This is part of a series of interviews with the folks who support the developer community. Stay tuned for more!
If you’ve ever submitted a ticket through the Developer Service Desk, you’ve interacted with a member of Andrew Golokha’s team. The Developer Support team answers questions and resolves issues from Partners and developers building Atlassian apps, troubleshooting hundreds of issues every year. As Developer Support Manager, Andrew is responsible for removing blockers to app development and channeling feedback from the developer community to internal teams.
We recently sat down with Andrew to learn about the work he does behind the scenes of Atlassian Developer Support. Grab a snack or your favorite beverage and get to know Andrew Golokha, Developer Support Manager.
Hi Andrew! Tell us about yourself.
Hello! I am a Developer Support Manager in Austin, TX working in the background to make sure Atlassian is responsive and helpful when developers reach out. Me and my team of engineers on the Developer Support Team take action on developer feedback to improve your overall experience. Prior to my current role, I also helped build the Community Support Team from the ground up.
I have been around tech for almost 15 years and have been lucky enough to experience living in a few different cities, all while traveling around the world to meet my Atlassian coworkers face to face. When I'm not working, I like to explore the culinary scene here and experiment with my own marinades at home. I'm also a big fan of hiking and travel out to the mountains as often as I can. I don't have a dog right now, but would love to have a husky in the future.
What types of issues does the Developer Support Team help with?
We work on a wide variety of issues, from diagnosing bugs to removing blockers so developers can innovate more freely. You can alert us to those types of concerns via DEVHELP tickets. We will see to it that they receive the proper response. Lots of troubleshooting information and ongoing conversations can also be found online at the Developer Community.
How do you help developers as the Developer Support Manager?
I optimise the internal operations and tooling for our team of Developer Support Engineers. It is my responsibility to manage the team and help us be fast and efficient. We want to provide you with the best possible solution in the shortest amount of time, and I'm here to help our talented experts to do just that.
I pay close attention to the online Developer Community to stay well informed on the crucial feedback developers provide. I also sometimes meet with Partners. Seeing their drive to create helps fuel us in our work. I wish I got to do it more often, but it's good to connect face-to-face when we can. I was lucky enough to meet some of the community in person during App Week in Arizona.
What guides you when it comes to supporting developers?
My favorite values are "play, as a team" and "open company, no BS." We live by these every day to keep our focus on efficiency, camaraderie, and respect for developers.
Has a developer ever given you a piece of feedback that was hard to hear?
I remember one casual catch up with developers where we wanted to talk about the team's progress on clearing up the ticket backlog. During the call, we received feedback from developers that they were still not getting the help they needed quickly.
That prompted us to invest more time into operationalizing the team and reducing our initial response time. Now, I can confidently say that we've significantly improved in the past year and a half. As for the gaps, we are always open to feedback during Atlassian Community Events or you can reach out to us by opening a ticket via the DEVHELP portal.
What makes the Atlassian developer community special?
The passion and honest communication. Everyone tends to work together towards a solution even when confronted with a potentially polarising discussion. While it's our job to help them, they help us right back. Do we need more data? Do we need more Partner insight? They are more than willing to help out.
I love being part of a community like this, where we all discuss and collaborate on our shared interests. Atlassian Community Events have been great ways to come together and talk about how we can help each other.
What are Product Team Talk Times?
Product Team Talk Times are virtual meetups featuring members of Atlassian product teams. These events are opportunities for developers of all kinds to be a part of important conversations with Atlassians and developer peers. Facilitating these events and hanging out with our customers and developers is a joy.
I’ll be speaking at an upcoming Product Team Talk Time on June 15th to share a review of the work my team has done in the last year and give an overview of the things we have planned for the future. Join me by registering on our ACE website — hope to see you there!
Who from Atlassian usually attends?
Atlassian attendance varies from event to event depending on the topic, but you can almost always be certain that there will be a friendly Developer Experience team member there.
Thanks for getting to know Andrew!
You can connect with Andrew and the rest of the Developer Support Team in the Developer Community, open a DEVHELP ticket if you need assistance with an issue, and be sure to register for the Developer Support: Product Team Talk Time to connect with Andrew on June 15th!