Growing my Data Engineering career through technical challenges with passionate problem-solvers

By Shokouh Amirinezhad

“Is there a more optimized, efficient way?”

This is the kind of question we ask ourselves all the time on our Data Engineering team. We’re always looking for better ways to solve problems.

When I started at StellarAlgo in 2020, I was a student at the University of Calgary completing my Master’s degree in Computer Engineering. It was so exciting for me when I realized how StellarAlgo uses data analytics and advanced technology to help sports teams understand their fans, and it was a mission I wanted to be part of.

In the past four years, I’ve grown professionally and personally, and StellarAlgo has grown to more than double the number of employees. The innovative culture and opportunities to grow in technical projects with talented peers excite me about working here. 

Solving customer problems with the latest technology 

One of the projects I’m most proud of at StellarAlgo was migrating our legacy system to a new, advanced technology. Our legacy system is based on an SQL server, and I worked on it for about three years before we began developing our new system, Kernel. We needed a more accurate, efficient, and optimized technology to use with our customers. 

I contributed to developing new data pipelines and infrastructure using AWS services, DBT, Terraform, Airflow, and GitHub. A few months into the project, I began migrating our customers to the new Kernel pipeline. Since the system was brand new, we didn’t have proper documentation. 

I focused on creating better processes and documents for migrating existing customers and implementing new ones. This involved documenting steps like setting up infrastructure using IaC, validating data through APIs, scheduling and data orchestration, and migrating data from SQL Server to AWS. My team and I created guidelines, checklists, and templates to make it easy for anyone on the team to use and understand.

It was a huge project migrating to this new model and bringing our team and customers along the way. Our Data Engineering team had a lot of responsibility and trust from the rest of the company, and there were so many opportunities to learn new things.

Learning the evolving world of sports analytics 

We’re in a growing, evolving industry and there are many ways data analytics can impact how sports leagues reach fans and make decisions, which is exciting. Our Data Management solutions, for example, allow customers to automate data reporting and have all of their data land and stay in the StellarAlgo environment to form a single customer view.

The people on our team are not the kind of people who stick to themselves and figure things out alone. We support each other. We’re always asking how we can find the best solution or improve the way that we work together. 

We ask questions like: 

• How can we work differently to solve this problem? 
• Is this the best tool to use for this process? 
• How can it be automated? 

I was paired with experienced colleagues and learned so much from how they worked and the kind of questions they asked. Now I support our engineering onboarding and encourage new team members to ask questions like this too. I love mentoring others who are starting their careers in our company because I’ve felt how exciting it is to grow an engineering career at StellarAlgo. 

How Engineering and other teams collaborate to put the customer first

At StellarAlgo, if you take the initiative and have an idea that can benefit the company, people will listen and support you. As a Data Engineer, we work closely with Account Managers, Project Managers, and Product teams to understand customer needs and ensure all deliverables are met. We collaborate both before and after a sale to enhance our platform’s efficiency and value.

Recently, I noticed that our Google Analytics integration process could be improved, so I took the initiative to analyze and resolve bugs that were complicating customer setup. I met with clients, walked them through the required setup, and ensured smooth data ingestion through the API. I also created detailed documentation and step-by-step guides to assist both clients and our internal team. This has significantly enhanced the experience for everyone involved.

When I noticed the gaps in the Google Analytics integration and started working on improving the process, the Engineering and other teams were immediately supportive. At StellarAlgo, that’s the initial reaction to new ideas that impact customers and improve our processes. Our team will always listen, be open to discussion and be there to support. 

Be innovative, curious, and ready to learn

The people who find the most success at StellarAlgo are the ones who are innately curious and not afraid to ask questions. It’s safe to question things and suggest new ways of working. I’ve seen how being an innovative person is really valued here. I’m surrounded by people who are so talented and passionate about our work and solving problems, it inspires me. 

StellarAlgo is a dynamic, evolving company which means there are so many ways to grow — technically, as a leader, personally, and professionally. 

Learn more about career opportunities.

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Stellar Results.

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