A Career Opportunity
Like No Other

Barry’s Team Is Shaping the Future of Electronics Design 

In his interview, Barry provided insights into Altium’s Nexar team and their impact:

• How Nexar will enable the future of electronic engineering
• The growth opportunities that Nexar offers
• What we look for in Product and Engineering team members

In Altium, Barry Saw Opportunity for Worldwide Impact 

Barry is the VP of Product & Engineering for the Nexar team in Cambridge, UK. When he came to Altium, Barry saw opportunities to make an impact not just in Cambridge or even across Altium’s global organization, but throughout the entire electronics design industry. “There are still gaps in terms of how things are done in electronics design for which we can really innovate and show our leadership. It’s a vitally important global industry, and there's plenty of scope for impact.” He joined to close those gaps. And it’s why he believes that for anyone looking to make their impact where it matters, “Altium is such a great place to be working”.  

Building the Electronics Design Ecosystem 

Launched in 2021, the Nexar group that Barry leads is a new and vigorously growing team within Altium. Nexar is responsible for a wide portfolio of major products and services, and he passionately believes the best way to deliver against their ambitious targets is to make sure Product and Engineering work in close collaboration. “Engineering has to understand Product, and Product should understand Engineering,” he says. 

Nexar is central to the electronics design ecosystem that Altium is building. The team is responsible for the Nexar API, which connects users of Altium 365 for cloud to the ecosystem’s many parts. They also handle Octopart, the leading electronic part search engine that’s becoming the go-to tool for quickly searching through millions of components worldwide. Tools like Spectra, which provides industry analytics and data, are in their portfolio as well. If you join, Barry says, “Expect lots of really interesting things!”   

What the Team Looks for in Product and Engineering

“I'm really keen on people coming into Nexar and delivering features and functionality and growing with us as we grow as a team,” Barry says. To do that successfully, he believes, the ability to collaborate is essential. “It’s not enough to be a really great software engineer or a really great product person. We need people that can communicate and collaborate well,” he says, “people who can deliver and show leadership by helping others on the team.” 

He also strives for diversity in its broadest meaning, people from different backgrounds, places, genders, cultures, and capabilities. And especially people with new ideas. At Altium and on the Nexar team, Barry says, “There’s always opportunity for people to bring in outside ideas and really find a home for yourself.”  

Life in the New Cambridge Office

Barry wants people to know that Altium works hard to provide an environment in which people can deliver their best work and live their best lives. In Cambridge, that means a newly designed office space with fresh coffee, food, snacks, and standing desks. Plus, as Barry says, “Great healthcare, great pension, and market-leading benefits.”  

“More importantly,” he adds, “it’s a hybrid culture.” He says many people live in or near Cambridge, so there’s a real sense of people coming into the office, or they can also work at home. “But we’re lucky to have this great location and facility so people can come together as a team.”  

Lots of Room and Energy to Grow

As one of Altium’s newest major initiatives, Nexar’s biggest impacts and growth spurts are still ahead. “There's plenty of scope for people to join Nexar in Cambridge and have opportunities to grow into new roles,” Barry says. Nexar is also creating a new structure for growth in which people can find more leadership opportunities within the division. “As we grow,” Barry explains, “it becomes more and more important that we have structure and processes in place to help us grow in a sustainable way.”

Interested in joining the Cambridge, UK team at Altium? View our current openings and apply today! 

For Janet, Going a Little Beyond Went a Very Long Way

• Learn how Altium’s culture fosters curiosity 
• What it means to make the most of any opportunity
• The kind of thinking that gets noticed and rewarded

The Freedom to Achieve Where Achievement Means Everything

“Funny story,” Janet tells us. “It was 2016. I found an Office Assistant job on Craigslist, and it sounded just a little too good to be true.” She did her due diligence and decided to join the company, eager to take on the role. Team members in our La Jolla HQ and throughout the company are forever glad she did.

Curiosity and Determination Keep Altium on the Move

Janet immediately embraced Altium’s "Question Everything. Stop at Nothing." mindset because it perfectly described her own approach. “I don't ever say ‘I don't know’; it’s always ‘I'll find out’. I never say ‘I can't do it.’ I will figure out how, and I will get it done,” she says. 

For a natural problem solver like Janet, a culture that lets her think outside the box instead of off the shelf gives her so many opportunities to shine by showing people what she could accomplish. She describes that environment in a dozen different ways: 

My executive doesn’t hover. It’s relaxed. Conducive. Productive. Positive. Inclusive. Creative. People-focused. Open-minded. No micromanaging.

In her role, Janet enjoyed a relaxed and liberating way of working that gave her the freedom to solve problems on her own, offer ideas, and make the role of Office Assistant universally indispensable. In a company that always looks for potential and is quick to see achievement, that meant something.  

“Altium saw what I was doing, and knew I could do a lot more. It was an opportunity for both of us. I was moved up to Sr. Administrative Assistant, taking care of visitors, working with HR on relocations, handling all kinds of logistics.” And a lot more to come. 

