Michael Beckman as Operations Manager at Spidertracks

If this isn’t your first job since graduation: what were your other jobs and at which companies?

Right after graduation I took on a role as Business Development Manager for Flixbus. This was totally unrelated to my degree! But I was longing for a change and this role gave it. Having worked here for a few years, I saved enough money and made the move to New Zealand.

How did you end up in your current job?

When my partner and I moved to Auckland, I was looking for exciting companies to work for. After some research I found Spidertracks, which is a software company focused on the General Aviation. A match made in heaven!

What are your daily operations?

While we are firstly a software company, we do sell our own hardware that is needed to make the software work and that is where I come in. As the Operations Manager I manage our daily shipments to customers mostly to North-America, Europe, Africa and Oceania. In addition I manage the supply chain of our product and have close communication with our manufacturers.

What do you like most at your job?

That I deal with everyone in the company, from engineering to finance or with the support team.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I really love to work in this space where we bring the engineering and business side of the company together. In 5 years time I hope to have gotten an even bigger understanding of both sides.

What did you like most in your education that helps you out nowadays in your work?

Obviously having a background in the aviation industry. However, I would say what helps me even more is being taught the engineering concepts during the degree. Even though I don’t work in an engineering role at the moment, I do work closely with engineers. Because of my engineering background, I can understand what they are talking about and see how we can match this to the business side of the company.

Are you still connected to the Aviation Academy?

Yep, I love to follow the posts online!

Have you been a member of the SVAAA?

I was a member of the SVAAA and it's where I met some good friends with who I still have contact.