Ask HN: Career advice for software engineer/analyst at med-tech manufacturer | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Career advice for software engineer/analyst at med-tech manufacturer

14 pointscleguy955 comments

As the title says, I'm a SE at a mid-size ($100-$200m rev) med device contract manufacturer. It's cool to play a part in how data is collected/analyzed/managed here. We have a strong mfg eng culture, but SE/data mgmt has not been a high priority until I arrived, which can make my job frustrating. I've done cool projects with .Net stack that clct/org/anlyze data from the factory. I was alone for about two years and after much convincing, we recently hired a second SE.

I started my career on an agile team at a marketing tech co, then built dapps at crypto consultancy with Node/React/Solidity and did product dev, tech writing, architecture and engineering. I found that I love going through the full SDLC to build something interesting/valuable. Then I did some consulting and ended up in my current gig that way.

I love the idea of helping a legacy mfg co modernize their digital ops-especially a company that makes the stuff that we make. But, it is frustrating. I have a lot of reg documentation, long approval times, and training users how to use the software and getting their feedback... which isn't bad... everyone is nice and it's a change of pace from a typical environment where you rarely get to interact with your users.

At times, I find myself questioning if this is a good position for my career. I have an atypical background (been interested in econ for a while, did equity rsrch for a hedge fund in high school/freshman yr, left school after death in fam, did bootcamp instead of more college) but I love learning, and I read tech blogs, etc. every day. I stay in touch with the veteran SEs I've worked with in the past and for advice, but a lot of times I still question if I'm doing the right thing for myself, the company I'm at, and now the engineer we recently hired....

So HN: does anyone have experience working with/for a legacy manufacturer trying to improve their digital ops? Also, what advice might you have for my career path?

Cheers.

> So HN: does anyone have experience working with/for a legacy manufacturer trying to improve their digital ops? Also, what advice might you have for my career path?

I didn't work with a manufacturer, but did work at a real estate brokerage. I worked under the CTO, then the CTO left and I ended up heading the small software department which maintained both internal and external applications.

My advice with that context is that you'll never be the star. Software was a supporting function at my employer and is at yours as well. You need to decide if you are ok with that. The stars at my employer were high performing real estate agents. At yours, they are probably the manufacturing engineers or the salespeople, is my guess. "Stars" are who get the attention, money and focus at the company. (See how hard a time you had hiring a second SE.)

You can make a great living and have a good career not being a star. At the same time, it can be frustrating because you'll always be second fiddle when it comes to resources, recognition and time.

For example, I led the department and there simply wasn't budget for me to hire anyone that I could learn from. There are of course outside of work ways to get better at software engineering, but learning next to someone else at work is a lot more effective and less costly (in terms of time). That's the kind of box you are heading into. You can spend some time learning eng management, product management, and the whole SDLC, but make sure you continue to pull in outside resources, as you can get trapped in the expert beginner mindset, which is no fun and a career dead end.

Anyway, I spent years at that brokerage, learned as much as I could, and then left. Still friends with the team there, but they don't have a real software department any more, almost everything has been outsourced.

By the way, I could of course be wrong and the company could be making a strategic investment in software as a revenue stream, and that would change my advice. I gave feedback based on my read.

Some bonus links:

https://daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-th...

https://charity.wtf/2020/11/01/questionable-advice-the-trap-...

Classic cost center vs. profit center.

Also would like to add, that esp. in a cost center org where legacy/manual/inefficient processes can be endemic, people (esp. the "stars") simply might not want to change how they work no matter how much better or faster or easier the new, digital way is.

Personally, I feel almost any SWE is better served working for a tech-as-a-profit-center company. Of course that's easier said than done and not always practical depending on circumstances.

> Classic cost center vs. profit center.

Always a good way to think about it. I don't know if it was entirely that clear cut in my case, since one of the apps I worked on drove a lot of leads which were clearly tied to revenue, but the realtors were a lot closer to revenue generation than I was.

I think it's a mindset, or perhaps the company culture. Many (most?) companies of a certain size these days are completely dependent on technology and probably employ some number of tech employees.

Some companies treat their technology assets (both human and non-human) as critical and respected pieces to their business.

Other companies, even in the same line of business, might treat their tech assets as nothing more than a necessary evil that must be tolerated at best, but always shown their proper place in the pecking order.

> a legacy manufacturer trying to improve their digital ops...

Get clarity from leadership on what digital ops SUCCESS looks like.

Who in the manufacturing space are their heroes when it comes to Digital Transformation? Who do they benchmark against?

Are they doing anything worthy of emulation? Any digital innovations you can improve upon?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com