Humans of Zinier: Introducing Davender

Welcome to our Humans of Zinier series!

Please meet the people building the new era of field service automation.

Who: Davender, Sr. Technical Architect at Zinier

‍Location: Bangalore, India

‍What is your role at Zinier?

‍I am part of the Engineering team and as an Architect, I find myself having to wear multiple hats. I play a role in early stage decision making for new features of the platform, thereby acting as a Tactician within the team. In the initial stage of working with the engineering team on designs for new features or enhancements and later sharing them with product and solution delivery teams, I wear the hat of a Mentor. I also enjoy getting hands-on with coding - it helps me stay connected with my true self!

‍What is your typical day like for you?

‍My typical workday involves interacting and collaborating with different teams on multiple features of the platform and providing inputs to resolve blockers. I am also involved in design aspects of new features and planning how to incorporate these into our system effectively.

On a personal level, I enjoy spending time with my 4 year old kid. Sometimes we lay down under the open sky and count stars. One night he asked - why is the moon bigger than stars? The following day, he asked - Why don’t we see stars during day time? Where does the sun go during the night? His hunger for knowledge brings joy to my heart!

My kid’s also adapted well to my WFH. While he’d knock on the door and demand to be allowed into my room during the earlier months, he now knows when to talk and when to stay silent, especially when I am in meetings.

‍What is the most important soft skill for a technical architect to have?

‍Negotiation. Every architectural design requires a lot of brainstorming with stakeholders and sometimes there may be varying opinions. Getting everyone to agree on a common design becomes difficult if you are not a good negotiator.

Receiving developer’s buy in for implementation also requires some form of negotiation. Being an Architect does not mean I can simply impose my thoughts - I have to negotiate while ensuring arguments don’t get overly intense.

‍What is a favorite quote or motto? Why?

‍You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone, change begins at the end of your comfort zone.― Roy T. Bennett

‍I have been in the startup ecosystem since my earlier career. I started out as an Android developer where I had to learn web development and become a full stack developer. Within a few years, I was helping my team host applications on different cloud providers. My journey in Zinier has also allowed me to explore more in terms of Core development, Product development, Solutioning, DevOps and Architecture designing. Being in a startup, you need to be ready for everything and anything to happen. Change begins when you are ready to take it to the next level - I believe I’m doing that.

‍What’s a fun fact about you?

‍I am from Nainital, a beautiful hill-station in India. This past year has given me the opportunity to enjoy the mountains alongside my work. I also love driving in the mountains as it allows me to stay connected with nature! Every weekend, I take the opportunity to explore a new place. I have driven to Rohtang pass, Munsiyari, Kausani, Ranikhet, Coorg and many more.

‍Davender’s Quick 3:

Top 3 most used mobile apps:

• Slack
• Medium
• Notes

3 things that you wish were automated:

• Sorting and responding to emails
• Closet organisation
• Working out (I miss the boxing classes with Ritesh and Vipin!)

Thanks for sitting down with us and sharing your story, Davender!