IDMe Employee Spotlight Series: Sarah Miller, IDMe Shop Core team

Sarah Miller's passion for software engineering began in grade school, when she taught herself to code her own pages on Neopets.com.  Today, she leads the IDMe Shop Core team, which offers IDMe users the highest savings at 4,000+ brands, all secured behind IDMe's trusted and portable digital identity credential.

Sarah's story is the first in our new IDMe Employee Spotlight Series, which will highlight IDMe team members who are crucial to building and improving our market-leading secure digital identity network.  This series will acknowledge the outstanding contributions of team members on different teams across IDMe and allow our team members to share what they most enjoy about working at IDMe.

At IDMe, our mission is to make the world a more trusted place by delivering the highest level of security with the least amount of friction at the lowest possible cost.  To accomplish this mission, we are hiring great people who want to make great products. Learn more about our results-driven culture and top-of-market compensation and benefits.

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Tell us a little about yourself and how you came into your current role at IDMe.

I like to say my software engineering career started with Neopets.com when I was 10 or 11.  I taught myself simple HTML and CSS to make my own pet pages and learned how to reverse engineer existing websites to pull out useful pieces.

I later studied computer science at Northwestern University, then moved to Los Angeles to officially start my career in software engineering.  I had an amazing mentor at a previous company who helped me make the transition from being an individual contributor to an engineering manager.  Now as a manager, I aspire to set people up for success and give them opportunities the way she was able to do for me.

I knew about IDMe both as a customer who'd used the identity verification services and from working as an engineer with a company who was partnering with IDMe Shop for their student discounts.  In my interview process I was really impressed by how highly the team spoke of the company's mission.  That enthusiasm was what really made me excited to come aboard.

What does your team do at IDMe?

I lead the IDMe Shop Core team.  At its heart, we're responsible for Shop.ID.me, which aims to be a must-have shopping companion for every community member, offering the lowest friction and the highest savings.  As the engineering team, we work closely with the product and design teams to conceptualize and implement features which will improve our users' experience and ensure the stability of the underlying platform.

Tell us about your team and your current role.

My team currently consists of several engineers, who focus on frontend and backend aspects of the platform.  While we work from different locations, we work very closely together and with product managers, UX designers and QA engineers to define an optimal experience and work to build it.

How do you envision the team growing over the next 1-3 years?

In the 2 years I’ve been at IDMe I’ve seen the Marketplaces organization grow from one scrappy team with a few engineers to four fully staffed teams and counting.  I’m looking forward to seeing this trajectory continue over the next several years.  As we grow, I anticipate us being able to focus in and really specialize in our areas of expertise, both from a product perspective as well as from a technical one.  This focus will give us the momentum to make an impact for our customers while staying competitive and innovative within the industry.

Which is your favorite IDMe value and why?

My favorite value is definitely "Make something better everyday."  It is a principle I live by both in work and in life. I believe there is always room for improvement, and we should never stop making an active effort to make things better.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Outside of work, I love being outdoors and playing sports.  My favorite would have to be volleyball, both indoors and on the beach.  I also love camping, and have a goal of visiting every National Park (Next up: Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona!)

What are the things you like about working at IDMe?

My favorite thing about IDMe is definitely the people.  Whether it's a tricky bug or plans for a high level feature, the team is full of incredibly supportive people who are willing to hop on a call with you and figure things out.  The collaborative nature of the team is what makes me enjoy coming to work each day.

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We're grateful for Sarah's leadership and critical contribution to the IDMe Marketplaces team and for sharing her personal career journey.  At IDMe, we're proud to celebrate the incredible people who are working together to make the world a more trusted place.

Stay tuned for the next feature in the IDMe Employee Spotlight Series, where we'll spotlight a key member of IDMe's data team.  If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of working at IDMe or applying for open roles, visit IDMe Careers.