No matter where we work: Jeff Forbes, Eduardo Ramirez, and Jeff Adler on cross-country collaboration and connection

When most people think of the industries that thrive in New York City, they probably think of Broadway, finance, or fashion. Not many realize that there is a rising tech community in the heart of downtown that is giving California a run for its money. As part of that up and coming scene, Dropbox NYC has become a hotspot for many of our talented employees to find their place, no matter where they’re from. Three such team members are Jeff Forbes, Eduardo Ramirez, and Jeff Adler.

iOS engineer Jeff Forbes has lived in NYC for 13 years. For him, nothing really beats the diversity of NYC — not only in people and careers but, of course, food.

“The thing that I really value about NYC is that there’s a high diversity of culture, food, people, and careers here,” said Jeff. “You kind of fall over tech people into other tech people in SF. Here, you can be part of a big crowd; we’re not all tech people. Sometimes people who come from San Francisco will say that a downside of this office is that there’s not a Tuck Shop (our headquarters’ employee cafeteria) here, but there is such a vibrant amount of food here that you can find something great in whatever direction you walk in.”

Eduardo is a bit newer to NYC and its amazing cuisine. As a design researcher, he has been with Dropbox for several years, and for most of that time, he worked out of our San Francisco office. But when the product team he was part of relocated to New York, he was given the choice whether or not to follow.

“At that time, I didn’t feel like my work with the product was done. I had been in San Francisco for seven years, so I was excited about the opportunity to grow and try something new and different. I had visited the New York office a few times prior to that, and I knew it definitely had a personal and approachable vibe. So I made the choice to move.”

“The design team here has a really special chemistry. When I moved from the San Francisco office, it was just me and one other researcher, and I think that the design team really went out of their way to integrate us into their team and make sure that research felt embedded with the greater design team.”

Software engineer Jeff Adler also found that the welcoming atmosphere in the NYC Dropbox office was key to his recent transition there. After having worked for another tech company for several years in Boulder, CO, he has discovered that Dropbox has a culture he feels is pretty unique on the tech scene.

“When I decided I wanted to move back to the East Coast, I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that Dropbox had the best culture of any tech company I studied and would be a strong cultural fit for me. Luckily for me, they were looking for someone who does what I do! And I found really quickly that the energy at the New York office is pretty awesome. People come here to work. There’s a lot of focus, and a lot of the energy is focused toward a main goal. It’s really exciting and awesome having everyone around you locked onto the same target.”

At Dropbox, we do try to hold the same set of goals across our company. These help our team members in offices around the world work effectively with each other even when there are thousands of miles between them. And when the miles start to feel a little expansive, or a video call doesn’t cut it, connection is always just a plane ride away.

Said Jeff Forbes, “The teams I’ve been on have been really good at recognizing when something requires a little more input from my side of the world. If you work in a remote office, Dropbox is supportive of traveling to HQ. The sentiment is that you should prioritize having a stronger bond with your coworkers, and it really makes for more cohesive teams. Sometimes working in a remote office can be difficult, and your career growth can be stifled, but I’ve never experienced that here.”

Interested in looking into a position in NYC that might be right for you? Check out our jobs page.