Meet Sr. Software Engineer Daan
"I love variety. I'm at my best being a sweeper-keeper"
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In February of this year, Daan Paardekooper became the newest addition to our DevOps team as a Senior Software Engineer. Only three months have passed since then, and we are eager to introduce him to you all. Meet Daan, our talented, and sweeper-keeper.
"I’m always eager for variety and enjoy learning new skills and taking on different projects. In my career as a software engineer, I have had a diverse background, encompassing roles such as full stack engineer, software consultant, content creator, front end developer, and software lead. But I prefer to combine all of my skills in one position."
Daan’s desire for variety seems to have been a reoccurring theme in Daan’s personal life; growing up, he lived in New York for five years, the Netherlands for six years, and Brussels for seven years. Although Daan has been back in the Netherlands for over ten years now, and considers it his home, Daan explains that, "It took me some time to get used to really settling down here. I have Dutch parents, but I grew up in different countries, went to an international school and have many international friends. Socially and culturally, Amsterdam was a bit of a switch for me in the beginning. I spent a few months in Sicily in the meantime and I had plans to move to Berlin just before the pandemic, but that has been put on the back burner. I've been in Amsterdam for a while now, and I’ll be staying put in the coming years."
The Rush Goalie
"I've been involved in software engineering and development for over ten years. My role at Grexx came my way because I was looking for a new job with more variety and responsibility. Right away, I was impressed by the high-quality product that is the Grexx Platform, particularly from a technical standpoint. It's an interesting concept; we're building a platform, and that platform is built on that same platform. That's a unique set-up which I hadn’t seen before.
Within the DevOps team, I'm a kind of rush goalie, a flexible goal-keeper. I do a lot of different things - backend, infra, ops - and that's exactly how I like to work. I’m a full stack engineer and can and always want to work in different areas, which keeps it interesting for me. However, I also find it just as important to work together as a team to continuously improve our work. This includes improving processes, implementing best practices, introducing standards for tooling, and promoting knowledge sharing. I enjoy guaranteeing the quality of the end result on a technical level and I think it's important that we pay enough attention to that."
The coming years
"I completed my bachelor's degree in Computer Science in Utrecht in 2016, after which I immediately started working. I wanted to do a master's degree at some point, but that hasn't happened yet. I actually really enjoy reading and learning in my spare time. As an engineer, it is important for me to continue developing and to stay up-to-date with new technologies and techniques.
In the coming years, I would like to delve further into the areas between business and IT. I believe that the biggest challenges often lie not in the technology itself, but in bridging the gap between technology and 'the real world'. That’s why I find soft skills and understanding the business domain an interesting and important area. My personal interests also include philosophy, psychology, and history; it would be exciting to combine these with my technical background.
Private Life
Daan is 29 and lives with his girlfriend in Amsterdam. His hobbies include sports (basketball, fitness, lacrosse), music (guitar, piano), chess, board games, cooking, and sailing. Daan also likes to travel and visit friends and family at home and abroad. He has made frequent trips to South Korea in recent years, as it is where his girlfriend is from and has become quite proficient in reading and speaking Korean!