What do you do as a Solutions Architect at Sky?

As Solutions Architect, you’re solving the technical solution for a particular business problem. You’ll have a problem in front of you, and you have to set out the vision of solving it.

Not every piece of information is there and mapped out. Sometimes you have to figure out how it works. Then you solve it all at a high level, and pass it on to the engineering teams to put in place your vision.

I can’t remember working on one component more than once!

What have been your project highlights during your time at Sky?

The biggest product that I got to work on was Sky Glass, which was cool. No-one outside of our bubble knew about it.

One day, you’ll be working on Sky Glass. The other day you’ll be working on making sure that you can test our devices from the warehouse, all the way up to here in Watermark.

A lot of the work I do is with the Contact Centre agents, we build a lot of the components and functionality for them to use. When a customer rings up and asks for particular products – we build the interface our agents would use.

We want it to be very seamless because we don’t want the wrong communication to go out to the customer. If we’re going to do this, we do it right the first time.

What environmentally conscious decisions has your team implemented?

Sky Glass had a lot of media attention because it’s environmentally friendly. Every project we do, we try to make sure that we don’t recklessly use more database space or bandwidth.

How have you been made to feel included at Sky?

It can be quite intimidating joining a new place. Especially within an established team, you think, “Oh, do I have to fit in?”. As soon as I was able to get to go in the office, everybody was there, and they were all friendly.

When I came in, it looked cool, fun and vibrant. The cafeteria was open, everyone was smiling. It was great that when I made a few suggestions, it was all taken on board. They’re a fun, vibrant bunch!

I’m nine months in and I’ve finally managed to figure out Yammer, which is our internal social media network. There are always chances to outreach into the community and build groups.

What’s the best benefit of working at Sky?

Hybrid working is the best of both worlds. You avoid the commuter slog, which is brilliant. When you do come into the office, it’s for good reason; if it’s for a workshop, or if you want to see your team. You know someone will always be there, you can hang out and work with them.