Raven Duran, our lead engineer, on taking ownership as a developer

Raven Duran is our Senior Developer and Software Engineer Lead. He started out as an entrepreneur and ended up, somewhat by coincidence, as a Senior Full stack developer, and here he talks about working in tech and how to grow as a developer.

Before joining Symph, he was a Software Engineer at Microsoft Bizspark for Startups, a tech consultant for various organizations, and a technopreneur who founded a startup, a journey he described as "a roller coaster - but a very fun one!"

What is being a senior developer and lead engineer like?

As a lead engineer at Symph, Raven looks forward to the new challenges and the new things to learn every day.

"This is what excites me the most, going on for the day's work and getting thrilled about what I can learn next and what I can build next to make the world a better place in my own way."

He sees the work as an honor, since he works with people who are also building the future. He says being a senior developer is not only about having the most certificates, the most code produced or the most years in the industry.

"I see being a Senior Dev as becoming mature, responsible, and taking full ownership of what you are working on. Putting that extra mile effort in development decisions and work. Putting the extra mile effort to learn things outside of your scope"

Raven with Sean, one of our full stack developers, in a bi-weekly check-in.

As a junior developer, how can you grow into a mid-level and senior-level developer?

"By taking ownership. What this means is taking your job with full responsibility in and out of tech requirements. This means having a higher-level understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it in the first place. This means becoming not just a developer but a solution maker.

Being a developer, we sometimes blur the lines between technology/engineering vs business domains and needs - becoming senior means being able to connect the dots between the both by understanding both equally. Here in Symph, we encourage our team to take ownership and have the autonomy to make decisions.

Being a senior developer does not always mean you have the highest number of certificates, or you have the highest number of codes produced, or you have the highest number of years in the industry. I see being a Senior Dev as becoming mature, responsible, and taking full ownership of what you are working on. Putting that extra mile effort in development decisions and work. Putting the extra mile effort to learn things outside of your scope."

Raven running a learning club with full stack developers and interns.

His personal aspiration is to Love, Change and Hack, which is our Symph Ethos. "This is what I have been doing already in almost all the years of my career so far. From building products to becoming a tech consultant, to volunteering and organizing multiple developer activities - I love to make an impact, especially in the way I am most passionate about: technology."

At Symph you'll work with people like Raven, our Engineering Lead and Senior Dev, who bring vision, skill and passion to the work. We're always looking for mid-level and senior-level full stack developers to join us and create impact.

Story by Venny, Copywriting Intern