Hi there 👋 My name is João, and I’m an Engineering Manager at Indeed Flex. My journey into the world of computing began quite some time ago in Portugal though, where I completed my Master’s in Computer Science. I started my career in 2009 as a Software Engineer, spending five years developing Air Traffic Management Systems using Java and C at NAV Portugal.
In 2014, I made the move to London, shifting my focus to Android development after playing with the platform and releasing a personal app. This marked my entry into the mobile space, which has been the core of my professional life ever since.
My leadership journey began in early 2019 while at Babylon Health when I was promoted to Android Chapter Lead. It was during this period that I experienced the most significant growth as a Software Engineer, which ultimately led to this leadership opportunity.
This role then taught me a great deal about the fundamentals of leadership, preparing me for the subsequent move to Skyscanner. Joining a travel company at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 was certainly an adventure, but it was also incredibly rewarding, offering significant other opportunities for learning and growth.
After 18 months, my family and I decided to move back to Portugal. While my role at Skyscanner was remote, it still required me to be based in the UK, so it was time for a new chapter. I joined Hopin, my first fully remote company, which allowed me to continue my leadership journey and expand my responsibilities, overseeing multiple teams for the first time.
This period, however, wasn’t the prettiest. As a company that saw significant growth during the pandemic, Hopin started experience the other side of the curve. After a couple of rounds of layoffs, where I had to support my team through these difficult times and maintain morale, I was eventually impacted in a third round, leading me to seek a new opportunity.
This brought me to Indeed Flex, my current professional home. While not fully remote like Hopin, Indeed Flex operates on a hybrid model that allows me to work remotely from Portugal, even though the company is based in London.
Joining Indeed Flex marked another significant step in my career. I initially came on board to lead a Mobile Platform Enablement Team. But since then, I’ve taken on broader ownership and leadership of the entire Mobile discipline as a horizontal team within the business. This has been a great learning experience, transitioning from managing smaller, individual teams to now overseeing mobile across the organisation, being responsible for resourcing and contributing to higher-level strategic initiatives.
Excited for the present and looking forward towards the future and what else I can learn and become in this amazing Tech world.
As I mentioned, I’m originally from Portugal. I lived in London from 2014 to 2021 with my wife, and since November 2016, with our son. In 2021, we made the decision to return to Portugal, and we’ve since welcomed our second child, who keeps us even busier!
Outside of technology (of course! 😁), I’m passionate about sports, both watching and participating. Football (⚽️ not 🏈) takes up most of my spectating time, while running is my primary form of exercise. I also thoroughly enjoy reading and listening to books, and while not that great at it, I love writing both tech and non-tech content.
I created this website and blog to bring all my content together in one place. Some of you might already know my work from Medium. You can read here why I decided to migrate my existing content here and start writing exclusively on this platform. I hope you’ll continue to follow along and enjoy reading my posts.