"Salure is a company full of personality, where we genuinely care about each other and the work we do."
In just eight years, Rob has grown from a graduation intern to Salure’s Lead Software Developer. Get to know Rob and discover his journey of growth and success."
That was eight years ago, for an internship project. A good friend, fellow student, and now former colleague recommended me to Jaco, a partner at Salure who was setting up an internal IT department. I was hired as an intern to work on my graduation project and to help develop our very first software product: the Replacement Tool. I poured a lot of time and energy into that tool, and it’s still something I’m very proud of. Unfortunately, the market shifted over the years, and we had to scale back its development. Looking toward the future, we decided to redirect our efforts—as a much larger team by then—toward other initiatives.
I started as an intern, and now I’m the Lead Software Developer. In simple terms, this means I make the big, technical decisions about the software we create.
When I started, the IT department had just three people. I was a student at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, working on my graduation project while also acting as a junior developer for various products and custom solutions for Salure’s clients. I coded in Java, C#, PHP, and JavaScript. It was very much a startup vibe—we always wanted to do a lot, constantly trying new things and delivering quickly, but sometimes without enough focus on a long-term vision.
A few years in, the demand for dashboards began to rise, driven by the emergence of Big Data. Internally, the need for a software product to meet this demand grew. While my focus remained on the Replacement Tool, my former colleague began working on SalureConnect. That’s when the early version of SalureConnect was born.
When my colleague left, the responsibility shifted to me, and not long after, we decided to expand the team of developers. By then, my knowledge had grown significantly—not just in programming but also in other areas. Being part of a small team where everyone wore multiple hats meant I picked up skills across many disciplines, especially when things went wrong, and we had to act quickly.
Today, we have a team of four software developers working on SalureConnect, and as the most senior member, I oversee the team. We now work primarily with JavaScript, a language I had little experience with when I first joined Salure. We also use a variety of other, often cutting-edge, technologies that we’re eager to test and implement as soon as possible.
That’s the beauty of our field: technology is always evolving. Standing still means falling behind. We’re constantly innovating our development stack to get the best out of both our product and our developers.
In our field, there’s a lot of flexibility to work when it suits you best. Our day officially kicks off at 9:30 with a ‘daily stand-up.’ During this meeting, everyone shares what they worked on the day before, their plans for the day, and whether they need help with anything.
This stand-up was particularly valuable during the pandemic, when we were all working from home five days a week. It became a key moment for social interaction and coordination. While a typical stand-up is meant to last about 15 minutes, back then, the conversations often extended into hours as we worked—just to stay connected.
The rest of the day is mostly spent on programming, meeting with colleagues, or catching up on emails. Programming is quite a solitary activity, which makes it important to take time during breaks to connect with each other—whether it’s playing a round of foosball or going for a walk.
We’re still a relatively small team, so our programming work spans a wide range: from visual (front-end) development to server-focused tasks (APIs) or database work. One moment we’re building exciting new features, and the next, we’re troubleshooting an obscure bug in the software.
After a productive (or sometimes not-so-productive) day, we often wrap things up with another game of foosball. It’s a fun way to end the day together!
One thing that hasn’t changed in the last eight years is the equality among employees. Everyone is on the same level and has the freedom to voice their opinions about decisions and choices being made.
If the door is open, you can walk in at any time—whether it’s to bring up a complaint, vent about a (personal) situation, or simply have a chat. This applies to every manager, all the way up to the boss. It’s this open-door policy and approachable culture that really define Salure.
In my opinion, Salure’s culture is quite tradition-driven and doesn’t always adapt well to change. Change should be embraced more often, with trust in the people leading it.
For example, working from home was always discouraged—until the pandemic forced us to. It turned out that all the fears holding back this change were completely unfounded. In fact, it was proven that for many colleagues, remote work actually increased productivity. Embracing changes like this could make a big difference.
Programming, at its core, is about solving problems, and that’s a creative process that gives me a lot of satisfaction. At Salure, this has translated into high-quality products and fantastic opportunities for collaboration with colleagues.
Salure is made up of different departments that don’t always seem connected at first glance. But in recent years, there’s been much more dialogue between teams. We’ve discovered that we can offer each other more than we initially thought—whether it’s technical improvements, automation, or sharing ways of thinking and working that make us stronger together. Exploring what colleagues can do for one another and building that collaboration is something I value deeply.
On top of that, everyone at Salure is truly passionate about what we do and what we stand for. Every department is constantly pushing to surpass itself and lift others up in the process. That passion doesn’t go unnoticed, and when it pays off, we celebrate those successes together.
Salure is a company full of personality, where people genuinely care about each other and the work we do. Do your homework, prepare yourself, and show us why you and Salure would make a great match.
Then don’t hesitate—apply to Salure today!
