Inside Remote Software Engineering jobs: Data Analytics Manager Oksana Hrytsiv

Welcome to our series Inside Remote Software Engineering jobs! This series includes a collection of interviews with members of our engineering team, who will each share their background, professional journey, and story of what it’s like to work as an engineer at Remote. The interviews showcase the diversity and expertise of our engineering team members and explore how Remote engineers shape the future of work at our company.

About me

My name is Oksana and I hail from the little town of Lviv located in Ukraine. Currently, I’m based in Berlin, Germany. (Did you know that Germany has more than 1000 types of sausages?)

I have been with Remote for more than 1.5 years and my current role is Data Analytics Manager. Our team processes Remote's data from multiple systems and transforms it into analytics-ready sources as a part of the Warehouse project. Apart from that, our core areas are the development of a) products that allow Remoters to self-serve the data they need and b) business metrics and dashboards for the Operations, People, and Finance departments.

How did you end up working at Remote?

A former colleague of mine (who started at Remote a couple of months before I did) had been telling me amazing things about Remote and encouraged me to apply for a role. There were a couple of other companies that I was in the process with, however, Remote's interviewing process really stood out from the others. All interviews were carried out with kindness, and I was asked great questions tailored to my profile. This was a sure sign for me, and I decided to join Remote without any doubts.

What does your day-to-day work at Remote look like?

My workday starts with catching up on discussions that happened outside my working hours, like company announcements and team updates. During this time, I communicate with the stakeholders, align priorities, and provide project updates. I then spend time on code reviews to ensure that I'm not blocking any tasks that need to be completed by data analysts on our team. Depending on the week, I then either work on high-priority projects or tackle requests in our backlog. I always end my day with a 10-minute plan for the next day; by doing this, I am able to start the next morning with ease and focus on what's most important.

In addition to recurring weekly 1:1s with my direct reports and manager where we discuss progress, challenges, and upcoming priorities, I also attend social calls with the team, during which we can discuss non-work-related topics and get to know each other better.

What are you working on right now?

• My main priority at present is hiring. I’m focussing on interviewing applicants, reviewing applicants’ case studies, and onboarding new joiners into the team.

• As a part of the team goals, we are supporting our business strategy by providing insights related to churn. We want to better understand the main factors that cause our clients to stop using our services, so we can address those issues and improve our customers' experiences.

• To support the Operations vertical of Remote, we're developing data models that will allow us to dive into each subteam's performance indicators (e.g: time taken to resolve a Zendesk ticket). This is important because it directly correlates with the engagement of our customers. We want to make sure Remote is doing everything possible to keep our customers happy!

• In the finance area, we're running a migration of complex queries to dbt models. This will help us be prepared for upcoming database schema changes (that often break our reports) before we roll out Data Contracts and implement an advanced Data Observability platform.

Please share something that you have learned recently

Our team recently started using dbt (a tool that offers scalable solutions for data transformations). In simple words, the tool allows us to define KPIs and metrics in one single location. This means that when a definition needs to be changed, we don't have to go into multiple tools (BI, third-party tools) to update it. Instead, we can control the definition within dbt semantic layer.

This week I found out that one of the dbt packages we use will soon be deprecated. Even though we will have to run a small migration to make sure everything works as expected, we are thrilled about this change as it allows us to add more complexity to metrics and make querying more efficient.

How is working at Remote different from other companies?

At Remote, we operate with a high level of transparency that sets us apart from other companies. I absolutely love that I don't have to wait for days or weeks to get the answers I need. With async communication (everything well-documented), I can do a quick search and find the information I need right away. This is also something that helps us, Remoters, understand our product, which makes us better equipped to provide our customers or stakeholders with the support and guidance they need.

As someone who frequently experiences migraines, there are days when I am unable to be energetic. It brings me peace to know that I can simply change my Slack status and rest for a few more hours. Additionally, when a headache strikes, one of the most challenging things for me is talking to others. That’s why I appreciate Remote's culture of asynchronous communication, which allows me to avoid calls without feeling guilty.

I absolutely love the idea of unlimited holidays! It's such a relief not to have to constantly calculate how many days off I have left and just book it whenever I feel like I need a break. Self-care days once a quarter are also amazing! I love taking a day off to do something that benefits both my mental and physical health.

What is the best advice someone has given you in your career?

“Iterate, things are rarely perfect on the first try”. It wasn’t this exact wording, but the words are meant to emphasize that things don't have to be perfect immediately. Although this depends on the area in which you apply it, in analytics, iteration allows stakeholders to get a sneak peek at the numbers and provide you with feedback on the early stages.

What brings you joy outside of work? 

I feel joy when I come across any type of animal (including insects). In fact, I am co-habiting with two adorable cats, whose Instagram profile is @aska_and_boris.

Everything related to forest picking is my other source of happiness. I enjoy mushroom foraging the most, but since the season for mushrooms is limited, there is always something exciting I look for in the forest (including berries, herbs, nuts, or anything else that nature has to offer). For me, it's not just about the process of picking things up; it's also about the connection to nature that comes with it. To compensate for living in an urban area, I keep growing things on my winter balcony (which is also my home office), but I am running out of space for all the veggies that I want to plant.

Learn more about how our global engineering team works. Head to Remote’s Openings page to browse engineering jobs and apply today!