Sandy Thondilege is one of the newest members of the ARQ team, having joined as a Senior Delivery Lead in May.
We sat down with Sandy to learn more about her experience in the sector, what most appealed to her about ARQ, and where she thinks the industry is heading.
What’s your experience prior to ARQ?
I’ve been passionate about tech from the get-go. From my experience in coding and mobile app development, I’ve always loved problem solving and I think the tech industry perfectly complements and encourages my curiosity and desire to find the answers.
I spent 10 years as a project manager across a number of different domains. This was mainly in consultancy firms focusing on digital solutions.
I previously worked at Outware (now part of ARQ Group) in a role where I harnessed my skills in a scaled agile set up. I worked on impactful projects and I’m really looking forward to taking this to the next level now that I have returned to ARQ.
What do you hope to achieve in this role?
I’m excited to be part of such an innovative and creative team, and I know I’m going to learn so much from them and their different insights, perspectives and experiences.
The culture at ARQ and the overall energy of the place is great, and I’m passionate about contributing to this and growing it even further.
Digital delivery has always been a real passion of mine and I’m looking forward to getting back into it and applying my project management skills to ensure both my team and our customers get the best experience possible, as we work through some of the complex large-scale projects that are coming in.
Can you tell us about one of the first projects that you have been working on?
A project for the Red Cross which is a redevelopment of their blood donation website. It’s an exciting piece because it’s an impactful project to be involved in, and we can make a difference by improving the end user experience.
ARQ’s mission is to make a positive impact. What does impact mean to you?
For me, it’s really simple: it’s all about having empathy and a genuine understanding of the user we’re building for and the problems they’re asking us to help solve.
Creating a bespoke framework for our customers, one that means the team can hear first-hand feedback and insights is crucial, and it also helps embed the customer into the team rather than feeling separate from it.
There’s little point in coming up with an awesome and highly innovative solution or idea if – in reality – our customer can’t implement or maintain it. Having a cohesive and high-functioning team is key to delivering this and that’s why I enjoy working in such set ups.
If you looked into a crystal ball, what does the industry look like and what advances do you anticipate have been made?
I think how we apply technology to better understand and mitigate societal problems and crises will be a focus in coming years.
The pandemic proved how important technology’s role in the face of crisis.
I am excited about the learnings we take from this and how we apply those in the future.
When Sandy’s not managing projects, she turns to baking to destress, and escape rooms to elevate her heart rate.
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