Meet Chris, Airbyte's lead front end developer

Being one of the fastest-growing startups in London, we understand the challenges and excitement that startups and enterprises face. We don't pretend to know every market, however, we do understand high growth startups. We believe in transparency; when you partner with Airbyte, you will speak with the founders.

Time to meet the Lead Front End Developer at Airbyte, Chris!

What do you like most about Airbyte?

I love working with like-minded individuals who all share the same values and working ethic.

At Airbyte every day we strive to do our best and go the extra mile and inspire each other to push ourselves. No task is too big and challenges are welcomed. We're actively encouraged to push ourselves, build our skills and take on challenges.

Me when I tried to grow a beard.

What are 3 words to describe Airbyte?

Quality. Here at Airbyte, we strive to deliver outstanding service and quality end results. We all share the same values in building the best customer satisfaction.

Passion. We all love what we do at Airbyte, and that reflects in our work. We go the extra mile to make sure that we deliver end results that we are proud to have our name next to.

Innovative. We don't put ourselves inside a box here at Airbyte. We're always looking for new tech stacks or techniques that we can apply to our projects and push ourselves to learn and be challenged.

In your opinion, what are the hallmark traits of a great lead front end engineer?

Being a great developer at any level isn't about how many degrees or years of experience you have under your belt. It's about the ability and willingness to learn and also understanding it's ok to not know the answer all the time, but being able to take the time to find the answer.

Also allowing people to take ownership, whether that is a project or an aspect of a project, in my opinion, it is important for developers to feel valued and that they make a difference for the company and for the client.

How did you get to where you are now?

I've had quite an abnormal path to get to where I am today. I studied music at university and from there played in various bands releasing music and touring throughout the UK and Europe. Through that time I worked in bars/cafes and even a cigar shop!

I started looking into front end development as I was l looking for a new career doing something that challenged me and I found out how much I enjoyed coding and building websites.

From there I moved to Melbourne, Australia and landed my first Front End Dev job at a very small start-up and helped build out there MVP which was a fantastic experience.

I continued to travel and moved to Vancouver, Canada where I continued my development path, eventually returning back to the UK ready to take on the next step in my career.

I believe that some of the best developers don't need to have degrees or many years of experience. It takes the ability to learn, be able to challenge yourself and be able to ask questions when you need to. I've been lucky to have some amazing mentors throughout my career, but I've also had to work hard and be passionate about what I do to get to where I am today.

Trekking through the Australian outback

How do you spend your time outside of the office?

I still like to play music and you can sometimes find me jamming with friends in a local pub or recording music at home or in the studio.

I also like to take the dog out for walks in the countryside around Brighton when the weather's good, perhaps stopping at a few pubs along the way!

In my downtime, I enjoy cooking, watching football and trying to get Brighton to the top of the Premier League in Fifa!

How do you balance your career at Airbyte and friends & family?

One of the main things that I look for in a company is work-life balance. Here at Airbyte we work hard and are passionate about providing the best service but we are also very aware that we need our own time so that we are refreshed and happy at work.

I'm very happy to say that Airbyte absolutely smashes the work-life balance which gives all of us the time to unwind and also be ready and willing to work hard come Monday morning.

Get to know Chris and the rest of the Airbyte team!

We’re delighted that Chris decided to join Airbyte – it’s been great having them on board! If you have any questions or want to get to know Chris or one of their colleagues from the Lead Front End Developer team, we can put you in touch. Don’t hesitate to reach out!