What brought you to Polarsteps?

I was looking for a new opportunity, and honestly, the job listing seemed too good to be true. Polarsteps is so product-focused, and I was enthusiastic about what the team is building here. It spoke about travel, and even the perks were travel-aligned, like the Teleporter benefit. Through the listing alone, I could feel that this is a fair and respectful workplace where people are genuinely valued. That really stood out to me.

I wasn't a Polarsteps user before, I confess, but when I installed the app, I immediately fell in love. I could see how every detail was thought through, and I knew that most likely the people who built this were people I would enjoy working alongside. 

Can you briefly describe your role as a Senior Backend Engineer at Polarsteps?

I work mainly with the Plan Product team (focused on how users plan their trip in the app) — it's a cross-functional team where we deliver new features and iterate on old ones. This year is actually a very big year for the Plan team, as we're expanding our planning proposition. I also sync with the Backend team to align our best practices and support our platform health. 

What does a typical day look like for you?

It varies, but I try to come to the office two days a week. I wake up, have my breakfast, and play with my cats (who I also definitely post about in the company’s #petpics Slack channel, which is one of my favorites!). Then I arrive at the office.

Usually, I only have one or two meetings a day, which I enjoy because it's not too busy and I have time to focus on coding. The meetings typically involve syncing with my Plan team or the Backend team, and occasionally we have a company-wide meeting. I really appreciate that my work day is balanced with focus time and meetings.

How does the relationship between your Plan team and the Backend team work?

Day to day, I mostly work with my Plan teammates, but there's definitely collaboration with the wider Backend team. I'm involved in the code-review process on a daily basis, and we work together on larger change proposals and complex solutions through RFC (Request for Comments) documents. We also have monthly backend meetings to reflect on our practices, address ongoing challenges, and plan future improvements to the platform.

One thing I enjoy about working on backend at Polarsteps is that, as a lean team of nine engineers, we share a strong sense of ownership over the system. This allows us to support one another, cover when needed, and maintain a broad understanding of the codebase.

What do you think supports the great engineering and development at Polarsteps?

I'd actually point to one of our core values: ‘Dedication to Craft’. I see it daily in how my teammates are so excited and involved in the development process. Sometimes it's the Product team that comes up with the most complex features and engineering is keen to take them on, and sometimes it's the engineers who suggest the product features. It's really inspiring.

You mentioned ‘Dedication to Craft’. Is that the value you connect most with?

Yes, I think 'Dedication to Craft' speaks to me the most: I love the challenge and the constant opportunity to learn and grow. But I also want to touch upon ‘We are Human’ and ‘Be Good, Do Good’. These really resonate with me, too.

‘We are human’ is reflected in how we treat teammates. When someone has an issue, I can always jump in to help. It's never a question of who is at fault. And ‘Be Good, Do Good’ is something I see embodied at Polarsteps — from how our CEO works to how every level of the company operates. I really value that.

Is it important for you to feel challenged in your role?

Yes, absolutely. And by being challenged here, I'm never bored. I work on different types of features, and sometimes it's a very interesting stack. I can do DevOps, backend of course, and research into using LLMs. With 18 million users (and still growing), every update requires careful consideration — it's the perfect environment for me.

Do you have a project you've worked on that you're particularly proud of?

The one worth mentioning for me is accommodation planning. I would say it's our feature of the year in the Plan team, or at least the biggest one I was involved with. At the beginning of Q2, we released the ability for users to add accommodations to their planned trips. Now, we're iterating and releasing a new feature that allows users to easily add accommodations to their planned steps using booking-confirmation emails.

Are there any smaller projects that have had an impact as well?

Yes! In the Backend team, we do a rotation of helping the Community and Support team. Although a request might take less than 10 minutes, if it means recovering a user's lost data, it is so gratifying. Restoring part of a user's trip route has a direct impact, even though it's just for one person or a few people.

What advice would you give to someone joining the backend team at Polarsteps?

I'm 100% sure that anyone joining would be a super capable backend engineer, so I would give them the same advice that I was given when I joined — and honestly, I didn't listen to it enough: take it easy during the onboarding process. Of course, when you first start, you want to dive in, absorb all the information, and show that you're capable and prove yourself. But there's a lot to take in, and you'll be greeted very warmly and welcomed. Just enjoy the process.

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