Employee Spotlight: Jennifer Chan, Senior Project Manager

Meet Jennifer Chan, a dedicated and seasoned Senior Project Manager at Givex. With over a decade of experience at the company, Jennifer has been a cornerstone of our project management team. Her exceptional ability to navigate complex challenges, coupled with her passion for making projects come to life from inception to successful completion, makes her an invaluable asset to our organization. Let’s dive into her journey and insights on what makes working at Givex so special.

What do you think is the best part of working at Givex?

The best part of working at Givex is the flexibility of working from home. This saves us a lot of time commuting to the office. However, we are always welcome to go to the office to use specialized equipment and tools to accomplish our work and to meet up with friendly colleagues. This is something many of my friends admire!

In what ways has working at Givex as a Project Manager challenged you?

As a Project Manager, I need to work with parties both internally and externally. It can be challenging when our technical team works in an opposite time zone, especially when a nervous client demands a swift response or solution to an issue that we cannot resolve locally. Our on-call team is a savior in these situations; they are always there to support us relentlessly. Additionally, our powerful JobJar makes task management across the globe easy. Every relevant team member has full visibility of all internal and external communications, enhancing collaboration efficiency.

What does your day-to-day schedule look like working here?

The first thing I do in the morning is log into JobJar and respond to any RFCs (Requests for Comments) that can be answered immediately. Then I check my emails to reply to clients’ messages. After that, I work on more time-consuming tasks like system setup, troubleshooting, documentation, etc., according to priorities. There are also regular and ad hoc internal and external meetings that I have to attend.

How has your past experience in the field of project management prepared you for your current role at Givex?

I worked in the field of project management in different multinational companies for many years before joining Givex as a Project Manager. I always needed to interact with counterparties all over the world, so overseeing projects in other regions was not difficult for me. This experience helped me fit into the Givex environment with colleagues and clients in different regions effortlessly.

What’s your favorite part about coming into work every day? What keeps you motivated?

My motivation comes from the satisfaction of making things happen from scratch, step by step. When a new project starts, usually there are just very high-level objectives that a client wants to achieve. Clients often do not have specific requirements on how to achieve the goal. We need to understand the details of their environment to determine what is feasible and what limitations exist. Then we formulate a solution and execute it. There is never a shortage of obstacles and surprises, and we just need to tackle them one by one patiently. Seeing a project launch and run smoothly is the best reward for everyone’s hard work.

How would you describe your team and everyone else at Givex?

My team is a group of experienced professionals who have sound knowledge in their fields. Everyone at Givex is passionate about our work and always strives to do their best.

What made you interested in entering the tech industry? What about Givex made you specifically choose this company?

The tech industry is constantly evolving, which makes working in this industry fun with new things happening all the time. We keep learning new knowledge and grow with the industry. Gift cards are not common in Hong Kong, but Givex seemed to be an interesting company, starting with a unique online interview questionnaire. Therefore, I chose to explore this unknown area for me. I am glad I made this adventurous decision. I am happy to work at Givex and have been here for 10 years now. I see myself staying here for many more years.