
I also love that Checkr is a mission-driven company that really leads by example with Fair Chance Hiring. It’s inspiring to work with people who are all so passionate about fair assessment for candidates who are going through the background check process and who care deeply about security and privacy of data.
What do you hope to achieve in the next year?
In the same vein of scaling, I’m really striving to be deliberate about how we structure the engineering teams to help us mature and scale in a healthy, successful manner, all while maintaining Checkr culture. It’s a matter of balance between fast product delivery and delivering high-quality work, while also allowing individuals to make an impact even as we grow.
What do you look for when hiring?
I really appreciate candidates and employees who value ownership of projects. I like to think of it as having the ‘entrepreneurial spirit,’ where they can take a project and run it as if it were their own company. I enable my engineers to make their own decisions, which in turn helps them feel ownership over their projects and often produces the best work.
What are your passion areas?
Even though engineering is quite technical, I think there is also a sense of creativity within the industry, and I’m passionate about creating an environment that fosters that. I want to create an environment that encourages both autonomy and creativity within the workplace.
How do you approach mentorship and leadership?
Mentorship is important to me because as a woman in the engineering industry, it was difficult for me to find someone that I could turn to for that support. Because of that I really strive to mentor women in the industry. I don’t have a formal approach to mentorship, I think it needs to be organic and authentic. For example, when asked for advice, I try to give more of a framework to work within instead of suggesting exactly what to do, so they can determine how they would best go about the task. Regarding leadership, I focus on motivating people to achieve greater performance and personal growth, while also helping them to align with their personal goals within company objectives. With both mentorship and leadership, I want to empower self-confidence.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I have a three-year-old son, so whenever I’m not working, all my time goes to him! We love exploring new parts of the city, whether it’s trying new restaurants, parks, or different activities happening in the Bay Area.
