“I just really like the varied work”

For Alex Penny, a day as a developer at IT Basecamp is rarely spent doing just one thing. One conversation might begin with a client explaining a business problem in everyday language. From there, Alex can help shape the brief, work through the solution, plan the project, design the interface, build the product and stay involved as it is rolled out and refined.

That end-to-end ownership is exactly what has kept the work interesting across a career that began in the earliest days of the web. Alex studied Multimedia Technology in the UK and started working with web-based systems while still at university. After moving into website development, he eventually brought those skills to the Shoalhaven, freelancing for local and Sydney clients before first joining IT Basecamp in 2005.

He later spent time in Sydney running his own business, while continuing to contract to IT Basecamp, before returning to the South Coast and rejoining the team. The result is a long-running relationship with an employer where the role has continued to evolve alongside the technology itself.

A day starts with understanding the challenge

Alex’s title is web developer, but the role is broader than sitting behind a screen and receiving a finished specification. At IT Basecamp, developers are close to the client and often involved from the very beginning of a project.

That means listening first. A client may know what is not working, what their customers need or what they want the business to achieve, without necessarily knowing the technical answer. Alex’s job is to understand that challenge and translate it into something practical.

“I’ll do a lot of the planning phase of a website or a web app,” he said. From there, he may move into design, map out how the product should work and then build the approved solution. “Once that’s been approved by the client, I will put together, pixel perfect hopefully, the website that’s been approved as a design.”

It is that ability to move comfortably between a client conversation and the technical work behind the solution that defines much of the developer role at IT Basecamp. The developer needs to understand code, but also be able to explain decisions, ask the right questions and make technology understandable to the person sitting on the other side of the table.

From solution and quote to rollout

Once the challenge is understood, the work becomes a combination of problem-solving and delivery. Depending on the project, Alex can help scope what needs to be built, contribute to the quote, design the experience, develop the site or application and work directly with the client through the rollout.

The variety is one of the biggest reasons he enjoys the role. “I just really like varied work,” Alex said. “I love coding,” particularly front-end development such as layouts, responsiveness and animation, “but the design work as well, I really enjoy that part of it.”

Some projects are largely Alex’s from start to finish. Others bring together different members of IT Basecamp’s development team, particularly when a build has more complex technical requirements. That balance gives him ownership without having to work in isolation.

Solving problems as a team

The development team brings different technical strengths to the table, so a difficult problem can quickly become a collaborative exercise. Alex says that process is one of the parts of the job he genuinely enjoys.

“We work quite well together here,” he said. “We’ll troubleshoot problems and get to the bottom of things quite quickly together.”

For Alex, the satisfying part is not simply finding the answer. It is working through the problem, testing ideas and reaching the point where the solution works. “I kind of enjoy those processes actually when there’s a problem, like, how are we going to solve it, and getting to that point of solving it together here is good.”

Client-facing development, not development in a silo

Alex works with clients across a broad mix of industries, and many of those relationships have continued across multiple versions of their websites and digital products. That continuity means he is not simply building something and handing it over. He gets to understand how a client operates, how their needs change and what the next solution should achieve.

“We are quite caring about our clients and doing the right thing by them,” he said.

For someone considering IT Basecamp’s next developer role, this is an important part of the picture. The job suits a developer who enjoys the technical side of the profession but also wants to communicate, collaborate and take responsibility for the outcome. Rather than being limited to one narrow stage of development, the role can span the full journey from an initial client challenge to a working solution in the real world.

Why Alex chooses IT Basecamp

The work itself has kept Alex engaged, but so has the way IT Basecamp fits around life outside the office. After many years with the business, he values having flexibility around his working hours and family responsibilities.

Alex prefers to start at 8am and finish at 4:30pm, a routine that works around his family and exercise. When something comes up with his children, there is also the flexibility to respond without turning everyday family life into a workplace problem.

“If there’s ever an issue with the kids at school or something, you can pick them up, there’s no problem and there’s no stress about it,” he said. “It’s just life… family kind of really comes first in this environment.”

Wellbeing also finds its way into the working day. With gym equipment set up at the office, Alex will often use a break for strength training rather than spending the whole day sitting at a computer. For a profession built around screens, he appreciates being able to step away, move and come back to the work refreshed.

A developer role with the whole picture

Alex’s career has moved through corporate work, freelancing, his own business and long-term regional development. At IT Basecamp, he has found a role that brings those different skills together.

A typical day might include a client meeting, planning a new application, refining a design, writing front-end code, testing a build, troubleshooting with the team or preparing the next stage of a rollout. The common thread is ownership: understanding what the client is trying to solve and staying close enough to the work to help turn that problem into the finished product.

For developers who want more than a narrow coding role, Alex’s story shows what that can look like on the South Coast. Technical skill matters, but so do curiosity, communication and the ability to work with people. At IT Basecamp, those skills come together in a role where the developer gets to see the challenge, shape the solution and help deliver the result.