Staff Spotlight – Salvador Gordils

 

 

In this series, we explore the people behind the scenes at Sparta to bring attention to the individuals that help steer the ship, offering them a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

This week, we focus on Salvador Gordils, our Front-End Engineer at Sparta! Join us as we shine a spotlight on Salvador’s role in crafting the visual identity of our app, his unique background from Turmero, Venezuela, and a few farmyard tales that shaped his childhood.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WITH THE COMPANY?

I’ve been around since January 2023, so it’s been a year now and it has been a blast! Sparta is the second start-up I’ve worked for and the most interesting one for sure.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN YOUR ROLE?

Sure! I’m a front-end engineer for Team Red, so I work building the visual part of our app, specifically Naphtha and the (coming soon) Crude vertical. This includes ensuring that our app feels fast and snappy, and that the user can interact with it properly. As front-end engineers, we are the ones that make the designs created by our awesome design team a reality that our clients can use.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE INDUSTRY?/CAN YOU GIVE ME A RUNDOWN OF YOUR CAREER PATH UP UNTIL THIS POINT?

Despite being a tech guy, I grew up in a farm! I’m from a small town in Venezuela called Turmero, the town per se is not what I would call “rural”, but the northern part of it (which is where my family’s house is) is mostly forest and farms, so I grew up surrounded by nature and really close with the animals in my grandpa’s farm like cows, pigs, and chickens.

A funny story that I have about growing up in a farm is that when I was a kid I was attacked by a goose while visiting the farm of a friend of my grandpa. If you didn’t know, geese are territorial birds and they will attack you if they think you’re overstepping their territory, they’re also not easily scared, so if one attacks you, your best bet is to run or fight them. I had the bad luck of running into one of them while my grandpa wasn’t looking so, I had to run around with the goose chasing me until an adult helped me. Don’t worry, neither me nor the goose where hurt thanks to my grandpa.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF WORKING AT SPARTA?

At Sparta we are encouraged to propose new ideas and execute them. I think this is something that makes our product shine, because it allows us to care a lot about the quality of what we build by using the best technology available and never settle for what we have. We are always looking to improve our skills and product.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR?

During my first year as a software engineer, I had to work on a project that was abandoned by another team, this project’s code was deeply flawed, slow, complex, and only in production for a limited number of users but it was something the many of the users wanted to have. I wrote a proposal to my boss on the improvements we could make, and I was able to work on these improvements, ultimately leading to the product being released to the full user base with great feedback. It took months of hard work and I’m really proud to have endured it.

WHAT’S THE MOST INTERESTING PROJECT YOU’VE WORKED ON HERE AT SPARTA?

There’s two actually! I was able to work on a huge update of our development tools with colleagues from other teams and we just released that update. Doing so fixed a lot of bugs that didn’t really have a work around until now, and made our app faster, it also reduced the time it takes for us to ship new features by a lot of time. The second one is the Crude vertical, I know users are really excited about this one, so it motivates me to go the extra mile to make it a top-notch feature!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE OUR COMPANY CULTURE?

I would say “tight-knit”. At Sparta we care a lot about our teammates, and we always try to make each other’s work as easy as possible, this allows us to interact with persons from multiple departments and constantly improve our workflows and ultimately, our product.

WHAT DO YOU THINK SETS OUR COMPANY APART FROM OTHERS IN THE INDUSTRY?

The speed of delivery, Sparta is constantly releasing products that are relevant to our customers’ market, I think that it makes our company shine.

WHAT PIECE OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER SELF?

I would tell him that all the hard work will have its payoff, and that pushing forward in the face of adversity is going to be worth it.

HOW HAS YOUR ROLE EVOLVED SINCE YOU’VE BEEN HERE?

At Sparta I have learned that for a product to be successful you have to care and nurture it; every detail is important and sometimes you have to spot those details yourself. I’m sure that I’m a better engineer now than who I was a year ago.

WHAT’S THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR?

Not everything that shines is gold, and every decision is a trade-off. In software engineering we tend to pick up the flashiest new tech without thinking too much, this can be harmful to a project. Every decision taken when writing software must be well thought out.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS/YEARS?

I want to relocate my mother and sister to Spain; I’ve been away from them for some years now and it would be nice to live nearby again. Professionally, I want to be a reference in the company regarding front end, it’s not an easy path but I have my aim set towards it.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WISH PEOPLE KNEW ABOUT YOUR JOB?

A lot of people think that front end development is easy or simple, but it’s neither. Maybe it was some years ago, but the requirements that web applications have today are so complex that a front-end engineer should be a Swiss Army knife of skills in order to deliver products at the right pace.

WHAT’S THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?

California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas.

WHAT, IF ANYTHING, ARE YOU CURRENTLY BINGE-WATCHING OR READING?

One Piece! I love anime and manga, but from all I’ve read and watched, One Piece has stolen my heart.

WHAT’S ONE THING PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU THAT THEY WOULD BE SURPRISED TO FIND OUT?

My first job was working as a professional photographer for three years, before I switched to IT. 

WHAT’S ONE THING ON YOUR BUCKET LIST

I want to watch the northern lights, so I have on my bucket list a trip to Finland or Iceland.

Salvador Gordils is our Front End Engineer here at Sparta and can be contacted at
salvador.gordils@spartacommodities.com

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Sparta is a live, market intelligence and forecasting platform that enables oil traders, refiners, banks, hedge funds and wholesalers to have access to real-time and global actionable insights to capture market opportunities before others.

To find out how Sparta can allow you to make smarter trading decisions, faster, contact us for a demonstration at sales@spartacommodites.com