Meet a Veevan: The Value of People Code and Healthy Lifestyle
Meet a Veevan is a series that looks at the employees who bring us life. For this edition, we spoke with Senior Engineering Manager, Alec Imperial. Born to code, bike and appreciate good beer, he finally gave management a shot, quickly realizing the value that writing “people code” can bring to an organization.
How long have you been a software engineer? Did you ever consider another career?
Alec: I always knew I wanted to be an engineer. As part of my technical high school curriculum, I learned how to code. In fact, it was a three-year program and the equivalent of a college engineering program. No one could ever dissuade me from my engineering path, what I didn’t expect was to become a manager. My five years at Veeva has been transformative both personally and professionally and I am proud to have my 5-year cube!
Why did you decide to work at Veeva?
Alec: Before I joined Veeva, I worked in FinTech where the challenge was around BIG data — providing the tools for analysis and long-term forecasts in a quick turnaround environment. When the company was acquired by a hedge fund, the future was uncertain, but I believed in the people around me, my boss in particular. I was surprised when he left the company and I had to re-evaluate my situation. Veeva was on my radar screen from an old friend with whom I had worked in the past who convinced me to interview. Despite all the positive aspects of the work, I was hesitant at first to take on a long commute. In the end, however, the people won me over in the interview process.
What is the biggest challenge in software development for life sciences?
Alec: Veeva offered me a completely different type of challenge. Technically speaking, the number of data points is smaller than it was in FinTech, but, the challenge, given our customer base, is to make it as easy and intuitive as possible while working within industry guidelines. This is particularly difficult in the Life Sciences space (Pharma in particular) that has been dealing with many old and backward processes for a long time. As developers we have to ask, “what is the best thing for the customer even if they don’t know what they want?” In the big picture, our mission is more akin to the challenge that Apple put forward when they developed IOS — revolutionizing cell phones and how they are used. Covid tested us, and we helped a customer get their Covid studies up and running in a two-week period.
What did you find in terms of the work? Is it what you expected or different?
Alec: I never aspired to be a manager. Even my last company tried to keep me from leaving by offering me a management position. However, after my first year at Veeva, I was approached to be a manager. I resisted many efforts over the course of a month until it occurred to me that I could be the best manager by taking all I learned with other managers and make changes that would help make long term improvements. I had always looked at the role as a glorified administrator, and if I wasn’t coding, I wasn’t contributing — but Veeva helped me realize that if I could write people code and figure out what makes them tick — I could make an even bigger impact. Things don’t always go perfectly, but the way people react and their willingness to help you out — even when everything goes wrong has helped me get beyond the hurdles. It’s also noteworthy that your seniority in the company is not important, Veeva expects the same contributions from associates as principals — perhaps not with the same quality — but in some small way. This may not be comfortable for everyone, but it’s part of the environment.
What personal quality helps you do your job well?
Alec: Listening to many points of view, looking for patterns, and then using this to make changes is one of my strongest qualities. I apply this at work to help me continually refine my skills and understanding of the industry and to be a better mentor to others. This is especially important because we have many new people coming on board especially now that work from anywhere is more of a reality. Pre-Covid, we used to pull up a buoy and walk-through code — but this is a very different experience virtually. My next challenge is how to convey what I have learned in a better fashion in the new hybrid environment. Veeva has really prided itself on a quality onboarding experience — not wasting time with things you already know and respecting each person’s talents. The real fun begins when they challenge you beyond that point!
What do you like personally about working at Veeva?
Alec: Equally significant is that Veeva has provided a framework for the overall healthier lifestyle that I embraced as a commitment to myself and my family after losing a significant amount of weight. Veeva helped me continue on this path by reinforcing positive habits, like healthy food in the cafeteria and micro kitchens as well as offering fitness classes like circuit training. I am a proud member of the “Beer Snobs” group where I am able to apply some WW points toward my favorite beverages. Among my other healthy Veeva activities, I can now undertake a challenging 4-hour bike ride to work and compete in the “Bike to Work Day” in the spring each year. I have also enjoyed circuit training and seeing our CEO Peter right there with the rest of us.
If you were going to recruit a friend or engineer, what would you say?
Alec: You are going to like it here! There’s something for everyone — teamwork, challenge, control over the product life cycle. When you are coming on board with other companies you are told what to do, but at Veeva, you are assigned work, but it’s a 2-way street, you can give your feedback and you get to have a discussion to have a say in the final design. You see it in startups, but Veeva is not a startup, it’s more like “controlled chaos” inside an enterprise.
Want to learn more about life at Veeva? Check out Generation Veeva.
