Working at CFP – A working day for a Product Developer
At CFP, 35 people are working on making 400,000 buildings more sustainable. What kind of people are they and what drives them? In this interview series, our employees give you a look behind the scenes. From developer to consultant or back office manager. This time, it’s Jarno Schimmelpennink, Lead Product Developer at CFP.
Jarno Schimmelpennink has been working at CFP since 2014, with a small break in between. He is responsible for developing new products and further developing CFP’s existing software and tools.
How did you end up at CFP and why the small break?
Initially, I worked at CFP for 2.5 years. I stopped to write my final paper and then started working as a construction project manager for a large organisation. The work was very structured and many processes had already been thought out. I discovered that I particularly enjoyed creating things, not only in the construction industry, but also software. Hence the return to CFP. CFP is a smaller company, which gives you more freedom as an employee and allows you to do more varied work. On top of that, it was an extra bonus for me to be able to work on sustainability professionally.
“Sustainability is an important factor for me personally. At present, we are not dealing with the world in the right way. We all have to do something about it, and it gives me great satisfaction that I get to work on that every day.“
– Jarno Schimmelpennink, CFP Green Buildings
What does an average day look like for you?
We start each day with a stand-up meeting with the online team. Here, we discuss the results of the previous day and the planning for the next day (discuss priorities). This takes 15 minutes and ensures that we meet the schedules that are set weekly.
What happens after that varies. I have a lot of customer appointments and am part of several project teams with customers. These are mainly the leading banks and together we are continuously developing the tools.
So you actually develop the tools together with customers?
Yes, we do so on a regular basis. I talk to customers a great deal and then we discuss how we can optimise the tools and software. The collaboration with customers becomes more intense the moment you start developing a new product together. But we also do our own development, such as the roadmap for buildings. I subsequently implement this tool at customers. So sometimes we develop a new product together with the customer and sometimes we adapt the existing propositions to the customer’s wishes.
When was the last time you felt stressed?
[Laughs]. Every year the Provada real estate exhibition causes stress, because everything comes together there. We once created a proof of concept and were then given the assignment to build it, with the Provada exhibition as a deadline.
That sounds like a fun job. But surely there are downsides?
Developing new products and seeing them at the Provada is the best thing there is. Recording everything according to ISO standards and product documentation are less fun, but they are also part of the job.
In conclusion: What makes your job unique?
With a relatively small team, we are making a lot of buildings more sustainable. Our tools now contain more than 400,000 buildings and we are currently creating a database with which all the buildings in the Netherlands can be made sustainable. And my job means I’m involved in everything. I get to meet with customers, think up new products, but I am also an important part of the development.
Are you interested in working at CFP Green Buildings?
If so, let us know! We are still looking for colleagues. How would you fill your days as DevOps Engeneer, for example? For more information on these and other vacancies, please contact us at info@cfp.nl or by phone on +31 55 – 355 51 99.
