People Power Pager: Elba Sanchez, Engineering Manager
At Pager, the driving force behind everything we do is our employees. Team members are mission-driven and critically focused on what they can do to help individuals improve their health and make better decisions. We’re proud to have a team of unique individuals who bring different strengths, perspectives, and interests to our organization.
In this series, we spotlight an employee to learn more about the work they do and what drives them. We spoke with Elba Sanchez, a Pager Engineering Manager.
Tell me about yourself. Who are you and what is your role at Pager?
I’m Elba Sanchez and I am a software engineer. I am from Barranquilla, Colombia and now live in Chile. I've been at Pager for about four and a half years.
My time at Pager is a bit of a funny story. I started working as a backend developer, but at one point our web team went on vacation. I happened to have previous background on the programming language that they were using at that time. Long story short, I ended up working as a full stack engineer for about a year. As the web team grew, I returned to backend engineering completely. I also started as a mid-level engineer, then was promoted to Senior Engineer, and now, I’m the Tech Lead for my squad. So I've had a few different roles here.
Tell me about the work you do today. What squad are you leading, and what types of projects are you working on?
I lead the consumer squad. We work with the parts of the platform that patients interact with. This usually involves mobile apps, web SDKs, and wherever the patients can go to initiate a chat with an agent. Our squad is a little different because most others are working on the Command Center and Enterprise Admin experience for the agents. But on this side, we get to see what the experience is like for the patients and make it better. At the end of the day, it’s very important, because the patients are who we’re trying to help. I work on the backend, but the team also has frontend engineers for both web and mobile.
Our squad is interesting because you get to think about both web and mobile. For mobile, you have to take into different client customizations and services, different types of phones, operating systems, and more. And you don't get the level of updates that you could get from the web. So you also have to consider how to make sure things are compatible across many devices and many versions. We work closely with mobile engineers on a daily basis, because it’s important to make sure that what we’re building also works for them. There are a lot of tiny details that you have to be aware of just to work on a mobile experience.
“Every day at Pager I learn something new because there are people from different backgrounds and people that have had different experiences.”
What are some of the things that you enjoy about being an engineer at Pager?
What I love most is the people, and the opportunities to continue learning new things. Every day I learn something new because there are people from different backgrounds and people that have had different experiences. The people are also really nice. If you have a problem and need help, everyone is eager to help you, even if they’re busy too. They are really brilliant – you can learn from them every day.
What drives you? What are some of the things that motivate you, professionally or personally?
I would say that what drives my work at Pager is the way we’re able to help people. This product is really near to my heart because it's helped my family and my friends in Colombia immensely. Things have been so crazy throughout the pandemic that for them to have the ability to use Pager has been incredible. In these times, it’s especially clear that family is the most important thing. And having the ability to have Pager help my family, too? That's awesome. I don't even know how to describe it.
Because of this, I’m really motivated by the goal to make Pager available for more people. We’re seeing a higher volume of chats every day, so it’s important that our teams work to make sure the platform is stable and that we find ways to continue improving the experience for patients and agents however we can.
“What drives my work at Pager is the way we’re able to help people.”
You’ve been with Pager for almost five years. What has it been like watching our product evolve?
I think that it has changed for the better. While we used to be direct-to-consumer, now that we partner with healthcare organizations, it’s easier to reach more people. Since we’ve made that change, we’ve really broadened our knowledge of the healthcare system. It’s been a great experience to be a part of the change. We had to start thinking about how we could handle more patients and more clients. Now, as we’re continuing to scale, we’re moving at a faster pace, and our teams are finding ways to work smarter, not harder, to build a better product that sets us up for future success as well.
Have you developed any new hobbies or activities outside of work since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
I've been working remotely for more than six years now. But, I recently moved to a new city, and I’ve started biking more as a way to explore. It’s a great way to get to know a new place.
Given that you've been working remotely for six years, do you have any advice for people who have only just begun working remotely?
It can be a hard adjustment, and I would say not to get frustrated if you’re challenged by remote work at first. It’s a different environment, and a different pace. Sometimes, you’ll see your bed and you’ll want to take a nap. Like everything, it takes time and discipline. It also helps to have a dedicated workspace in your home.
And, get a dog! When you’re working remotely, you have fewer personal interactions. Getting a dog is a great way to get yourself to go on a walk at least a couple times a day and interact with other people that are walking their dogs too.
Thank you, Elba, for all the incredible work you do at Pager to build a better product for our patients!
Interested in joining our team? Learn more and check out open roles here.
Stay up to date with new data, updates, and reports.
