My Career Journey: From Help Desk to Senior Director of Engineering

My career has evolved alongside the technology industry itself growing with each innovation, adapting to new challenges, and shaping business solutions that drive efficiency.

I began my journey at the help desk, resolving technical issues one call at a time. Back then, troubleshooting often meant visiting employees at their desks. Technology was hands-on, and so was I. As IT matured, so did my role. I transitioned into networking, designing systems, running cabling, installing hubs and workstations, and serving as an administrator. The small-scale local area networks soon expanded into wide area networks, connecting campuses and offices across state lines.

Next came the rise of corporate intranet sites, which I embraced by designing internal portals that evolved into fully integrated digital ecosystems. Naturally, this led to the internet itself. Beyond just building websites, I led a team of developers who standardized corporate design and coding practices. My networking experience proved invaluable as I implemented clustering, RAID, Fail-Over Systems, Load testing, and Business Continuity Planning introducing concepts that were cutting-edge at the time.

Static web pages quickly lost their appeal. The solution? Workflow processing, transforming websites into interactive tools that became part of daily operations, allowing employees to submit requests, engage with systems, and track orders. This ushered in the next phase of my career: Business Process Management (BPM).

I learned that designing efficient processes requires more than mapping the “happy path.” People often describe their ideal workflows without factoring in unforeseen variables or redundant processes across teams. My expertise in BPM helped bridge these gaps, optimizing operations across multiple platforms.

– The Corporate Website
– Request for Proposal (RFP) Systems
– Marketing Material Sites & Micro-sites
– Analytics Platforms
– Enterprise Content Management Systems (for web development and large-scale document storage)

Eventually, one more critical function joined my domain: Salesforce.

I built and led Salesforce Administration and Development Teams, initially focusing on data cleanup and integration before expanding into workflows, reporting, tracking systems, and API-driven architecture. What began as scheduled ETL jobs soon evolved into real-time integrations powered by APIs.

Then, my career took another leap forward. A friend introduced me to the CIO of a large bank, and after a single meeting, I was offered the role of Director of Software Development. At first, I hesitated, but the CIO put things into perspective: I had already been leading development for Internet systems, Content Management platforms, Marketing tools, and Salesforce making me more than qualified. And just like that, a new chapter began.

At the bank, I maintained responsibility for all of the above, but also spearheaded new technological innovations, including:

– Robotic Process Automation (RPA)—defining standards for when and how to use it for integrations where APIs and batch jobs weren’t viable
– ServiceNow implementation—automating service requests, enhancing reporting, and modernizing help desk issue tracking

This was my favorite role so far, one that allowed me to blend my expertise across all domains, architecting business solutions that were both agile and strategic. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. The bank was acquired, and after a tenure with the acquiring institution, I moved on to my current position.

Today, I serve as Senior Director of Engineering, with a strong focus on Salesforce Development. I’ve led proof-of-concept initiatives in Knowledgebases, AI-driven automation (originally Co-Pilot, now rebranded Agentforce), Predictive Analytics, and beyond. My toolkit includes JIRA, Confluence, and methodologies spanning waterfall and agile development.

And the adventure continues…