Amund Farifteh is a Lead Delivery Manager at Audacia. Holding a Masters in Concept Art for Games and Animation, Amund's path into delivery management was shaped by freelance creative work, a passion for gaming and a realisation that the skills running through both had a natural home in product and project management. Since joining Audacia around two and a half years ago, he has worked across a wide range of clients and industries.
What was your background before joining Audacia?
I have a Masters Degree in Concept Art for Games and Animation. Before moving into tech, I worked as a freelance artist, which taught me a lot about client interaction through writing contracts, finding new work and managing expectations. Those skills have carried through into tech more than I expected.
Alongside my creative work, I had been developing what I now recognise as project management skills from quite an early age through running World of Warcraft guilds and raiding groups. Managing groups of twenty to forty people - getting them to volunteer their time, put in the effort required and perform as a team - that was where I first, without really realising it, started learning people management and the basics of delivery.
How did you end up moving into delivery management?
When I started to think about a career change, I spent time trying to find a path that used the skills I had genuinely enjoyed developing, without turning my hobbies into work. The more I learned about product, project and delivery management, the more I realised it had all the parts I enjoyed from gaming and art. Solving problems, understanding user needs, leading teams, delivering something that works well for the people using it - that is essentially what I had been doing in different forms for years.
There were differences of course, in games you introduce problems and then provide entertaining ways to solve them, while in product you remove friction and solve the problem. But the more I learned, the more I realised that this was a path where I could stretch my creative muscles.
I started volunteering to run projects wherever I could, and made friends with UX designers, engineers and agile coaches who were generous enough to share what they knew. I then started applying what I learned from people to my own projects at home, to build up a portfolio I could use during job interviews. About a year into that, an Associate Product Owner role came up internally, I went through the interview process, and that was how I made it into tech.
I think an important thing, if you find yourself going down a path that isn't quite right, is to work out which specific tasks and skills engage you and then look for careers that use those same skills in a different context. Growing up, I always assumed a title like Delivery Manager would be very uncreative and dull - but the reality is that I use the same skills and have more fun doing this job than I did when I was painting or drawing for a living.
What software development projects have you worked on at Audacia?
I have worked on quite a range across housing, healthcare, regulatory bodies and manufacturing, among others. I have also done internal tooling work and continuous improvement projects alongside those client-facing ones.
Some projects have been long-term and complex, while others have been much shorter engagements. Right now, I work across a few projects simultaneously, which suits how I work. I find it difficult to focus on a single project over a span of multiple years, but when there are two or three things running in parallel, I can jump between them as needed, which keeps things fresh. If the workload is set up sensibly, that kind of variety is something I really enjoy.
What is the culture like at Audacia?
I think Audacia has a culture that works well for people who like to be busy and want to keep improving. I've found in the past that organisations can vary from paying very little attention to you, to placing unreal expectations upon people.
What I find at Audacia is that you are expected to work hard and improve, but there is a fairness around expectations. If something goes wrong, the conversation is about what we can learn and how we do better next time. It feels safe to take a leap, try something new, and back yourself because there's a culture of psychological safety around decision making, which makes ownership, one of our values, easier.
What opportunities have you been given for progression?
I was promoted to Lead Delivery Manager earlier this year, which I am really enjoying. The role gives me the opportunity to take on more complex projects, and I now have a career coach to work with on understanding what the next step looks like and how to get there.
One thing that has been consistent throughout my time here is being given the opportunity to work on projects using the latest technology. Last January I had the opportunity to deliver a project implementing some cutting-edge AI technologies, which was a significant learning curve, but it gave me the chance to get into different AI technologies in a way I wouldn’t have otherwise. As someone without a developer background, being placed on technical projects has meant that my technical understanding has grown significantly. I don't need to be able to do the work, but I need to understand what the team is doing. That on-the-job learning has been one of the best parts of being here.
What advice would you offer to someone joining Audacia?
The first thing I would say is do not be afraid to ask people for help. In my experience, people here are very open to explaining things and helping you work through problems. When I joined, I hadn’t used GitHub before and I just found someone who was good at it and asked for a hand. That kind of thing is welcomed.
The other thing I would say is to be ready for a fast pace and embrace the culture of continuous improvement. Take feedback on board, act on it and keep working hard.
Audacia is a leading technology consultancy based in the UK, with headquarters in Leeds. Find out more about what it's like to work here and our current open vacancies on our careers site.
