Gabriel's story: From Software Engineer to People Manager

Rik Staals

Mar 14, 2022
4 min read

Gabriel was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil. He arrived in the Netherlands in the spring of 2018 to start a new adventure in the Netherlands together with his wife.

In his first project for WAES, Gabriel worked as a Lead Frontend Developer at ASML. In 2020 he started a new project at Wärtsilä, a Finnish company that manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. Gabriel: ‘The Wärtsilä engines on a ship cannot stop, they must keep running for as long as possible. As soon as a ship can’t sail out, it costs a lot of money. To prevent this from happening, Wärtsilä adds sensors to the engines. The data these sensors collect is being monitored to predict when the engines need maintenance.”

People First: Gabriel's Mission to Develop and Support Consultants at WAES

At the end of 2021, Gabriel decided to make a significant change in his career. “I like to work with people and help them become the best version of themselves. WAES offered me the chance to become a Technical People Manager, so this opportunity was something I really wanted to do.

"I like to work with people and help them become the best version of themselves."

– Gabriel

My decision was based on two things: I like to help people, and my interests have changed over the years. Instead of studying technology, I started to study more about society and people. So, I’ve decided to make the transition to a more people-orientated career instead of only being a developer.

Developing people by setting goals together

I think I can help our consultants in the best way possible. As an expat, I know what it’s like to settle and live my life in the Netherlands. Also, with my technical background, I can talk about the challenges our consultants have as software developers.”

As a Technical People Manager, Gabriel’s most important job is developing the people at WAES. He does this by setting goals and helping them with their learning & development as much as possible.

‘By doing CrossFit, I have to do things that I’m usually not into. It forces me to keep pushing myself. This taught me to set my goals and to achieve more every day. That is something that I’ve translated into my way of life, and it moved me to a new level of who I am.’