An Interview with a Buzzvil Research Personnel Program Engineer

Claud is an Engineering Manager on Buzzvil's Ad.Display team. After completing three years of service through Korea's professional research personnel program, an alternative military service arrangement, he has continued contributing to Buzzvil in many ways as a senior engineer. He spoke with POSTECH LAB ZINE for people interested in joining Buzzvil through this program, and we are sharing the interview here on the tech blog. If that sounds like you, read on!

Hello! Could you tell us what you work on?

I handle backend engineering for various products that Buzzvil operates. I worked on developing the ad server that manages and allocates advertising campaigns. More recently, I have mainly been designing and developing systems that integrate different recommendation models into our products so that we can serve and operate ads more efficiently.

Of the many eligible research organizations, why did you choose Buzzvil?

I first heard about Buzzvil through someone I knew. Developing and operating an ad server that handles high volumes of traffic sounded appealing. I also felt I could grow quickly alongside the company because it offered autonomy, openness to different technologies, and an established engineering culture. That is why I joined.

What has been the best part of working at Buzzvil?

The atmosphere that encourages autonomy has probably been the best part. During quarterly planning, I put forward my own ideas and help decide which projects I will work on. There are also different workspaces, including bar tables, focus rooms, and a rooftop. Being able to work wherever feels comfortable has made me more productive.

Could you briefly describe a typical day?

After arriving and settling in, I warm up with code reviews. During our team's morning stand-up or coffee chat, we check in on how everyone is doing and share progress on our projects. After that, I either attend meetings where decisions need to be made or set aside focus time for development work. After lunch, I sometimes walk around Seokchon Lake or join a study group.

What opportunities does Buzzvil offer for growth as an engineer?

Growth is one of Buzzvil's core values, and the company supports study groups and other activities that help us develop. To give a few examples, I am interested in cloud environments, so I join a weekly session with other engineers who share that interest to keep up with developments in the field. Our team also has many ML engineers, and we hold sessions to share what we have learned from papers so that we can design and evaluate models well. We also run ongoing MLOps study sessions to learn how to operate ML workloads efficiently.

Is your current work related to your graduate research?

In graduate school, I mainly studied computer networking and security. My work today focuses on application development, so the connection is not direct. Still, the foundational knowledge I gained in graduate school is very useful when deploying and operating web services in the cloud.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I think I will still be developing software. I want to gain a broad range of experience, become an engineer who has a positive influence on colleagues, and create services that bring enjoyment to many people.

The phrase “stay consistent,” from something I read, has stayed with me. People working in science and technology, including my own field of computer science, need to keep embracing new things. I know many people are looking into the research personnel program. I believe that if you keep doing what needs to be done, even in small steps, good results will follow. Finally, if you would like to grow with Buzzvil, please apply through the link below. Thank you!

Apply for an engineering role at Buzzvil

Have a coffee chat with a Buzzvil tech recruiter