Attention in the C-Suite

Successfully setting up complicated meetings, making sure lunch gets there on time, all the minute details that no one notices unless something goes wrong. These are things that get noticed at Altium when they go right.

“I always try to look at how I can impact the company, how I can support everyone so that they can focus on what matters and do more of what we’re here to do,” Janet says. The corporate C-level executives certainly noticed, and she was hired as the Executive Assistant to one of the key executives. “Now,” she says, “it’s come full circle.” 

And a very wide circle it is.  

“I've assisted the education team. We got the Education & Training website updated and re-launched. There was a wonderful video created for the Afghan Dreamers, and I’ve coordinated the student design competition. I’ve also worked with Marketing on Altium Stories and case studies. With the Nexar API team…” (Altium’s Nexar API connects customers with key data on electronic components, designs, partners, and other resources.) 

“Currently,” Janet tells us, “I’m assisting the Chief Marketing Officer and the Chief Commercial Officer. And I’m excited to support the entire Nexar and Enterprise teams in reaching their goals.”

“No task is too small nor big. Each task has a purpose and an impact,” she explains. It was certainly true in one of the first challenges Janet took on. She took it upon herself to negotiate a corporate discount (15 – 25%!) with half a dozen hotels near our offices in La Jolla. It was very helpful to our many visitors and us, saving resources that could be put to much better use for all. For Janet, it was simple: “I wanted to take care of Altium the way they had taken care of me.” 

A Culture That Gives You the Space to Grow

Janet continues to prosper with Altium because she approaches every opportunity with an open mind and the confidence that she could solve any problem that’s presented. 

“Altium wants you to be creative. Think outside the box. To speak your mind and ask questions, even if you’re not an expert on the topic.” As she has seen firsthand, “When you are encouraged and supported, you can be creative and get more done.”   

And it’s not just about work.

“It’s how you can thrive as a person. With an open-mind, there are no limits to what you can achieve, persevere or pursue,” she says. At Altium, “The sky’s the limit. So question everything and stop at nothing to get the task done!” 

It certainly has been for Janet, and she is clearly thriving.

Interested in joining the operations team at Altium? View our current openings and apply today! 

“Yesterday, We Thought It Would Be Impossible”

• Learn about our growing cloud platform, Altium 365
• See what kind of projects you might work on 
• Discover the Altium for getting big things done 

A Cloud-Based Design Platform to Engineer Electronics

Pavel is the Front-End Tech Lead for Altium 365, Altium’s cloud-based version of our software for designing printed circuit boards, the ones that underlie nearly every electronic device. Pavel is in charge of front-end development for this one-of-a-kind platform, which is used by some of the world’s largest electronics companies on their most important electronic innovations. 

The Opportunity to Make a Difference 

Pavel joined Altium in 2022 as a member of our rapidly growing software development hub in Serbia. He had several opportunities during the recruitment process, but after assessing his research, he chose to bring his talents to Altium. Even though PCB design technology was a new industry for him, he felt that, “Altium brings enormous value to the world.” He had always wanted to work for a company like this, and “they give people the capability to make a difference,” he said.

Altium 365: Too Exciting to Stop for Breakfast

As a Tech Lead for Altium 365, Pavel sets goals for his team and for himself and makes sure they’re achieved. “Last week, I was working on one problem so tough, so interesting and engaging, I didn’t want to stop to eat breakfast.” At Altium, solving tough problems has always kept people engaged, through meals and 25-year+ careers. (FYI, Altium is definitely on the side of eating — our offices have great snacks, beverages and lunch!)

Altium 365’s unprecedented achievement is in connecting every element of the electronic design process so that electronics engineers can work out their ideas, create 3D designs in a browser window, collaborate with other engineering teams, find and buy electronic components, and partner with manufacturers to get their idea built. All without leaving the Altium ecosystem. 

Pavel leads his team in the development of complex cloud-native applications. The technical challenges are unique in that they include a unique mixture of complex engineering, microelectronics, and cloud services. In the time Pavel has been here, dozens of new tools, enhancements, upgrades, and fixes have been added to Altium 365. His team, and all the other teams that contribute to the platform, are moving it rapidly forward.

He also educates everyone who touches the front end on how to approach immediate challenges and mitigate future risks on a platform that must be available to customers 24 hours a day without fail. “As the front-end tech lead,” he states, “my main responsibilities and interests are to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everything front-end related goes smoothly.”

Nearly Everything Is Possible 

“If you think of Altium’s development itself throughout the years, it shows that we regularly build enormous things, things we couldn't think of, that nobody could. But here they are,” he says. Pavel loves being part of that tradition and embraces the Altium philosophy of Question Everything. Stop at Nothing. 

“There is no single answer, no single source of truth,” he says. “Yesterday’s answer may be irrelevant today.” He describes Altium as a culture of strong engineers who are perpetually looking for new answers and finding new truths. And then, pushing past every barrier, never giving up until the formerly impossible has been achieved.  

Interested in joining the software engineering team at Altium? View our current openings and apply today!