Meet Becks, Product Owner at myairops.
At myairops, we take immense pride in our exceptional team members, and today, we’re thrilled to shine the spotlight on one of our own. Meet Becks, our dedicated and versatile Product Owner, who brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to our organization.
From their early days as a UAT tester to their current role in product management, Becks has traversed a remarkable 15-year journey in the IT field. Their story is a testament to dedication, adaptability, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
In this spotlight, you’ll get to know more about Becks’ journey, their passion for the aviation industry, and their interests beyond work, including scuba diving and running.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what led you to join myairops as a Product Owner
Well, I started working in IT when I was seconded as a UAT tester well over 15 years ago (which makes me feel old!). I loved it so I then landed my first IT job as an associate QA Engineer. I worked my way up the testing ranks through different companies, the most memorable being Just Eat. Here I started as a QA engineer and over the years I moved into other roles (BA, Project Manager and finally Programme Manager) . It was not long after I left I started thinking about a change and dipping my toe into the Product space (of which I had a couple of roles). I was looking for a new challenge, to be challenged and for a place where I can learn (I love to learn new things), myairops met all of the criteria!
What excites you the most about your role as a Product Owner and the product you’re currently managing?
I think there are two things (sorry!), learning about the aviation industry is one as I’ve had no exposure to it previously and it’s incredibly interesting and I’m really enjoying the learning journey (which I know will be a long one)!
Secondly, having now joined a few customer (and internal) calls they provide more context with regards to tasks we have in the backlog (or are yet too following the calls) and they also help me better understand the customers problems which I can then try and help to solve. This then provides a sense of achievement when we do push the changes to Production as we have helped make someone’s life easier/provided them new functionality etc. I think the combination of the two then also allows me to better convey to the team why we’re doing what we are, which is important.
Could you share a memorable achievement or project you’ve worked on in your career that you’re particularly proud of?
Whilst I was at Just Eat, for a short time I was part of the team working on mergers and acquisitions. I was involved from the engineering side and I was responsible for managing the technical tasks regarding the completion of a few acquisitions. As part of one of the larger acquisitions I was included as part of the team who was negotiating the deal (more observation than negotiator in this case) but that was an awesome achievement to be part of that team.
Beyond your role, what are your interests and hobbies outside of work?
I love to scuba dive. I am a qualified instructor but currently out of teaching status due to covid but that’s given me a chance to focus on the diving I enjoy and to focus on pushing my own training and improve my skills.
I have also recently gotten into running, which I’m surprised how much I enjoy. I’m still a newb but I’m really enjoying it and have signed up for the Farnborough half in January with other myairops team members!
What does your ideal Sunday look like?
An ideal Sunday; either getting up at early doors to go for a dive and then on for food with my dive buddies or, having a nice lie in, then on for a run and then a roast with the grandparents
