Phil Calder's README

My role

I am a Directory of Engineering in the Expansion Development Department at GitLab. The teams I work with make up the Govern stage in the Sec section, and ModelsOps and AI Model Validation in the Data Science section.

How best to work with me

I typically work 9am-5pm NZ time (UTC+12). I start earlier a few days each week to sync with team members in AMER, and am also available one evening per week to sync with EMEA. The best way for GitLab team members to find out my availability is in Google Calender, which I keep up to date. I aim to meet you in your preferred work hours and will be flexible with my availability when necessary (if in doubt, ask).

I have a bias for async-first communication as I find this to be more inclusive, particularly in a globally distributed all-remote organization like GitLab. My preference is for team meetings and 1:1s to have an agenda that is populated and updated in advance. This not only allows for async communication, it can also be a time saver as some topics can be covered async leaving more time in meetings for topics that need to be discussed synchronously.

I also support and advocate for dogfooding our product, by moving conversations and decisions into epics, issues, or merge requests, and through a handbook-first approach to decision making where appropriate.