Pieter on his role at USN

Don't ask if it's allowed. Figure out how it can be done.

From developer to system administrator, from local scripts to international clusters. Pieter doesn't like to sit still. In this interview, he shares how he shapes his role at USN, what drives him, and why working at USN feels like freedom in a technical disguise to him.

From code cracker to jack of all trades

“I'm Pieter. I started at USN as a software developer, but I'm now fully integrated into the Managed Services Team as well.A fine mix, because I love variety and learning new things. And you can do that here.”

Room to grow

What Pieter likes most about working at USN? “The freedom to choose what suits you. There's always a project that matches your interests or that you can learn from. Within the team, you're really encouraged to come up with your own ideas. And even better: they're actually listened to.”

International impact, technical precision

Pieter is currently working on a project for Lely. “I'm strengthening the Digital Operations Center, where we provide support for their self-developed software. And we do that globally. It's great to have an impact on clusters all over the world.”

Slimmer, faster, better

As far as Pieter is concerned, the biggest challenge lies in making processes smarter. “I love making things more efficient. Writing a function slightly shorter. Combining terminal commands to save time. Every day you can improve something. And that never makes the work dull.”

Tools of the trade

There's no shortage of tools. “As a developer, I've increasingly been searching for a way of programming that really suits me over the past few years. VSCode has long been my go-to, but nowadays I'm also giving Zed a try. And VIM? I still use that, of course.”

“As a system administrator, I work a lot with Red Hat products. Think RHEL, OpenShift and the Ansible Automation Platform — and recently RHEL AI too. The possibilities you have when you combine these tools smartly are truly endless. In addition, I'm increasingly delving into CI/CD. I find it incredibly interesting to understand the entire pipeline — from start to finish — and to ensure that everything connects as smoothly and logically as possible. I really want to become proficient in that.”

Typical USN? Just do it!

According to Pieter, there's one thing that really characterises USN: “No idea is too outlandish. Whether it's a technical solution or a new project you want to dive into, you get the confidence and freedom to get started. And that's incredibly motivating.”

Finally: if Pieter had to sum up his work in one quote?

“There's always a faster, smarter way to be found – and that's exactly what makes it fun.”

Pieter’s tip for future colleagues

“Are you unsure if USN is right for you? Just pop round sometime And judge for yourself. Check the atmosphere, ask your questions. And most importantly: indicate what you're looking for. Whether you're a beginner or have some experience—there's plenty to discover here.”