Leading at Roblox is a series that explores the career journeys of Roblox’s leaders and discusses their roles, philosophies, and management styles. In this profile, we get to know Nicole Grinstead, Director of Product and Using Security within our Infrastructure Team.
What do you do at Roblox?
I joined Roblox well-nigh a year ago to lead our Product and Using Security team within Information Security (InfoSec). That ways I support anything from our Infrastructure Layer to our Using and ensure they’re sufficiently hardened. My group is responsible for proactive security as well as finding and remediating vulnerabilities and risks.
Describe your career journey. How did you land where you are today?
Even as a small child, I’d unchangingly loved computers and technology. I was drawn to computer classes and took my first programming undertow in upper school. As soon as I started college, I set my major as Computer Science and ultimately graduated with that degree. Without graduation, I started my career in full-stack software engineering focused on towers products. I was working at a Silicon Valley tech visitor when they had a major data breach, and found myself fascinated by all the work that went into the incident response. That’s how I fell into the security space, and I’ve been here overly since! Protecting users and companies from malicious bad actors has wilt a true passion of mine.
My path to Roblox began with an informational conversation with Roblox’s VP of Security Engineering. He was sharing some of the challenges with scaling the team to meet Roblox’s rapidly growing platform and business, and some of the types of motivated threat actors and cyber attacks that are worldwide in the industry. As soon as I got home, I started researching increasingly well-nigh the company. The increasingly I learned well-nigh the platform, vision, and leadership, the increasingly I knew I wanted to be part of the team.
What motivates you?
I’m competitive – mostly with myself – and have unchangingly been very motivated to take on big challenges and learn new things. Once I’ve solved a problem, I am eager to move onto the next one and rencontre myself in a new or variegated way. I’m not overly fixated on climbing ladders, but it’s important to me not to stagnate. This is one of the things I love well-nigh security. There are so many variegated subdomains, so I’ve been worldly-wise to focus on variegated types of security problems and challenges through the years.
Nicole’s competitive spirit and love of big challenges comes to life both inside and outside of work
What are some leadership qualities that have worked for you?
I aim to lead the way I like to be led. I fathom stuff empowered and given space to take on difficult challenges, and I’ve found that Roblox’s executive leadership team fosters this culture and supports me in emulating it for my own team. Trust is hair-trigger to execution and solving difficult problems, so I lead with trust and transparency to momentum our team forward.
In my day-to-day work as a leader, I bring this to life through both big and small deportment that empower my team and foster autonomy. Instead of giving my opinion or translating immediately, I like to ask questions that help prompt folks to reach a solution on their own. I’m unchangingly trying to make space for my team to finger like they can totally own their work.
How do you contribute to Roblox’s culture?
As a woman leader in tech, I’m passionate well-nigh exploring problems outside of my security purview. If I notice a system, cultural aspect, or walk-up that can modernize the workplace for women and underrepresented groups within our organization or in the industry at large, I’m keen on championing it. Here at Roblox, we have a unconfined polity of women engineering leaders that meets monthly. I’m moreover involved with our Women@ Affinity Group. Over the last ten months since I started my role at Roblox, these communities have led me to build strong immuration with colleagues wideness the organization that I might not otherwise work with.
Nicole on Roblox’s campus in San Mateo, CA
What is something your team has workaday that you’re proud of?
The InfoSec team is rapidly growing, and much of the team is new to Roblox. I’m so proud of the progress we’ve been worldly-wise to make as a new team in a very short period of time. We’ve moreover built out our Using Security (AppSec) team, and that group has once made a ton of impact. In true Roblox fashion, the team started by towers a strong system and process for how we engage cross-functionally to identify and resolve using level vulnerabilities and risks. We’re by no ways finished with the journey, but the progress we’ve made so far really stands out to me.
As a leader of a new team, it’s important to me to not get in the way of the energy that new folks bring to the group. Embracing new ideas and concepts has helped our team succeed and unliable new team members to ramp up and contribute quickly.
If you had to segregate a value that most resonates with you as a leader, which one would it be?
Roblox’s “Take the Long View” value is hair-trigger to us as a new team. Even though we have firsthand needs to tackle, and we’re supportive of new folks jumping right in, we are unchangingly highly strategic well-nigh how we’re going to unzip our goals. When formulating plans and paths forward, we ask ourselves where we want to be in ten years, and work our way when from there instead of focusing on tactical “what’s next” approaches.
What’s something you like well-nigh the platform?
Roblox is special considering it’s so unshut and varied – the types of experiences that you can have or build on Roblox are infinite, and there is something for everyone. Any creator can bring their imagination and ideas to life on the platform, and users of all walks of life can enjoy them. We are just scratching the surface of what’s truly possible. It’s an wondrous time to work at the company, and I’ve been so inspired by what I’ve seen so far.
In closing, is there a piece of leadership translating you can share?
Ask for feedback, and be true to you! There’s no one style of leadership that works for everyone, so do what feels authentic, emulate the things you fathom most from your leaders, and ask for feedback withal the journey. One of the most constructive ways I’ve found to ensure I’m hitting the mark is to simply ask – then to listen, learn, and evolve based on what I hear. Just like the Roblox platform, there is something unique for everyone in leadership. Authenticity and flexibility have been key for me.
Inspired by Nicole’s story? She and her team are hiring. Visit our careers site to explore unshut roles.
The post Leading at Roblox with Nicole Grinstead appeared first on Roblox Blog.