You might say Ravi Naik’s second home is on a cricket pitch or a tennis court. But the homes he focuses on during the week aren’t his own; they’re the ones being remodeled and reimagined by homeowners using Houzz. As staff software engineer, Ravi and his team work hard to make sure our internal platforms are running smoothly for other Houzzers – and the millions of people who use Houzz to find ideas and inspiration, hire professionals, and shop for products. 

How would you describe what you do?
I lead the asynchronous processing platform, which handles all the asynchronous-related workflows at Houzz. I know that’s a mouthful! It’s one of the channels in the wider platform engineering team that handles workflows that enable background processing, like post-checkout steps, sending emails, migrating data between different data sources, translations, etc. 

What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you doing any of those things here at Houzz?
I grew up in India and was very, very keen on making a career out of sports. I played cricket and badminton; and I enjoy tennis, pickleball and table tennis. In fact, any racket sport would be very easy for me to pick up and excel in it. 

There is a lot of overlap between being into sports and working here: Both require teamwork and the ability to collaborate with different kinds of people to achieve success. These are extremely critical skills for any field, not just in computer science. 

How did you find out about Houzz?
I used it as a new homeowner! We purchased our house in 2021 and were looking for ideas on how to decorate and configure the rooms. After using Houzz, I saw that the company also was hiring. I applied and joined Houzz a short time later. 

What’s the best part about working here?
Houzz feels like a mix of a startup and a larger company, and that balance is great from an engineering perspective. In a startup, you can do things without the hurdles you might face in a larger company. And since we are always growing our offerings, we are also implementing processes to make sure that we have everything in place. That balance is something I like about Houzz. 

Also, I like how fast-paced the engineering teams are. Before joining Houzz, my experience was with older and more process-oriented companies. Houzz is extremely fast in terms of delivering things, which surprised me a lot. 

What do you enjoy most about your role?
I like the technical aspects and challenges. Our responsibility is to make sure that all the services our internal teams are using are up to date and that we actively solve issues that may come up. Our goal is to ensure our end users are happy. 

What’s our remote-first experience been like for you?
Our remote-first work environment definitely helps make sure your work-life balance is intact. In my role, I can adjust my availability based on the teams I work with. For example, some teams I work with might be based in APAC, Israel, or even one of the different U.S. time zones. It definitely helps to have the flexibility to be able to create blocks of time for work and life to accommodate both. 

What teams do you work with the most and where are they?
The platform team I’m on is kind of like a bridge between the application teams and the infrastructure teams. We work with people in the U.S. and APAC, including Nepal, and Tel Aviv. In fact, I was the first U.S.-based hire for the team back in 2022 and now we’re growing here too.

What makes you most excited about the future of Houzz?
Previously, I worked for healthcare companies that helped hospitals where records were handwritten and now everything is online. We’re in a similar position at Houzz. We’re transforming the home remodeling and design sector, and bringing everything from hand-drawn diagrams and handwritten notes to our all-in-one software solution, Houzz Pro. 

No other company is doing what we are doing – building the entire ecosystem for home remodeling – so that really excites me. 

What advice would you give to someone joining our engineering team?
Houzz is a place where risk taking is encouraged. People want you to share innovative ideas that could solve a particular problem. Get your hands dirty as early as possible so that you can get the ball rolling!

If you’re interested in joining our team, we’re hiring! Check out available opportunities at houzz.com/jobs.