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In our latest Going Beyond blog post, our series that aims to show what it’s really like to work at Beyond, we spoke to Jaya Balasubramaniam to learn more about her experience at Beyond.
Jaya is our Senior Data Engineer, below she discusses her journey to Beyond, her experience, and what she loves most about being part of our dynamic company.
How long have you been at Beyond, and what is your role?
I have been at Beyond for 3.5 years. I work as a Senior Data Engineer 2.
What brought you to Beyond?
I was looking for a new opportunity because I felt my professional and technical growth had stalled. I wanted a more challenging role that would push me to develop further.
During my interview process at Beyond, I was excited to learn I'd be joining as the first Data Engineer on the Data team, which presented a unique opportunity to help build the data infrastructure from the ground up.
The complex challenges presented and the exceptional individuals I met throughout the process made Beyond stand out from other companies I was considering. I was immediately drawn to the role and enthusiastically accepted the position.
You’ve been at Beyond for three years, how has your role as a Senior Data Engineer evolved during that time?
What's changed over the years is the kind of data problems I get to work on.
In the beginning, it was mostly about building a solid, scalable data infrastructure to keep our analytical pipeline running smoothly.
These days, the focus has shifted to finding ways to extract real value from our existing datasets and building new data solutions that can continue to improve our pricing algorithm.
How would you describe Beyond’s engineering culture, and what do you think makes it unique compared to other places you’ve worked?
The engineering culture at Beyond is pretty great. What I really like is that we have the freedom to try new things and experiment without getting caught up in a bunch of red tape. Everyone works together to get stuff done, and there's a real collaborative vibe. The team is super inclusive, and I'm really happy to be working with some really smart people.
How does the engineering team support learning, experimentation, and mentorship?
Learning
The engineering team is really supportive when it comes to learning and development. We have several structured opportunities like PED (Product, Engineering & Design) Talks and biweekly dev team meetings that help us stay up-to-date on new technologies and approaches.
There's also dedicated time every Friday afternoon specifically set aside for developing our technical skills. Beyond the formal programs, what I really appreciate is how approachable everyone is—if you're curious about what another team is working on or want to learn something new, people are always willing to share their knowledge and help you understand it.
Experimentation
Beyond really encourages experimentation and gives us the resources we need to explore new technologies. When I was working on building out our new data infrastructure, I was able to spin up GCP cloud instances to test Airflow for orchestration and GCP's Dataproc clusters for big data processing without any bureaucratic hurdles or approval processes.
The company makes it easy to get hands-on experience with cutting-edge tools, which has been invaluable for both learning and finding the right solutions for our projects.
Mentorship
The engineering team really values mentorship and provides several ways to support it. What I appreciate most is the emphasis on pairing—working closely with senior engineers to learn from their experience and expertise. We also have regular career development discussions with managers that help guide our professional growth.
Code review sessions are another great opportunity where everyone can both mentor others and learn from their peers, creating a collaborative learning environment where knowledge flows in both directions.
What is your favorite part about working at Beyond?
What I love most about working at Beyond is the inclusive environment, which is unfortunately rare for women in STEM. The people here genuinely make this a great place to work, and I feel valued and supported in a way that I haven't experienced at other companies.
What are you most excited about for the future of Beyond?
When I think about the future here at Beyond, I'm really excited to be part of the company at this pivotal moment as we work to increase our value in the STR industry. I'm particularly enthusiastic about unlocking the hidden potential in our data through AI —there's so much untapped value that we can leverage to drive innovation and growth.
Our Going Beyond series aims to pull back the curtain and show what it’s really like to work at Beyond. Our five core values provide structure for our company decisions, interactions, and work: We Care, We Go Beyond, We Are On The Same Team, We Inspire Trust and We Ship It.
If these values resonate with you, then you belong at Beyond too! Check out our careers page for more information and to see open positions: https://www.beyondpricing.com/about/careers
