I’m currently in search of a new role - please read through and get in touch if you think I would be a good fit for your organization!

❓ Why

The Zebra announced a restructure and layoffs on Tuesday which impacted roles across the company, including many within our Engineering department - and including mine.

📆 When

Now or soon!

🌍 Where

My strong preference is remote U.S., although I’m open to non-US remote if the time zone differences work out for everyone. I’m okay with periodic travel to an HQ but would like WFH / remote work to be an established part of the company culture and working options.

😄 About Me

Being a people manager is my third career, after starting in tech as a QA Engineer and being an early childhood teacher before that. Many of the skills I developed as a teacher have been really useful in tech, especially as a people manager!

I really like being a manager - I enjoy thinking about the big picture of department vision and strategy while also being able to support the personal and professional growth of the people I manage.

I think it’s important to lead with empathy and curiosity. I enjoy learning about the people I manage and work with. I’m good at paying attention to the way companies and teams operate, and finding areas for improvement. I like being able to change my perspective as I experience new things and hear new ideas from other people. I like asking questions.

I try to optimize for kind, honest, timely communication - it’s not always easy, but it’s almost always better. I try to learn from my mistakes. When I can, I try to learn from other people’s mistakes, too. I like learning new skills, and I love my continuing journey of learning how to be a good manager.

I’ve learned how to delegate and share opportunities instead of saying “yes” to everything, which has been helpful in building collaborative peer relationships as well as finding areas of growth for the people I manage. That being said, I love driving initiatives and I’m good at autonomously finding and completing operational work.

My LinkedIn profile has a detailed overview of my experience and accomplishments, and I invite you to learn about the positive impact I’ve had throughout my career via the recommendations that people have chosen to write.

🏢 What I’m Looking For

Type of Role

I really enjoy being a people manager! I’m focusing on opportunities within that career path and looking for QA / QE Manager roles.

I’d also be interested in exploring roles related to managing engineering operations or engineering efficiency teams; and if you have an Engineering Manager role that you think would be a good fit, I’m open to hearing about it!

Culture

These items are important aspects of company culture that I look for and would strive to maintain while I’m there.

• Psychological safety: People feel safe advocating for their needs. People feel safe trying new things because they know mistakes aren’t punished. People feel safe asking questions and expecting honest answers.
• Communication: People optimize for proactive, transparent communication whenever possible. This applies to top-down company decisions as well as the ability to give and receive meaningful feedback.
• Collaboration: Across departments and hierarchy, people consistently work together to solve problems, share knowledge, and create together.
• Empathy: People try to understand the experiences and perspective of others - this applies to the people we work with, as well as the users we’re building for.

Pros

These are strong preferences I have for any company I’m at!

• Unlimited sick leave.
• 401k matching.
• 20+ days of vacation.
• Trans-inclusive healthcare.
• Generous parental leave policies.
• Budget and time off for professional development, e.g. attending conferences or workshops.

Cons

These things will make me more hesitant to be part of your company.

• The executive leadership group consists only of white men.
• No career ladders. Career ladders, when created and implemented well, can offer a shared understanding of expectations. They help remove subjectivity and bias to create better opportunities for equitable, objective decisions around hiring, reviews, and promotions - which benefits minoritized or marginalized people who are most likely to be harmed by biased decisions.
• Hidden pay bands, or no pay bands. Marginalized and minoritized groups are most harmed when salaries are not transparent. When implemented appropriately, pay bands support equitable pay practices in hiring, raises, and promotions. If a company has chosen not to implement and enforce transparent pay bands, I would assume that people are being harmed by pay inequities.
• You don’t have an official HR department.
• You don’t have any women or BIPOC employees.

Contact Me

If my experience and expectations sound good to you, please reach out! You can email me at riggs.ang@gmail.com or message me on LinkedIn, and include the following info:

• The name of the organization you are contacting me about.
• Where the organization is based, and whether the role is Covid-remote or fully remote.
• What kind of organization it is (e.g. private/public company, non-profit, agency, product company).
• Information about the position(s) and/or a link to relevant job postings.
• A brief description of why the organization would be a good fit for me and vice versa.
• Any other information you think is useful.

Thanks in advance - I look forward to hearing from you!