Brianna Jones has been an integral part of the Candidly team since she first joined the company more than four years ago. To celebrate her recent promotion to Director of Engineering, we sat down with Brianna to ask her about her experiences at Candidly.
When and how did you first join Candidly?
I first joined Candidly as a software engineer in 2019. I found out about the opportunity because Frank Steinberg, who I had worked with at my previous company and who joined Candidly a few months before I did, reached out to encourage me to apply. My interests and experience aligned with what the team was looking for, and I was really excited to be in a more fast-paced environment, so the rest was history.
What is your connection to Candidly’s mission?
I finished my undergraduate degree with $80,000 in student debt, so I feel a first-hand connection to what we do here. I’m almost done paying off my loans, and the monthly contributions Candidly makes to help employees with student debt have definitely helped a lot.
What is a typical workday for you?
When I first log on in the morning, I have a routine to get the lay of the land for that day. Then, our engineering and product teams have a daily standup meeting to sync on our priorities for the day, and make sure no one is blocked on anything. From there, my day-to-day engineering management tasks include compliance checks and documentation, keeping code reviews and releases on track, and enabling the team to keep moving forward. Right now, I’m spending a lot of time focused on planning what’s next for the team and setting our next milestones.
What’s your favorite Candidly memory?
Soon after I joined Candidly, our US-based engineers flew to Lisbon to meet with our Portuguese teammates. One night we were all at dinner together, and I remember looking around the table and reflecting on how much I’d grown from being the girl from Virginia trying to find her way in this field, and thinking to myself “Okay, I’m headed somewhere, and I’m headed there with good people.” I knew then that our team really understands our mission, and understands that the only way we can live up to our mission is if we do it together.
What’s the best part of working at Candidly?
The team! We care about making sure that everyone is taken care of, because we know that’s when people are empowered to do their best work. And that also enables us to move faster, more efficiently, and more collaboratively.
