Distinguished Engineer

I’m proud to share that I recently became a member of a very selective group of distinguished engineers at?BNY?Mellon.

This recognition is as high as you can go on the technical track within our organization. It made me feel like being in kindergarten again, when you teacher calls your name in front of the entire class for the best bunny drawing. Except this time, the teacher is the CTO of a global, multi-trillion dollar company, the class is 5k strong developers and I’m… not 5 anymore.

This is my virtual thank you speech. You can scroll through it if you would like to read about what got me here and how it might work for you.

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First, I would like to thank the “Academy” for their wise decision.

I would like to thank @RafalSitkowski for not standing over my shoulder.

I would like to thank @HoodQaim-Maqami for listening and the perpetual energy infusion.

My mentor and longtime friend @MichaelGolverg. (also a distinguished engineer) for making me who I am today.

@CarlJohnson for helping me edit my disorganized and often grammatically incorrect content.

My team for challenging me in all ways imaginable.

All of you who are reading this.

Now, to the good stuff.?How I think I made it to this group. Short answer – long and hard work, but you knew that already. This alone, might not get you where you want to be. Here are things that worked for me:

• Finding you passion. Mine is software quality and continuous delivery. Once you find it, learn as much as you can about it, apply it to your project(s) then spread the good word. Eventually people will come to you for advice.
• Learn some area of the business. It will help you deliver your projects and get you better support from your business partners. My latest conquest is in corporate actions.
• Prove your expertise. It is not enough for you get recognized as a technical expert or to come with X years of experience and a title. Find a way to actual measure and prove your level of expertise. This can be done through certificates, training and assessments. Doing a couple of these will not make a difference but when you have a handful across multiple domains it will be noticeable.
• When you come up with something truly unique try to get a patent for it. It is a long and tedious process, but every company usually has a group that can help with that. It is a good feeling to be call an inventor once it is fully vetted.
• Publish things and/or contribute to open source. This doesn’t only help the bigger community but makes your name recognized beyond your organization. LinkedIn and Medium are just couple of platforms to explore.
• Work with people outside of your immediate org structure. They will work with you if you can help them with something.
• Finally, don’t forget to write code while you are pursuing those other noble goals. Coding helps you stay close to the roots. You will know that you are ready when you code for fun.

BNY?Mellon?is a place where technical talent is a major focus and you don’t have to combine it with managerial responsibilities to reach the highest levels of the corporate title structure. If you are interested in joining and still love to get your hands dirty – give me a shout!