The Movio Crew is growing faster than ever. So far this year, we’ve added 13 new starters to the team and we plan on hiring a whole lot more before the end of 2017! To give you a taste of the culture at Movio, we’ve asked six of our newest recruits a few questions to reveal what really happens behind the scenes.
Isaac Rogers
Software Engineer
Cat person and cheap-coffee lover. Codes campaign execution amongst the rest of Movio's Red Squad.
You made the move from the U.S. to work with Movio. What attracted you to us?
I was drawn to New Zealand’s peaceful environment and the chilled Kiwi attitude after observing the various social instabilities of the US. I searched “NZ Go Developer job” and found Movio. After reading a blog post quoting an engineer working from the beach, and job postings mentioning great test coverage, I applied.
I appreciated my technical interview with the Red Squad because we did some engineering - we stated a problem, iterated to a solution, and critiqued the solution for ways to improve our approach. This everyday approach allowed us to demonstrate our engineering skills like evaluating trade-offs and modelling systems.
Fast forward a few months. Living in NZ is what I expected - a little slower-paced, a little more expensive, and a lot less stressful than the States. I’m also enjoying my work. Cheers, Movio!
Thaisa Da Silva
Designer
Passionate about all things design-related, music, movies, and travelling.
What's it like being a creative in a technology company and has it changed your processes?
Working at Movio has really refined the way I do things from a design perspective. Ordinarily, design is about creating something visually appealing, but there’s also a lot of technical elements to be considered with the work I do here. This means being much more strategic with my planning and development to ensure the end product really means something.
My previous roles were very independent - there weren’t many opportunities to work with other team members. There’s a much more collaborative approach at Movio. I work not only within the design team, but with creatives from UX, marketing, and even developers. I love the variety, and the fact there’s always a challenge!
Utku Demir
Software Engineer
Part of the Movio Media team. Likes to write correct software, read sci-fi and watch colourful movies.
How have you found the process of moving to New Zealand and joining Movio?
For me, moving to the opposite side of the world from Turkey and starting to speak a foreign language wasn't the easiest thing to do. But working in a friendly environment with happy people and living in one of the most beautiful countries is worth some effort and I am glad I chose to be here.
Movio is structured by self-sufficient teams, and my team, Movio Media is one of the newest. I found that this means we actually have all the excitement and the agility of a fresh startup; but unlike an actual startup, we don't feel pressured, and we have time, resources, and talent. Before joining Movio, I was actually expecting to see a bulky company with thick rulebooks and old softwares but, instead, everyone made me feel welcome immediately, and I saw a bunch of smart people happily solving problems together in a friendly environment.
Ashleigh Davis
Content Publisher
Inspirational content gets me out of bed. Avid lover of books about other people's lives, and eating airplane food.
How do you find the mix of culture and personalities at Movio?
I’ve never worked in a tech company before, and I’ve really been missing out. There are so many interesting people from all over the world, so lunchtime and social activities are a lot fun! It’s great spending time with people from all walks of life, with all kinds of interests - we have a very vibrant, and often hilarious, office life. My fellow marketing team members welcomed me with open arms, and it's nice that our friendships now extend beyond work hours.
At Movio, there’s never a shortage of entertaining conversation, gong-worthy celebrations or people to watch even the most obscure of movies with. We’re an eclectic bunch.
Henzen van Dijk
Software Engineer
Develops front and back end software. Enjoys spending off-hours travelling, exploring and gaming.
Movio Cinema is evolving quickly. What's your favourite part of being in Movio's Squads?
Eight months ago, I left a large corporate software company in the Netherlands to join Movio. It proved to be the right decision, as I have already gotten the chance to work in multiple teams (I recently moved from Blue Squad to Yellow Squad) on brand new features. And because we are working with the latest tech I keep learning new things every day.
In addition to the regular work, there are also some great benefits such as the BBQs, movie nights, biennial Hackathon, and other events that make for a pretty good welcome. Plus, it is New Zealand - so, what’s not to like?
Dragos Covaciu
Account Manager EMEA
Responsible for account management of clients in four different countries. I love film, art, travelling and new tech.
What’s it like working in the EMEA team at Movio?
Working in the EMEA team is exciting because we get to cover a lot of different countries, cinema chains, regulatory landscapes and ways of working. Our team itself is also very varied and international: Canadian, Portuguese, half-Italian, half-French, Romanian, British and a half-Brit, half-Botswanese. It's great coming together with our different ways of thinking.
The EMEA office connects daily with Auckland HQ through JIRA, Slack, the company-wide WIP meeting, a weekly project call, and emails. The UK market is more complex than some others in terms of loyalty programmes and tech adoption, and we constantly hear interesting bits from around the region. Fun facts: infants can be admitted to horror films in Norway, and Russia is investing in patriotic cinema.
Want to join the #MovioCrew? Check out our careers page for current positions.
