IT Business Partner- Application Development

As an IT Business Partner- Application Development at Zoetis, your primary responsibilities involve leading front-end and back-end software engineering teams in developing and maintaining web applications for Basepaws. You will collaborate with product teams and ensure that the engineering teams have access to necessary data, while also overseeing code reliability, security, and performance.

To qualify for the IT Business Partner- Application Development role at Zoetis, you should hold at least a Bachelor’s degree, with a Master’s preferred. Additionally, you should have a minimum of 2 years of experience as a Software Engineering Team Lead and 7 years of experience as a Back-end or Full Stack Software Engineer, particularly in enterprise B2B and B2C applications.

Essential technical skills for the IT Business Partner- Application Development role at Zoetis include expertise in programming languages like TypeScript or JavaScript, experience with NodeJS and ReactJS, as well as familiarity with PostgreSQL databases and cloud services such as AWS. Knowledge of Agile methodologies and microservices architecture is also important.

A typical day for an IT Business Partner- Application Development at Zoetis involves leading engineering teams in project development, providing guidance on architectural decisions, collaborating with product managers on feature planning, and ensuring engineering processes are documented and efficient. You'll facilitate teamwork across departments, ensuring everyone's objectives align.

At Zoetis, an IT Business Partner- Application Development will encounter numerous growth opportunities, including career advancement into higher leadership roles or specialization in areas such as DevOps, data analytics, or solution architecture. The supportive environment encourages continued learning and professional development.

When leading a team through a challenging development project, it's crucial to establish clear communication. I'd start with a kick-off meeting to align team goals and expectations, involve every member in decision-making to leverage their strengths, and set up regular check-ins to address any blockers along the way, ensuring smooth progression and addressing issues head-on.

In my past roles, I've actively participated in Agile processes, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams. I value Scrum practices like sprint planning and retrospectives, which help in refining our approaches. I’ve also contributed to improving velocity by encouraging transparency in our backlog and making data-driven adjustments based on team performance.

To manage technical debt effectively, I prioritize reviewing and addressing it during sprint planning sessions. I encourage my teams to maintain high coding standards and ensure regular refactoring sessions are scheduled. Additionally, I keep an eye on maintainability metrics that help inform how we handle technical debt in future iterations.

To foster collaboration between software engineers and product teams, I create regular forums for discussion, such as Wednesdays for brainstorming and Fridays for feedback. This structure allows both teams to align on priorities and share insights. Additionally, I encourage using board tools for visibility into each team’s progress.

I have extensive experience working with AWS, including various services like EC2 for hosting applications, S3 for data storage, and Lambda for serverless architecture. I've utilized these resources to enhance application performance and scalability. My goal is to leverage cloud services to meet both operational and cost-efficiency objectives.

I’ve worked with both relational databases, particularly PostgreSQL, and NoSQL databases like MongoDB. Relational databases are ideal for structured data and complex queries, while NoSQL databases are better suited for unstructured data and scalability. I choose the database type based on specific project requirements.

My approach to security starts from the design phase, incorporating security practices such as data encryption, regular dependency audits, and secure coding techniques. I also advocate for complete CI/CD pipelines that support automated testing for vulnerabilities, ensuring that our applications are robust against potential threats.

Documentation is critical in software development as it ensures transparency and continuity. I encourage teams to document every architectural decision, code functionality, and API designs. This habit facilitates onboarding new members, troubleshooting, and helps maintain a high quality of code throughout our project life cycle.

One complex problem I encountered was optimizing our application’s load time. I analyzed bottlenecks using performance profiling tools, refactored key components, and leveraged CDN solutions for static assets. As a result, we achieved a 40% improvement in load time, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement significantly.

When disagreements arise within the team, I create an environment where everyone feels safe to express their opinions. I facilitate open discussions to understand varying perspectives and work toward a consensus. If needed, I involve a third party to help mediate. The goal is to ensure that we all feel valued regardless of the outcome.