David Ting, Engineering Team Lead at Plexure

From dispensing medicine to debugging code, David Ting, Engineering Team Lead at Plexure, has taken an unconventional path into tech. After starting out as a pharmacist, a chance encounter with The Lean Startup sparked a complete career pivot, and today she helps lead teams solving complex problems at scale.

We caught up with David to learn how she made the leap from pharmacy to engineering leadership, what people often misunderstand about her role, and the advice that has shaped her journey so far. Thanks for sharing your story, David.

Firstly, how would you explain to a five year old what it is you do?

I tell computers what to do so they can help people.

And for the adults, what does that translate to in regards to your day-to-day?

Most days I switch between collaborating with my team to solve technical problems, reviewing designs or code, organising what we’ll build next, and removing roadblocks so everyone can focus on their work.

In other words, I spend part of my time enabling engineers and the rest coordinating with my product owner and stakeholders to make sure our priorities are clear.

What are some of the common misconceptions about working in your role?

First misconception is that, “you don’t code anymore”. While it’s partially true, I don’t code as much nowadays, I still use my technical skills daily in design reviews, debugging tricky issues, setting standards, or mentoring others. My coding shifts from building things myself to helping others build better things.

Second misconception is that, “you just manage people now”. People management is certainly a portion of my work. But I’ve also learned that the more I empower my team, the more time I have to keep my hands in doing the technical stuff.

Was working in tech something you dreamed about doing as a kid, if not what was?

When I was a kid, I mostly knew computers from playing games and could never figure out how to fix them when they threw errors. So, I didn’t think I was cut out to work in tech.

I’ve dreamed about being a soldier because they look cool marching with their rifles. I clearly didn’t know what the work entails.

Tell us a little bit more about your career journey and, ultimately, about how you ended up working at Plexure?

I started my career not in tech. I used to be a pharmacist. A few years into working as a pharmacist, I was looking for further progression in my career, but the options were limited.

I turned to books to search for my answers and came across Eric Ries’ Lean Startup which opened my mind to the world of tech. A year later, I was back in university studying Computer Science and gained some hands-on experience interning at a startup.

After I completed my study, I first worked as a Graduate Software Engineer at a fintech company. Then I worked as a Backend Software Engineer at a digital agency.

I ended up working at Plexure because a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn and I also had two friends working here at the time. I didn’t know what I was signing up for back then, but it has turned out to be an amazing growth opportunity for me.

I joined as an intermediate Software Engineer then progressed to senior and now the Engineering Team Lead.

What is the best piece of career advice you have ever received?

The best piece of advice I got is to hold my silence. When I first transitioned from an engineer to team lead, it was almost like an old habit to always be the one offering solutions.

Over time I’ve learned to take a step back and empower the team to think for themselves. Often they come up with better solutions than I could have.

What are the core skills required to be good in your role?

An engineering background to me is important. It allows me to better