The Faces of Mavericks: Niko Lindroos
Meet Niko, a full-stack web developer with passion for lean and agile software development as well as bat-and-ball games. When it was time for Niko to switch to something new after a long stint in the healthcare industry and product company world, a close friend recommended Mavericks. The rest is history.
What is your professional background like?
I studied health informatics (Bachelor of Engineering) and technological competence management (Master of Engineering) in Turku. Since the BE in health informatics, I worked amidst different web based quality registers for the healthcare industry for ten years. The MEng degree, on the other hand, has supplemented my knowhow in project management and fed my appetite for lean and agile software development.
I’m working in a consultancy and as a software consultant for the first time in my career now that I’m at Mavericks. Agile software development and its practices are still very close to my heart, though.
What are your best skills and abilities? Soft and tech.
I’ve always been interested in the whole life cycle of the software product that I’m developing, not just the code base. Therefore I’d say understanding the big picture is the greatest skill of mine. When it comes to coding, I’m at my best when I get to get my hands dirty in both front- and backend, all the way from databases and interfaces to user interfaces. Graphic design is not exactly my strong suit, but first-class user interface and -experience are very important to me in my work. What’s funny is that sometimes I find myself wholeheartedly enjoying writing tests, too. 🙂
On the backend side Python, Groovy, Java and Node, as well as Django, Grails and ExpressJS are my strengths. I like MongoBD the best when it comes to databases, but I’m also familiar with MySQL and PostgreSQL. On the frontend side I’m on the top of my game when working with JavaScript, TypeScript,React, Angular and jQuery.
What do you like to do outside work?
I have a ball and a bat for every single bat-and-ball game in the world. What can I say, I like ball games, both individual and team sports. 🙂 I’m also a big fan of extreme sports, snowboarding being one of them. My goal is to pay a visit to the Alps at least once a year. In the summertime I like to roll around with my electric skateboard.
When I’m not doing sports, walking my two chihuahuas or spending time with loved ones, I daydream about becoming more active in gaming again. I have an old gaming PC at home, but it has seen better days.
What got you interested in Mavericks?
Switching jobs started to feel timely when I noticed that I wanted to grow professionally, learn new things and see something new outside Java and the health care world. One of my closest friends Petteri works at Mavericks and recommended the company. When Mavericks had a steady, long and interesting project to offer, I decided to jump into my very first customer project as a Maverick. The sweet cherry on top was Mavericks’s great compensation model.
I’ve worked here for a year now, and the biggest surprise has been the truly flat organization, which I value a lot. All the unnecessary bureaucracy and bs is trimmed – I never imagined that an organization could operate this transparently. Mavericks really makes its employees feel that they are trusted.
Mavericks is the go-to software consultancy for the top of their field software professionals who want to get the best of two worlds: The salary level and freedom of a freelancer and the safety net and sales machinery of a consultancy. We are constantly looking for new team members – are you the next Maverick?