Jan 09 2019

A Day in the Life of Roberta from the Developer Operations Team

By Meta Careers
Share icon
Facebook share icon
Facebook share dark icon
Whatsapp share icon
Whatsapp share icon
Twitter share icon
Twitter share dark icon
Close icon
Developer Operations is a global team with offices in Dublin, California and Singapore. Team members work hard to ensure that applications integrating into Facebook platforms are compliant with our policies, while providing people with high-quality, safe and trustworthy experiences. To get a deeper look into the important work being done by this team, we sat down with Roberta S. for a peek inside her journey to Facebook and what a typical day looks like for her.

What did you do prior to joining Facebook and how did you end up at Facebook?

I've always had a passion for technology, and over time I also developed a strong interest in user safety and privacy. I focused my university studies on understanding how these topics intersect with technology. I moved to Dublin around five years ago to join Google as a policy support specialist, and then joined Microsoft three years later to continue focusing on policy enforcement for online advertising. When I discovered that Facebook was looking for a Platform Policy and Integrity Enforcement Specialist, I saw the role as the perfect combination of all my interests, allowing me to focus on implementing policy enforcement solutions at scale to help protect people.
When I first joined the team, I had the opportunity to work on improving the consistency of our policy enforcement decisions, as well as the efficiency of our abuse detection and review mechanisms. After only two months I took on an even bigger challenge, becoming a Policy Enforcement Investigator. I'm loving it! I conduct targeted research to identify potential misuses of user data and violations of our data platform policies. I also help determine potential data breaches and proactively investigate patterns and trends of data policy violations.

What is unique or motivating about the work you do at Facebook?

Having worked for other tech companies in the past, I can say that Facebook is truly unique. I'm empowered to leverage my strengths, pursue my passions and bring my true self to work every day. Another motivating factor is that after only a few short months in my role, Facebook supported me to move in a new direction and take on a challenging opportunity aligned with my interests and strengths.

What does your day to day work look like?

My morning usually starts with a sync with my teammates in other offices, so that we can stay aligned on projects and ongoing initiatives. But most of my time is spent on proactively investigating signals of potential data misuse.
During the day, I also might receive an escalation, such as a request to investigate an app that may have misused Facebook data. When that happens, I drop all my projects and start prioritizing the investigation. I leverage large data sets to analyze the app permissions and API endpoints that were accessed, audit the app for policy compliance, and assess the risk of potential data misuse. If the threat is credible, I immediately reach out to Legal, Policy and Engineering teams and partner with them to identify the next steps, ranging from shutting down the offending app to taking legal action against the company if necessary. I also ensure the developers of the app are properly notified about the policy violation and that they understand why we are temporarily or permanently restricting the app from accessing our platform. This investigation process is one of the most important and rewarding components of my daily work.
Once urgent requests have been handled, it's time for a good coffee with my colleagues. At Facebook we say, “nothing is someone else's problem,” and we are all open to discussing the challenges we are facing in our projects, as well as brainstorming new ideas together. Some of the most creative solutions can arise while chatting with people over coffee.
A big initiative I'm working on right now is streamlining the policy enforcement processes globally and providing suggestions on how to improve our external policy. I need to make sure all valuable inputs are collected and taken into account, so I talk regularly with different teams, from Developer Support, to Policy and Legal, to Sales Partners and Engineering.
At around 4 pm, my colleagues in California are waking up and getting online, so I have a few more meetings. I enjoy chatting with my colleagues in different locations as there is always something new to learn. We also get many problems sorted out quickly by working together as a team and this enables us to achieve goals faster. At the end of the day, I grab dinner in the office and head home, getting ready for a new exciting day tomorrow.

Which Facebook value (Move Fast, Focus on Impact, Build Social Value, Be Open, Be Bold) resonates most with your team?

'Focus on Impact'. Within Developer Operations we are inspired to proactively find and solve big problems. We know we have a shared responsibility to protect people on Facebook, keep high standards for our platform, and ensure a great experience for our developers. Our work can impact a lot of people, so it is important that we focus on what matters most to them. To do so, we are not afraid to set challenging goals. This pushes us to always do better, while also learning as we move fast.

What other aspects of working at Facebook outside of your core role do you enjoy?

I love the amount of training, conferences and networking initiatives that Facebook offers. Employees are encouraged to explore new topics, to acquire new skills and to keep learning during their time in the company. This is not limited to work-related skills. For example, I recently attended a workshop on information security and physical security and it was interesting to learn from the experts how we can educate family and friends to avoid risks, both online and in real life. Another aspect I enjoy is the “give more than you take” culture. The company organizes many events to help local communities, and team members can participate by giving their time, raising funds for charities, and increasing awareness of important causes.

What were your perceptions of the role prior to joining versus the reality of the role? Any surprises?

The job description was quite clear. When I was contacted, I understood that the main focus of the position was to help app developers and make sure their applications do not violate Facebook's policies. Once I joined the team I realized how rich the family of Facebook platforms are. The apps we work with can be integrated within Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Instant Games, and Oculus; and more might be added in the future! The breadth of my responsibilities gives me the chance to explore many projects. The team is expanding and there is a lot of opportunity to grow and have more impact.

Can you share a particular project highlight since joining Facebook that you are most proud of?

I have been working on improving the Data Abuse Bounty operational metrics for Developer Operations. Similarly to the existing Bug Bounty program, this program rewards people who report apps that are breaching our data policies. The project involves engaging with external researchers and identifying potential data policy violations. A data abuse investigation can take several weeks or even months to be completed, as it requires expertise from various technical and legal teams. We're working to ensure that we respond to those reports quickly and that we provide the submitters with high-quality and accurate support. It makes me proud when high-impact bugs are fixed and appropriately rewarded through this program.

What are your top three favorite things about working at Facebook Dublin?

First, I enjoy the culture of constructive feedback that is well established in the company and helps us to constantly improve. Second, the Dublin office is so multicultural and diverse. It allows me to meet people from all around the world and learn about many different cultures. Last but not least, it is easy to connect with teams outside your organization or office. Regardless of what team you are on, you will feel that people in the company share a unique mission of connecting people and ensuring our platforms are high-quality and trustworthy.

Join our Team

  • View all open roles on our Developer Support team here.

Stay Connected!

Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. You may view our Equal Employment Opportunity notice here. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. We may use your information to maintain the safety and security of Meta, its employees, and others as required or permitted by law. You may view Meta Pay Transparency Policy, Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law notice, and Notice to Applicants for Employment and Employees by clicking on their corresponding links. Additionally, Meta participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.

Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at accommodations-ext@fb.com.