Before joining Solstice, Mike Koleno worked in banking. Somewhere during his decade of service, he realized he was moving away from the thing he actually loved about fintech: the tech.
At Solstice, on the other hand, employees can't get away from tech if they try. During group dinners and lunches, the subject of conversation invariably turns to tech. Even code review is fun — full of emojis, insights and friendly ribbing.
“I’m surrounded by the best engineers in the world who are always looking to share information and test new ideas and theories,” he said. “It’s an environment that advocates for creativity and rewards excellence.”
The company also rewards passion in job applicants. During a recent interview, a scheduled 30-minute session turned into a 60-minute tech conversation. Immediately after, Koleno told his recruiter: we need to hire this person!
We recently asked the engineering team to share more.
FOUNDED: 2001
WHAT THEY DO: Solstice’s team of strategists, consultants and engineers help Fortune 500 companies evolve their digital strategies and seize new opportunities with hardware and software solutions.
WHERE THEY DO IT: Headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, London and Buenos Aires.
HIRING NOW: Java/Spring engineers who will work in a full-stack capacity, modernizing back-end systems and constructing new digital experiences from the ground up.
IDEAL TRAITS: Accountability, empathy, selflessness, passion.
TECH STACK: Java, Spring and .NET on the back end. React and Angular on the front end. And Pivotal Cloud Foundry and Amazon Web Services for the cloud. Mobile and Conversational UX.
LEARNING: Frequent lunch and learns, internal learning communities.
Mike Koleno, VP of Technology
Koleno leads the cloud native service line at Solstice, which means he leaves his fingerprints on everything from thought leadership to technology implementation and execution.
BEYOND WORK: You’ll find him at the links. He thinks golf is the perfect mix of nature and sport.
If you look at what this team has achieved so far, what are you proudest of?
Koleno: I’m proud of how quickly we align strategies and patterns for solving extremely difficult problems for the enterprise. Our solutions are simple and elegant. We're able to have so much success because of our group of full-stack engineers. They’re able to traverse and plug into just about any level of the stack, which is somewhat rare in our industry.
Sure, we have front-end and back-end specialists but we also have a large core of folks who are comfortable tackling any area on a regular basis. That's a strategic difference that only Solstice can bring to the table.
They’re able to traverse and plug into just about any level of the stack, which is somewhat rare in our industry."
Reflect back on when you joined this company. Is there anything about this job that surprised you?
Koleno: Before coming to Solstice, I spent about 10 years working for one of the world’s largest banks. It was a decent experience, but, after some time I found myself moving further and further away from the technology at the bank. I became disconnected with my passion.
However, at Solstice, I’m able to remain as hands-on as I want to be. I’m surrounded by the best engineers in the world who are always looking to share information and test out new ideas and theories. It’s an environment that advocates for creativity and rewards excellence.
I didn’t know what to expect when I came to Solstice. I only knew I needed a change from where I was. The passion and dedication to technology around here has been such a nice surprise.
I’m surrounded by the best engineers in the world who are always looking to share information and test out new ideas and theories."
Tell me one thing that’s unique about this engineering team.
Koleno: I love that people really don’t feel the need to carry egos around at Solstice. It’s a testament to our culture and our interview process, which protects that culture. As a result, I find myself surrounded by really smart engineers who are overwhelmingly humble and always willing to help each other out. It’s an incredibly dynamic and fun work environment.
Keun Lee, Principal, Enterprise Architect
Lee is tasked with presenting the vision, strategy and roadmap of projects to customers. Once those are effectively communicated, he ensures the successful architecture and deployment of Solstice’s solutions.
BEYOND WORK: He loves music. You’ll find him building analog effects pedals.
What’s the average breakdown of a developer’s day?
Lee: The day starts with a 15- to 30-minute scrum meeting. Then it goes something like this: sit with your pair (if you’re pair programming) and keep each other honest and accountable. Have lunch. Sit with your pair and keep each other honest and accountable. Coffee break. Sit with your pair and keep each other honest and accountable.
Stop! Reflect. High five. And go home!
Of course, it’s not unusual for some of those steps to be replaced with things like sprint planning, design sessions and code review.
Tell us a moment in which your team solved a problem in a way that reflected team culture.
Lee: At the beginning of the third iteration of a project, our team allocated about three days to design a system that had a sizeable messaging throughput requirement. We all gave each other a chance to express our ideas, patiently and respectfully.
In the end, we took the best parts of every idea and created a design together, which resulted in an awesome final product we all felt proud of. It demonstrated trust, mutual respect and the power of collaboration.
Not a day has gone by where I question what my purpose is here."
Does Solstice give its people a sense of mission and purpose? How?
Lee: Not a day has gone by where I question what my purpose is here. That in itself is empowering, because I get to take ownership of how I want to shape my career. I'm given ample outlets to contribute, learn, collaborate, express my opinions, get feedback, reflect, maintain boundaries and grow.
Joe Nedumgottil, Principal, Enterprise Architect
Nedumgottil works with clients to update their systems to run on cloud platforms. His goal is adoption. Once clients start embracing their new platform, developers can focus less on tedious busywork and do what they most love: writing code.
BEYOND WORK: He still loves the Chicago Bulls. Yes, even now.
Describe an ideal candidate for this team.
Nedumgottil: We like people who show a lot of enthusiasm for technology, because that’s the business we’re in. Also, I think that the whole team at Solstice is way more effective than the sum of its individuals. To maintain that, we look for people who go out of their way to support their teammates instead of simply focusing on their own accomplishments.
We love people who show a lot of enthusiasm for technology, because that’s the business we’re in."
How do you create a team feeling at Solstice?
Nedumgottil: We have a ton of events, most of which are created by people across organizations as opposed to executives or HR. Some of these include weekly game nights, women in tech meetings and all kinds of meetings that emphasize our diversity. (We recently had a meeting called “Kosher: It’s Not Just for Pickles.”) We’ve also had wine tastings and even meditation sessions.
If a developer came to you and said they were burnt out, what would you do to help?
Nedumgottil: A great piece of advice I once received was that there’s no such thing as work-life balance; there’s only a wobble. Sometimes, work is consuming. And sometimes, you'll have family commitments or personal interests that are top of mind. Everyone’s going to shift around from time to time.
If someone was feeling burnt out, it’s probably a good time to correct that wobble. I’d encourage the developer to make sure they are talking with their team about how they are feeling. I think our company trusts everyone that works here, and most of the focus is on supporting each other, rather than judging them or shrugging your shoulders and saying there’s nothing you can do.
We value people here, so we’ll take the necessary steps to make sure everybody is engaged and enthusiastic about coming into work.
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