Urja Gandhi | Sr. Software  Engineering Manager in Seattle, WA

Being a Sr.  Software Engineering Manager at Expedia Group, my typical workday is full of exciting stuff. It includes design discussions and white-boarding with software engineers, architects, product managers, and other engineering managers. Driving the end-to-end implementation of features in a full stack application, reviewing my peers’ code, mentoring co-workers & interns, and many times interviewing candidates for my organization is what my day is mostly filled with. Yes, if you’re an intern at Expedia Group, you get a mentor who will be dedicated to helping you throughout your project! Isn’t that awesome!? No fear of having to figure it out all by yourself!

This is one of the many things I love about my team here at Expedia Group – Whenever we encounter a problem, everyone wants to help out in finding the resolution. This culture of oneness is very refreshing to see and leads to everyone being a team player. That is one of the reasons why I have got not just one mouse at my desk, but three of them – one of which I refer to as a ‘visitor mouse’ (ha-ha) for my colleagues to use when they walk by my desk and we try out different solutions together on my machine.

What I really enjoy the most about working at Expedia Group is the endless opportunities I have received to wear different hats and get involved in various areas of technology. Here, I get to work across boundaries to lead new projects and get to build new skills. Being a lover of traveling, I can contribute to making the next generation of travel impactful in ways I never imagined before!

The best part is the tremendous support I receive from all over the Expedia Family for the volunteering initiatives I contribute to outside of work. When a co-worker found out about the University of Washington Husky Tech Industry Mentorship Program that I co-founded to mentor UW students, I was invited for a company-wide filming to celebrate and talk about my mentoring efforts. It was also great to be one amongst four Expedia Women Panelists at the ‘GenHERation discovery days’ event and empower over 50 young high school and college women to jumpstart their careers and be the next generation of amazing leaders!

I can proudly say that #LifeAtExpediaGroup is awesome and #ExpediaCares truly!