Driven by a sense of community, he’s found a home at Veeva!
Meet a Veevan is a series that looks at the employees who bring us life. For this edition, we spoke to Ben Merrick, software engineer who graduated from Notre Dame and joined the Engineering Development Program at Veeva nearly two years ago. Presently he’s working on the CRM transactions squad. Ben has always played competitive sports and from that experience has a strong sense of community and teamwork. He appreciates that he has found this at Veeva.
What is your personal and professional background and how did you get to Veeva?
Ben: I had a geographically exciting upbringing moving around at key times in my schooling. I was born in Chicago, moved to Boston, then New Jersey for grades K-6, and lived in North Carolina for high school. After attending college at Notre Dame, I joined my best pals from college back in Chicago where we enjoy living close to the water in the center of the city. Throughout the moves, my parents both worked and were incredible role models for me. My father was a university administrator in the field of business administration and my mother an art history teacher.
My high school was quite small, with just 76 students in my class, and I knew everyone — many of whom are still good friends. Advanced placement computer science sparked my interest in technology. Computer science was akin to what I enjoyed most as I grew up in the world of technology — following all the latest news and taking apart old devices but never quite putting them back together.
I initially thought I would pursue hardware, but then realized I was not interested in the hard aspects of the discipline and I switched to computer science. I really enjoyed my classes and ultimately it was software that aligned with my interests and strengths. Playing competitive sports in high school, especially lacrosse, influenced me in many ways. We had a great coach and he helped us learn to work with others toward a common goal, in some cases, putting our differences aside to do so. I carried this with me to Notre Dame where there was already a huge emphasis on community.
I first saw Veeva on my college recruiting portal. When I saw that I had the qualifications, I applied and began to interview, quickly realizing the interviews were decidedly different from those with other companies. Even though I had multiple job offers, Veeva really stood out. I joined the Engineering Development Program (EDP) and have really enjoyed the ability to develop both personally and professionally. At first, I was a bit nervous about being remote as I joined toward the end of the Pandemic, but between the virtual events and eventually the in-person meetings with colleagues, I now truly feel the sense of community.
Today I work with the CRM transaction squad — on the front end, back end, data management and servers — in other words, a full stack software engineering role. For this position, it’s essential to communicate and collaborate across all levels of engineers and architects to work on features, identify defects and make the product as good as it can be.
When I am not working, I focus on fitness — from walking to pick-up softball. I also love my personal projects — building websites, photography, and a newly acquired interest in trying new foods after a lifetime of being a picky eater!
What’s unique about the work environment and culture at Veeva?
Ben: Upon joining Veeva, I didn’t know what to expect. It’s a big leap from a grade on a page to having customers to whom you are responsible and knowing the work will be seen by many other people. In those first few months, I really appreciated the guidance from managers who helped me understand that I would make mistakes and that “bugs happen.”
What I see now is that it’s the leadership and the community that really makes Veeva unique — and Veeva’s sense of community aligns closely with my own. It’s also the transparency from the public side to things happening on the inside. The mere fact that I can schedule a luncheon with the CEO or get on the calendar of any of my colleagues, regardless of title, says a lot. When I speak to friends in other companies it’s common that they haven’t even met their Director of Engineering. I have particularly enjoyed meeting Greg Barker who I first learned about in his Meet-a-Veevan interview!
What I also see is the level of trust Veeva puts in its employees. The company wants you to grow and learn. In the first few months, I was assigned small bugs to work on which ultimately would go into production code. This allowed me to already make an impact. Veeva’s attitude is — this is why we hired you, so let’s put your skills to work. In other places, many projects never see the light of day.
How will Veeva help you grow?
Ben: At this point in my career, I am focused on continuing to develop my technical skills, using more tools and becoming a better software engineer. Our Employee Success organization offers us many opportunities to grow and I am interested in developing more leadership skills and eventually helping bridge soft skills and technical skills for myself and others.
The EDP program itself has been extremely influential. Moving forward from here, I now have a vast network of friends and co-workers throughout the company upon whom I can rely.
I have really appreciated the opportunity to get pushed out of my comfort zone over the past two years. Just in this short time, I’ve been able to work on a piece of industry code that had the potential to be part of a million interactions a day. The scale blew me away and I realized what a great opportunity I have had.
What would you say to someone who was thinking of working here?
Ben: Join us at Veeva to make an impact and have fun at the same time. It’s a great place to work with incredible customers that appreciate what we do. You will absolutely experience significant personal and professional growth.
