By Robert Leitch on October 31, 2013
Pavel, I need some material for a witty photo caption. Tell me what you do here at ALM Works?
I'm lead developer of the Structure plugin for JIRA.
There's a little Pavel in every Structure
Perfect. So tell me, how did you come to be lead Structure developer at ALM Works?
I was looking for a job before moving to Saint Petersburg, and ALM Works was hiring. It just looked like a great place to be. I think it was the first job interview I went to in the city, and I've been a developer here ever since. First I worked on JIRA Client and Deskzilla, but for the last two years or so it's been Structure, full-time.
So if I want a new feature in Structure I just need to ask you nicely, right?
Well, we have official channels - for example you can suggest a new Structure feature on uservoice.com, or on our public JIRA. That allows other Structure users to vote for their favourite suggestions, which helps us prioritize and add them to our roadmap.
So anyone can propose a new feature? How much of Structure is made up of user requests?
I'd say that it's currently somewhere in the region of 68.3%, give or take a little.
I understand you're the most 'northern' member of the ALM Works team - tell us a little about where you're from?
I grew up in a small town called Khatanga on the Taymyr peninsula, up in the north of Siberia. It's got all the northerly stuff you'd expect - tundra, bitter cold, auroras during the polar night… But when I was nine years old my family moved to Krasnoyarsk, a much less exotic place.
Pictured: northerliness
You grew up inside the Arctic Circle! So when did you make the move to Saint Petersburg?
My wife and I first visited Saint Petersburg in the summer of 2008, shortly after our wedding. We fell in love with the city, and I'd already been playing with the idea of relocating. There are lots more opportunities in the IT sector here; by May 2009 I was already in Saint Petersburg and working at ALM Works.
No regrets? About moving to Saint Petersburg, I mean. Do you ever miss the peace and quiet of the far north?
I have fond memories of my childhood, as many people probably do. But no, I like where I am now. Saint Petersburg is no beach resort either, so those northern memories are probably helpful.
Like you said, the IT sector here is an employee's market. What keeps you at ALM Works?
Well, I stopped caring about whose market it is. ALM Works is one great small company, making real, great products that people want and love. A job well done, a happy customer — these are the pleasures. And the people, the team… It reminds me of movies like Stranger Than Paradise — you know, a bunch of quite different but lovely people, doing things together.
You have me lost for words. Is there anything you'd like to say to our readers while you're on air?
Thanks, readers, you're awesome! Robert, will you let my pet polar bear go now? Please? You promised!
You can connect with Pavel on LinkedIn. No polar bears were harmed in the making of this interview.
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