Every quarter, we live out our mission by celebrating one exemplary employee that went above and beyond in embodying our Next Level Performance values. We take time out to meet and to celebrate the Teammate of the Quarter.

For Q2 of 2017, our Teammate of the Quarter is Jay Parekh. Jay is our Lead Software Developer, and has worked with Next Level for the last seven years in the IT department.

In an interview with Jay, he talks about his role and what this award means to him. Check it out!

How would you describe your position at Next Level?

As the Lead Software Developer at Next Level, my position involves managing all areas of technology within the company and leading and mentoring a team of Developers and Data Analysts. I also contribute to technical architecture analysis, the design and implementation of various applications, as well as designing database architecture. A few key attributes of my position involve being proactive, always thinking on my toes, working to find solutions, chasing a challenge, making things simple, experiencing variety, having a vision, and bringing people together.

How has your role changed throughout your time here?

I started as an Associate Developer in 2010 and worked my way up to Principle Developer, then Team Lead. My role has changed from simple coding to interacting with other departments to gain understanding of business requirements and working directly with clients. In my current role, I’m managing strategic and cross-organizational projects, as well as planning and supervising multiple complex projects.  I’m the “man in the middle,” working with management, customers, sales, and developers.

What is your favorite part about your job?

The best part of my job is the people. Everyone is always ready to help and encourage one another. That has definitely helped me become a more confident person. I have the freedom to express myself – to laugh when I need to de-stress; to speak and actually be heard. And with the work-life balance that the company promotes, it gives me the freedom to do more activities outside of work that enrich my life.

You won Teammate of the Quarter for Q2 of 2017. What were some highlights of your performance this past quarter?

It was a busy second quarter, but one of the biggest undertakings was migrating all of our applications and data to a cloud based service. Starting with very little knowledge about this service, I spent hours reading and learning various infrastructure strategies and deciding the best one for our needs. With the help of my team, we were able to migrate all of our applications with minimum down time. Some of the highlights of the migration was leading the team in the initiative, learning a new portal, understanding pricing structure, planning every task for the team. And ultimately, we reduced our infrastructure cost by 30%.