Working at Verdi: Charles Ju, Technical Programs Manager explains his path to success

Learning often results from the desire to understand how things work. The team at Verdi is filled with keen learners who always consider function along with the end-user’s experience. But the path to the right role isn’t always clear. Meet our Technical Program Manager, Charles Ju and his journey to finding his fit at Verdi. 

Childhood interests lead the way 

As a youngster, Charles enjoyed playing with computers and video games like many people in his generation. But where Charles differed was that he wanted to dive into how things worked to better understand them and create something even better. 

“I grew up playing with Lego,” he says. “So, when my parents got me a new computer I took it apart and put it back together to figure out how it worked.”

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Charles’ family immigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada from China in his pre-teen years in 2008. With this big step, that left their larger family behind in the pursuit of a life in North America, Charles didn’t have the family-based mentors many people do. Instead, he turned to school teachers and older students. They led to his interest in joining the high school robotics team. 

Fortunately, his entrepreneurial parents leaned into Charles’ growing skills. When they needed a new computer, rather than buying one, they had their teenage son build it.

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Initially, his interests were confined to software, but it was experiences like building a computer, along with getting into the “cause and effect” of the robotics team, that allowed him to explore electronics and hardware. He quickly found he enjoyed this area as well. 

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“This is why I pursued electrical and computer engineering at university instead of computer science,” he explains. “I found that as I explored more, I enjoyed programming something and then seeing something physical happen.”

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This combination of software and hardware is often known in the industry as embedded engineering. 

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During his time at Santa Clara University, he was the chapter president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional organization and the professional development chair for Theta Tau, the oldest and largest professional engineering fraternity in the United States. 

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A place to do more with his skills

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Once he’d completed his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the School of Engineering at Santa Clara University, Charles got involved with some tech companies in the Bay area of California including an internship at Google. He was trying to decide what industry to put his skills behind, but he knew there had to be an altruistic benefit to whatever he moved forward with. 

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“I decided to do something impactful. I always wanted to work on something that I feel is contributing positively to the world,” he says. “I figure if I’m going to spend eight hours of my day doing something, I’d rather it positively impact the planet.”  

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This narrowed the field down to medical or agricultural-serving companies. 

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It was at Google where he met Arthur Chen, one of Verdi’s founders. The two found a positive fit in their interests and desires and Charles needed to make a decision.

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“I had an opportunity with Verdi and some other job offers,” he says. 

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Joining the Verdi team

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When Charles learned about Verdi’s goals, he was drawn in. 

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“I resonated with the Verdi mission to empower farmers who are less resourced, or are more sensitive to environmental factors because of climate change,” he says. “Also making farmers’ lives easier. That’s a mission I connect with. It also turns out to be good business.”

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As part of the Verdi team, Charles writes and maintains the Verdi Micro-Block and Verdi Block Controller firmware, which bridges the company’s hardware and software systems. This enables the device to turn valves on and off, capture water-use data and identify concerns within the irrigation system.

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The evolution of Charles’ role and fulfilment

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As time passed at Verdi, and more team members were added, Charles realized the need to create more structure between the software and hardware teams, gradually adding this involvement to his existing embedded engineering role. He began implementing project management processes and standards. 

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“I make sure that we’re all as flexible as possible with what we’re doing and how we are managing our work. I’m trying to eliminate the barriers,” he explains. “I’m kind of the bridge to make sure everyone is communicating.”

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Communication alone can be tricky, but with different project management styles in the two teams, it takes the challenge up a notch. It’s a solid fit for his people-facing skills. 

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“I led a few clubs in university,” Charles says. “I've always been more of a people person.”

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The software team operates on a two-week development cycle, while hardware has a longer, waterfall project management style. Software can complete two or three of their development cycles in the span of one hardware project. 

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“On a day-to-day basis, it’s a lot of meetings and coordination,” he says. “We have really talented hardware and software teams. There’s so much work that can go in so many different directions. It’s about doing things at the right time and having a management team that is working towards that.”

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He adds that as a young company, Verdi’s high-level objectives and the product roadmap change frequently. He regularly modifies the project management structure to retain alignment with overall objectives. 

Keeping everyone on the same page not only improves communication and workflows, but also enhances the outcomes to customers with more rapid system development. Overall, Charles’s role with Verdi is one of harmonizing and maintaining the fine balance that keeps Verdi’s high-level goals top-of-mind for all stakeholders.  

Helping the Verdi team preserve balance within project creation cycles mirrors Charles’ own need to keep balance in his life.  

Work-life balance

“I’m a big proponent of work-life balance,” he says. “I have a lot of things I like to do.”

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Among these are the care of his numerous houseplants, music and rock-climbing. Charles can often be found rock-climbing in Squamish and he’s made many friends through the local climbing community. 

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“It’s a perfect place to go if I’ve had a really stressful day or a stressful week,” he says.  

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Vancouver’s music scene is lively, but Charles doesn’t want to sing or play an instrument. 

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“In high school, I asked my mom to get me one of those DJ systems,” he says. “She said no, I would be learning a real instrument and she doubled down on piano.”

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So, as an adult (in perhaps a small sign of rebellion) he bought his own DJ kit and meshes songs together to see if the end result is what he’d believed it would be. Kind of like how he helps the Verdi software and hardware teams celebrate their different styles, but bring it all together in one ideal flow of knowledge.  

Want to Work at Verdi?

Check out our current job postings and apply here: https://verdiag.applytojobs.ca/

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