Hitting the buzzer during a round of Jeopardy at an all hands meeting. Fist bumps after a sprint. Picking up a controller to play Mortal Kombat against a teammate.
All of these moments make working on the Optimum’s product development team fun – but what truly sets the culture apart is the team’s ability to make a real, measurable business impact through collaboration.
Just ask Joe Ambeault, senior vice president of product development. When his team isn’t winning companywide hackathons, they’re delivering fast internet, mobile, TV, and phone services to millions of homes and businesses, making a tangible impact on the business with every product launch.
“We’re a development organization, but if we pull the right levers, our work shows up in Wall Street earnings — which is very cool and rewarding,” Ambeault said. “We strive to always know the financial value we’re creating.”
How Product Developers at Optimum Make a Continuous Impact
At many development shops, Ambeault said, engineers are told what to build and how to build it.
That’s not the case at Optimum.
“That doesn’t create engaged folks or get the best solutions, and it doesn’t add to that sense of purpose,” Ambeault said. “We truly believe that the core of our culture comes from a sense of purpose — and knowing that purpose allows people to have a lot of freedom to go and build the right thing and build it right.”
Just what are they building? According to Ambeault, Optimum developers get the unique opportunity to work on both software and hardware, supporting services like Optimum Fiber Internet, Optimum TV and Optimum Mobile.
“In our world, we need to use software and hardware and the combined technologies to not only get other computers to do stuff, but also to get humans and trucks to do the right things, and to make sure logistics have stuff in the right place,” Ambeault said.
Unique opportunities don’t stop there.
At Optimum, engineers even get a say in the tools they use for software design. One of Ambeault’s big projects — in addition to building out a UX team — is changing out the product team’s tech stack, and he actually wants input from new hires and veteran employees alike.
“‘Building the plane while flying it’ is an understatement,” he said. “We’re changing the engines and the avionics at the same time. We’re getting rid of the radar, the radio, the controls and the navigation all at once.”
Rather than being intimidated, Ambeault said engineers on his team are excited by how empowered they are.
“It is extremely rare that you can walk into a Fortune 500 company and be empowered to make technical decisions that impact both the top line and bottom line of the business,” Ambeault added. “Here, folks truly shape what the future of our organization and its tech looks like.”
Interview Prep for Engineering Roles at Optimum
Candidates who stand out in interviews demonstrate curiosity, adaptability and an understanding of Optimum’s culture. Successful engineers are motivated by the team’s financial impact on the business, eager to celebrate the successes of other teammates and excited to learn new technologies and dive into what’s next.
And the potential for impact is only expanding.
Recently, the company announced a strategic partnership with Google, giving the engineers ‘insider’ access to the tech giant’s AI and cloud innovations in development.
“We get to influence their roadmap and have early access to their newest technology,” Ambeault said, who noted that the Google partnership is just one example of the team’s technical prowess.
“In general, we do the new thing first and then bring it to engineers in other functions,” he added. “We were also the first team to move from ML to more sophisticated AI.”
When evaluating candidates, Ambeault looks less for narrow specialization and more for continuous learners.
“I’m interested in engineers who want to learn the programming language that will be cool six months from now — not just the few they’ve already mastered.”
Inside the Product Development Team Culture at Optimum
“The foundation of the team’s culture is a shared purpose and a vision to deliver on it,” Ambeault said. That means ensuring the team always understands the financial impact of their products on the business, and that they feel real ownership over their work.
To that end, his team has implemented a working style called “one raid, one ranger.”
“‘One raid, one ranger’ means that we empower one person to make decisions and cover for product development in meetings with the ability to tag anyone in who’s needed,” he explained. “It enables us to collectively get more work done.”
Another hallmark of the culture? No slide decks inside product development.
Yes — really.
The practice started after a “brain expansion group” meeting — the developers’ version of a book club that allows articles and videos as topics of conversation as well.
“We read an article from Edward Tufte about how evil PowerPoint is,” Ambeault said. “They are not appropriate for engineering and product conversations. They just don’t have the right precision. So, we are huge on written documents with demos to show our work.”
The death of PowerPoints has been a huge selling point for engineering candidates, as have the team’s “self-care hackathons” in which the team gets two days to automate any part of their job they find tedious.
“Whatever manual thing you do that makes you crazy, you have two days — go automate it,” Ambeault said.
In addition to making an impact, another core tenant of Optimum’s team culture is celebration. In the office, a neon “awesomeness” sign hangs above a wall of sticky notes where teammates recognize each other’s contributions.
“When things go well, people give credit freely,” Ambeault said. “When things go wrong, they own it. It’s a low-ego, highly aligned team — and that makes all the difference.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What is it like to work on the product development team at Optimum?
Product developers at Optimum work on both software and hardware that support services like Optimum Fiber Internet, Optimum TV and Optimum Mobile. The culture emphasizes purpose, measurable business impact, ownership of decisions and collaboration across teams.
What do engineers at Optimum actually build?
Engineers build and support products tied to internet, mobile, TV and phone services. Their work involves combining software and hardware systems, as well as supporting logistics and operational processes that help deliver services to homes and businesses.
How much influence do engineers have over product and technical decisions at Optimum?
Engineers are empowered to shape technical decisions that impact both the top and bottom line of the business. They can influence the tech stack, contribute ideas through hackathons and participate in decision-making models like “one raid, one ranger.”
What does Optimum look for when hiring engineers?
The team looks for candidates who show curiosity, adaptability and a desire to learn new technologies. They value engineers who understand business impact, celebrate team success and are motivated by continuous learning rather than narrow specialization.
