Looking for Work!

I’m currently in search of a new role - please read through and get in touch if you think I would be a good fit for your organization!

This post was inspired by Julie Pagano’s “reverse job hunt” blog post. Part of the purpose behind writing this is to reduce my unknown unknowns - there are roles and companies out there that would be a great match, but I can’t apply if I don’t know they exist. Creating this post means I can share it out with my network and have a higher chance of connecting to those opportunities. It also gives me a chance to reflect on what’s important to me in my next role and company, and to be explicit about what I want or don’t want.

❓ Why

This past Thursday, Instrument dissolved the engineering team I was on and eliminated my role at the company.

📆 When

Now or soon!

🌍 Where

This is kind of a squishy question right now - all companies are Covid-remote, but not all companies are planning to maintain a fully remote workplace once it’s safe to return to an office. So I’m flexible on the “where” requirement! Locations include:

• Portland, OR
• US remote
• Non-US remote if the time zone differences work out for everyone
• Open to future relocation, US and abroad

😄 About Me

Please review my LinkedIn profile for a detailed overview of my accomplishments and experience. You can also download my resume for a more compact overview if needed.

I’m a QA Engineer with 5+ years of experience in tech and quality. I’ve been embedded on cross-functional engineering teams, on a centralized QA team within the engineering department, and most recently been a QA manager where I created an internal Quality Engineering discipline from the ground up.

My role as an individual contributor is to be the team’s stakeholder for quality. I use an exploratory testing approach while balancing the perspectives of the team, the users, and the project stakeholders to make sure we’re building the right things in the right way. I consider everything from developer experience to user experience, and try to make sure the needs of both are supported.

As a manager, I love being part of people’s growth. I enjoy helping set the vision for quality and engineering, and being a part of making that vision a reality. My role as a leader is also to advocate for the people at the company - are the policies in place meeting their needs? Are they able to grow their careers? Do they have clear understandings of the work that’s expected of them? Have we created clear avenues of communication across teams, departments, and organizational hierarchy?

In either type of role, I often rely on my experiences as an early childhood teacher. I’m adaptable and curious, which means I can learn new things as the job calls for it. I work with compassion and the understanding that we all bring our whole selves to work - and I know that company success starts with supporting its people, personally and professionally. I understand the nuances of change management, and how to iterate policies or processes in a way that minimizes churn. (The deck for my talk Why is There a Marble in Your Nose? actually gives a pretty good summary of the skills and approach I bring to work!)

🏢 What I’m Looking For

Type of Role

I really enjoy working within the QA/QE space and I would love to continue my growth as a manager, so I strongly prefer that my next role be as a QA Manager!

I’m open to an Engineering Manager role that doesn’t require hands-on technical contributions as part of the role. I don’t have the experience or desire for coding, and the type of role that required that work wouldn’t be a good fit. But if you’re looking for someone to manage the growth and careers of developers and help support the stability and vision of engineering and quality, let’s talk!

I’m potentially open to an IC role at a company that has a clear path back to QA management. However, I also know that promotions depend on many competing factors within an organization, so an IC role is not my main focus. The role and company would need to be pretty compelling in other ways in order for me to consider it.

Culture

These items are important aspects of company culture that I look for and would strive to maintain while I’m there.

• Psychological safety: People feel safe advocating for their needs. People feel safe trying new things because they know mistakes aren’t punished. People feel safe asking questions and expecting honest answers.
• Authenticity > niceness: Sometimes you have to have hard conversations, and that’s okay. The ability to hold those conversations in a respectful and meaningful way is what allows us to move forward and improve.
• Collaboration: Across departments and hierarchy, people consistently work together to solve problems, share knowledge, and create.
• Compassion: People understand that there are identities outside of their own, especially if they benefit from intersections of inherent privilege. E.g. I’m a white straight cis able-bodied woman, which benefits me in many ways that I haven’t earned - so I have to be mindful about incorporating and understanding perspectives and experiences beyond my own default. This applies to the people we work with, as well as the users we’re building things for.

Pros

These are strong preferences I have for any company I’m at!

• Unlimited sick leave
• 401k matching
• Proactive outreach and meaningful support for employees during the Covid crisis
• 15+ days of vacation
• Trans-inclusive healthcare
• Parental leave policies
• Budget and time off for professional development
• Active in their communities and industry

Cons

These aren’t dealbreakers, but they’ll make me more hesitant to be part of your company.

• The executive leadership group consists only of white men.
• No career ladders. Career ladders, when created and implemented correctly, offer a shared understanding of expectations for hiring, reviews, and promotions. They help remove subjectivity and bias and attempt to bring in more objectivity, which benefits people who are most harmed by biased decisions.
• Hidden pay bands, or no pay bands. Under-represented and minoritized groups are most harmed when salaries are not transparent. Pay bands, when adhered to across the org, allow for equitable pay practices in hiring, raises, and promotions. If a company has chosen not to implement and enforce transparent pay bands, I would assume that people are being harmed by pay inequities.

Dealbreakers

• You don’t have an official HR
• You don’t have any Black employees

Contact Me

If my experience and expectations sound good to you, please reach out! You can email me at riggs.ang+jobs@gmail.com and include the following in your email:

• The name of the organization you are contacting me about
• Your role within the organization
• Where the organization is based, and whether the role is Covid-remote or fully remote
• What kind of organization it is (e.g. private/public company, non-profit, agency, product company)
• Information about the position(s) and/or a link to relevant job postings
• A brief description of why the organization would be a good fit for me and vice versa
• Any other information you think is useful

Thanks in advance - I look forward to hearing from you!