Frank, our Business Analyst in our Sofia office, has always known how to seek great travels in his life. One of them even brought him to our family, more than 2000 kilometres away from Amsterdam, the starting point. Ever since he walked through the doors of our office, Frank continuously contributed immensely to the growth of the Business Analysis discipline. Now, without a doubt, he is part of our story and of the people who have written the very first lines of our Bulgarian chapter. If you’d like to understand who Frank is, what inspires him and what makes him a great person to work it, read his story till the end.

How did you start working at Endava and what was your professional path within the company?

After having worked in the Netherlands as a consultant for 15 years, developing and implementing back-office software for private banks, I got the opportunity to continue doing this in the opposite corner of  Europe, in Endava’s delivery unit from Sofia. Although I’ve been here for eight years now, ever since the moment I’ve stepped into the office I have been mainly in charge of 2 challenging projects. I see myself as the bridge between the business (stakeholders) and the development team. In previous projects, I had roles like Product Owner, Proxy Product Owner and Business Analyst. This means getting the information from the stakeholders, managing them and bringing the information to the development team. Nonetheless, it is not a one-way street, because the team also comes up with ideas that we then discuss with the stakeholders.

During all this time, Endava has helped me to grow professionally by letting teams operate independently and responsibly. That has also had a direct impact on my own responsibility and my overall role within the team. To this, I can add further career growth opportunities like being a Career Coach which really helped me broaden my soft skills and understand people better.

What drives you at Endava?

"Teamwork" is the most important for me. I believe I encounter it on a daily basis in the work we are doing here, at Endava, but also in broader aspects, stretching from the Business Analysts team to the entire Sofia team and then reaching other Delivery and account group units. People are open and professional, which makes the start of a new project exciting instead of scary. That says everything about our culture. More so, the work we did as a team on the last project brought me pride because the customer recognised our professionalism and entrusted us with many important modules and decisions. The most important lesson I’ve learnt here is that  working as a team implies helping each other and acknowledging every success.

How would your colleagues describe you in one sentence?

Most probably my colleagues would say that I am a team player, a knowledgeable person and someone who finds ways to make both the customer and the team proud. I also hope they will say I am funny as well :-) 

Do you have any books/tutorials/speeches that influenced your career path that you would like to name?

The first book which inspired me to choose this career path was 'The C Programming Language" by Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie. Later, I was inspired by the theoretical side of computer science stated by Peter van Emde Boas and the practical side presented by Andrew Tanenbaum. I am mentioning these because I am interested in both the practical as well as the theoretical parts of IT development which makes a Business Analyst a perfect role for me.

Who is Frank outside of work?

My biggest personal challenge was to move from Amsterdam to Sofia to be with my wife. New language, habits and everything in between t, whether I wanted to open a bank account or register a car and so on. However, my colleagues were very welcoming and kind-hearted. When the moving van arrived from Amsterdam to Sofia and the mover said that he could not help me carry all of my stuff upstairs to the apartment, I only had to ask for a little assistance and in no time, 7 of my colleagues came right away to help me. I'll never forget that!

Can you tell us how your passions have contributed to your day-to-day job?

I’ve travelled a lot especially in the South and Central Americas and South-East Asia to experience different cultures. Although I didn't speak all these languages, my friends and I were always able to connect to the locals and get help, which often resulted in having dinners, rides, parties and sleepovers. These networking skills helped me a lot in building a bridge between the customer and the team.

What advice would you give yourself if you were starting work at Endava today?

Seek and cultivate team spirit, take time to meet colleagues, share your knowledge, experiences and passions and you’ll automatically become part of the Endava family or any family for that matter.