Courtesy of Kate A.
Name: Kate A.
Position: Senior Director of Platform Engineering
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Dream destination: All of the castle-like properties in our collection have been added to my bucket list. I can’t just pick out one!
Kate gets it. At Marriott we’re all explorers, no matter what department you’re in and no matter what your background is. Whether you’re in operations, finance, F&B or technology (like Kate!), you don’t have to work at an exotic resort to have a passion for knowing the world we live in — and we all have that in common.
“What excites me most about Marriott and the culture is how we are all tied together by our love of travel,” says Kate, a Senior Director of Platform Engineering based in Minneapolis.
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As the mother of two young daughters, Kate admits that traveling to far-flung locales isn’t all that feasible for her right now — but she’s still making creative use of that Marriott associate discount (see below in Kate’s Q&A). Even so, Kate is motivated by the ability to enable other people to travel, and how her work impacts the guest experience.
“It’s exciting to relate everything that we do back to the customer experience and the joy that travel unlocks.”
Courtesy of Kate A.
Even though she went through a “steep learning curve” during the first six months at Marriott, Kate says she’s found a place where she can learn — even if it’s hard sometimes — and be better at her job every day.
“A lot of my time at Marriott has been learning by doing,” she says. “I was given a fairly high-profile project to start my time at Marriott, and for a few months, I had a hard time seeing the forest through the trees.”
Fast forward to a year later, Kate is grateful for that steep onboarding. “I see how instrumental this experience was in introducing me to nearly every technology area of the company, and how I’m in a better position to make positive impacts than I would have without this experience. I’ve felt that I’ve been given room to grow, make mistakes, and try new things with the support of my team.”
Keep reading to learn more about Kate’s experience as a travel-loving tech leader at Marriott.
What were you doing before you joined Marriott?
I’ve worked in many other organizations, ranging from seed round startups to Fortune 500 companies. When I initially joined Marriott, in May 2023, I wasn’t exactly sure what I would be doing; I was just excited to be joining one of my favorite brands. Over the last year, I’ve grown into a role where I’m establishing our platform operating model for platforms as a service and have leaned into the transformation that is happening across the organization when it comes to technology.
Why did you want to work at Marriott?
It was a combination of three things: the brand, the technology opportunity, and the leadership. I love traveling and seeing the world, and being a technologist, it is inspiring to use my skills to help transform the hospitality industry and enhance travel experiences for our guests. Finally, it was the vision of leadership, and the importance placed on technology transformation that really solidified it for me.
Courtesy of Kate A.
What was your Marriott interview process like, and any tips for candidates who want a role like yours?
I initially reached out to someone in my network about an open role at Marriott given that he worked here in the Enterprise Architecture department. Meeting with someone informally, prior to interviewing with the company, helped me understand how relationship focused the culture is here. I’ve always been a people focused leader, so, in my interviews, I emphasized that part of my experience. The interview process went really quickly, and I was impressed with their ability to make an offer after just a handful of conversations.
What have been the 3 biggest learnings you’ve picked up from your time at Marriott?
- It is so important to understand how our processes work, sometimes even more so than the technology itself. I had never worked in a technology organization that operates in the way we do here at Marriott, so there was a steep learning curve in just understanding different approaches to things I had been doing for a while.
- It is possible to create a wonderful working environment for those working remotely. I was hesitant about how it would be to build relationships being new to the company, but I didn’t meet some of my best work friends in real life for months, and that never impeded my ability to feel welcomed to the company.
- I underestimated how powerful it is to work for such an amazing, well-known brand and company, and how much energy that would drive in the work I do on a daily basis. If something isn’t operating as expected, it might be due to my platform and that is a lot of pressure, but also a lot of reason to get it right. I love seeing the impact of what I’m doing!
Courtesy of Kate A.
What is an exciting project you’ve worked on since you started working at Marriott?
In my time at Marriott, I’ve helped drive an initiative to ensure that application teams can self-create capacity within Kubernetes to deploy their applications and workloads. This enables greater speed of innovation and helps remove bottlenecks from the development lifecycle.
What’s one thing Marriott is doing to redefine tech in the travel industry?
Marriott tries new things and tries to be at the forefront of the technology landscape. Whether it is using digital keys and enabling mobile check-in — my personal favorite as a millennial who tends to avoid talking to people IRL — or exploring how robot technology can improve the customer experience, we try new things, learn, and then iterate. At the center of it all is how technology can enable better travel experiences.
Courtesy of Kate A.
When have you felt like a part of a community at Marriott?
I treasure how much face-to-face time we get here at Marriott, especially during our quarterly planning meetings. Having the opportunity to come together so frequently, both for critical, strategic conversations as well as socializing and relaxing, really ties me to those I’m working with. We may not think about things the same way, but once we are sharing our love for the deep-fried cookie dough balls at the after work happy hour, we are able to share that common ground and remember that slight disagreements are usually just a difference in perspective.
How have you used the Marriott Explore Rate?
I have two young daughters, so traveling isn’t as easy right now. So, the Marriott discount has actually introduced me to some really great hotels locally, where my husband and I will go for little staycations. It’s been a great way to fall in love with the Twin Cities all over again and celebrate our local hotels. I also feel like I’ll be much better equipped to recommend local places to stay with friends who come to visit!
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