Heather

Gabriel joined my team in 2022 and immediately began contributing to our customer-facing web app. In his early weeks, he quickly dove into performance improvements and image optimizations that were a large pain point at the time, taking it upon himself to “own” that area and not only make the necessary improvements, but to also document his findings and share those with other teams so that they could benefit from the learnings as well. It was clear from that point that he would be a great fit on the team. Shortly after joining, the organization began to develop a new feature, BODi Blocks, a project that would last the better part of six months. Some examples of Gabriel’s involvement on that project include:

• An initial investigation into the best way to structure new data coming from a new Content Management system that led to the foundation for all user-facing programs on all teams (iOS, Android, and TV included, not just web).
• Significant contributions to the client-facing contract of a new content API that was developed throughout the course of the project. Weekly meetings were held among the Digital Experience engineers to create and refine the contract, and Gabriel was a constant voice in those meetings, always offering suggestions and improvements.
• Collaboration with Product and Design teams to improve features and provide suggestions for a better user experience, including hands-on sessions with screen shares to walk stakeholders through ideas and challenges. This collaboration was especially helpful in growing the relationship between product and engineering teams, only improving the features being built.
• A team-forward attitude that constantly improved the culture of the team, through both communication across platforms and a general positive attitude on a daily basis.

In the recent months, there have been team shifts that have forced Gabriel to take on more leadership on the team. While i no longer manage the team that he’s working on, I had full confidence in Gabriel to take on more and continue to lead the team to greater heights. He is a fantastic engineer and we are lucky to have him on the Beachbody squad!