# From junior to tech lead at Crombie

By Valentin Galfré · 2022 · Software factory · https://galfrevn.com/work/crombie

Role: Junior in, Technical Leader out.

Crombie is a software factory: many client projects running at once, each with its own stack, deadline and expectations. I joined in March 2022 as the most junior engineer in the room and left in April 2024 as a Technical Leader running teams of up to 8 engineers for international clients.

## Path

- **Mar 2022 · Software Engineer (Junior).** Hired as a junior and put straight onto client work. I shipped my first Next.js and Node project from spec to production and started fixing things nobody had asked me to fix: the build, the test setup, the deploy. Within weeks I was the one clients pinged when they needed a straight answer.
- **Late 2022 · Senior Software Engineer (Promoted).** Promoted to senior the same year. I owned architecture on client projects end to end, from data model to deployment on AWS, and became the technical liaison for international clients, turning what they wanted into specs the team could build.
- **Early 2023 · Technical Leader (Promoted).** A few months later, tech lead. I ran cross-functional teams of up to 8 engineers across concurrent projects, including work for PUMA and NFTYDoor, made the calls on architecture and delivery, and rolled out automated testing across every project we shipped.
- **Apr 2024 · Onward.** Left with 10+ full-stack projects delivered, a team that kept shipping without me, and a reputation as one of the strongest engineers the company had. Next stop, Mercado Libre.

## Links

- [Crombie](https://crombie.dev)