Meet Bobby Ball: Principal Software Engineer at Galileo. With a passion for our client-first culture, Bobby saw the opportunity to work at Galileo as a chance to run after interesting problems centered around scale and architecture. Check out what Bobby has to say about his experience mentoring and growing teams at Galileo while also working from home.

So Bobby, to kick us off, can you tell us a few things about you that are not necessarily related to your professional work persona?

Bobby: Well, I have a fairly eclectic mix of hobbies. I’ve played cello for about 25 years now. In fact, at one point I’d planned to major in music - not computer science. Along with that, I’m a motorcycle enthusiast and - lately - an amateur woodworker. I really enjoy acquiring and learning new skills, so there’s really no telling what hobby or skill I pick up next.

Wow! That is definitely a diverse set of hobbies. Lucky for us that you took a liking to Computer Science too. You’ve worked at several large tech companies prior to joining Galileo, including Amazon Web Services. Why did you decide to make the change from a big tech company to a smaller fintech?

Bobby: Every vertical brings its own challenges. As I said before, I enjoy learning and growing new skills, and the financial services/fintech vertical in particular is one that I was interested in. More generally, I’ve gravitated toward service providers because they tend to have a lot of interesting problem spaces centered around scale and architecture. Galileo is no different in that respect, and I am excited to be a part of the phenomenal growth Galileo is experiencing and helping address the challenges that that  brings. I’m also very passionate about my clients and their experiences, and Galileo’s client-first culture and drive align well there. It’s not just a value on our website - the client is part of almost every conversation and at the heart of everything we do.

I’m also very passionate about my clients and their experiences, and Galileo’s client-first culture and drive align well there. It’s not just a value on our website - the client is part of almost every conversation and at the heart of everything we do.

What did you learn from your prior roles that helps you be successful in Galileo's environment?

Bobby: I wanted to rapidly become effective, and the best lesson I learned was just to be curious and ask questions. A huge part of understanding where and how to be effective is learning the landscape, vernacular, and challenges unique to the space. You’ll learn a lot by just listening to people describe their ideas and the challenges they face day to day. Once you do that, I’ve found that patterns tend to surface and you can begin to see those opportunities to increase your footprint.

So, what does a typical day really look like for you as part of the platform infrastructure team?

Bobby: Aside from meetings and the standard set of administrivia, I spend the majority of my time mentoring, talking through architecture and platform challenges, writing design or proposal documents, and doing my best to unblock teams and projects. I’m a big believer in sharing knowledge, and a large part of what I do is listening to others’ ideas and sharing my own. For me, the best measure of my impact is how effective I’ve been at enabling others to run after problems and innovate for our clients.

For me, the best measure of my impact is how effective I’ve been at enabling others to run after problems and innovate for our clients.

It sounds like there is never a dull moment in your role! What are some aspects of the engineering organization that are unique to Galileo?

Bobby: In the financial services industry there are a lot of integration points. To provide the best platform for our customers, we integrate with different technologies, payment networks, third party providers, and more. These make for a phenomenally flexible platform, but definitely add complexity. Building those integrations in a way that still allows us to remain agile brings an interesting set of challenges for our engineers. On the people side of things, I’m always impressed by our ability to reach across teams to get things shipped. I would venture to say that most mid-to large-scale projects at Galileo involve at least two or more teams. That means teams are constantly in a place to better understand their product and how it plays in the ecosystem, and I think our offerings are better for it.

How would you describe your remote work experience with Galileo?

Bobby: Honestly, it’s been seamless–to the extent that I don’t even think about the fact that I’m remote for the most part. A remote workforce in a regulated and secure environment brings challenges, but Galileo has done a great job of ensuring I have access to the tools I need to be effective while still protecting our clients;we’re always iterating on ways to make remote work a better experience for all. I’ve never felt as though I was missing out or less effective as a remote employee, and the people and relationships I built reflect that. I feel engaged with my peers and plugged into the culture, and I think that speaks volumes about Galileo’s commitment to inclusiveness and diversity.

To close us out, can you tell our readers what excites you most about the future of Galileo?

Bobby: We’re in the midst of a large platform migration, and I’m really excited about the opportunities that it brings. I believe that our ability to innovate for our customers and the speed at which we do that are only going to increase as we wrap that up. We’re also doing a lot of exciting things within the company to empower builders to build and have stronger ownership of and visibility into their services.

Thank you so much, Bobby, for sharing your experiences with our readers! We are certainly excited to watch Galileo’s continued growth! 

If you are interested in learning more about the amazing people behind Galileo Financial Technologies, check out our other employee spotlight blogs or apply today to become a part of Galileo Financial Technologies and SoFi Technologies!

The individual featured is a Galileo employee. Their personal experiences, obviously, do not take into account your own specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. Results will vary.