In this Employee Spotlight, meet a core member of our Product Team… Hans Benson!
What do you do at Navigating Cancer?
I’m the Principal Product Manager for Interoperability here at NC. I own the integrations between NC and our customer’s Electronic Health Records and Patient Monitoring systems and the data pipelines that feed into our applications.
What’s the best thing about your job?
It’s a combination of the company mission and the team it attracts. Having such a meaningful mission draws a certain type of person and it’s obvious every day what a great source of pride and motivation that is for everyone here.
What’s the most unique job you ever had before working here?
I’ve had some pretty fun jobs (video game tester, soccer coach, snowboarding instructor), but the most unique was working as an Asylum Coordinator in Switzerland for 5 years. My job was to help asylum seekers and refugees arriving there – providing shelter, finding long-term housing, managing their finances, enrolling their children in school, signing up for language classes, getting healthcare – really anything they needed. I met hundreds of people from all over the world that were either fleeing for their safety or searching for a better opportunity the only way they could. As you can imagine, getting to know so many people in that situation had a big impact on me.
What’s the best thing about working for Navigating Cancer?
Real empowerment. I don’t know if this sounds as important or impressive to non-product managers, but for me, and I’m sure other PM’s, it can make or break a software development work culture. From the day I started at NC 3 years ago, I’ve been so appreciative of how comfortable this company is with giving teams and individuals the space they need to identify and solve the problems they see as important and the creativity to do it the way they think is best. Every company obviously has to mandate a certain amount of what we do all day, but nowhere I’ve ever worked has even come close to NC in this way.
What can you be found doing outside of work?
Spending as much time as I can having fun with my family and friends. I am also very slowly remodeling my own house.
What’s your secret talent no one knows about?
I make a pretty solid Eggs Benedict.