From stressed student to loving leader

Throughout the month of March, we will be exploring the people and projects who drive Cox technology forward in our Behind the Code technology series. Read below to learn how Cox is creating tomorrow’s tech solutions, today.

The day that changed everything
When Julie Park was a college senior, she was assigned to a capstone project with Cox Communications’ video engineering team. She vividly recalls the pace of balancing two jobs, a full-time academic workload, and this capstone.

“I honestly lived on ‘Venti Americano with an extra shot of espresso on ice,’” Julie laughed. “I barely had time to sleep, but I gave my 100 percent to the project.”

Julie also remembers her nervousness before the presentation, which she would be giving to her professors and the video engineering leadership team.

“I was pacing back and forth outside the conference room asking myself ‘Is my proposal good enough? Are they going to like my deck?’”

It was, and they did. Julie said that day changed her life forever. She was offered a job as a video engineer, designing and developing the infrastructure for cable TV. She would later move on to a network engineering position.

Behind the code and leading the way
In her current role managing Cox Communications’ Integrated Network Planning (INP) team, Julie leads a group of engineers to build network capacity for customers.

“Our team looks at the network at the enterprise level to monitor bandwidth consumption rate and model out future growth requirements. In other words, we are looking at traffic trends and growth just like on highways and roads,” Julie explained. “At certain times of the day, you experience more traffic because there are more cars on the road. It’s the same with the network. At certain times of the day, more people use the internet, so it causes congestion. Our team tries to predict that congestion 12-18 months before it happens. We go and add enough capacity to the network, so our customers receive the best experience. We leverage the latest technologies to do this: automation, cloud computing, data analytics, and data modeling. It’s a very cool job.”

“Our team looks at the network to monitor bandwidth consumption rate and model out future growth requirements. Our team tries to predict that [bandwidth] congestion 12-18 months before it happens and leverage the latest technologies to do this: automation, cloud computing, data analytics, and data modeling. It’s a very cool job.”

Julie remarked that Cox has a wealth of tech careers outside of network engineering, too.

“From providing virtual cloud network and IT solutions to businesses, to providing reliable connections to support health informatics for doctors, there are so many amazing opportunities to choose from and develop your subject matter of expertise. SD-WAN, cloud service, AWS, machine learning…to name a few.”

To Julie, one thing that distinguishes Cox from other tech companies is its emphasis on investing in people.

“It is embedded in the company’s culture to develop and grow talent,” she said. “I am the prime example! Eight and half years ago, I was a young engineer with a fresh college degree trying to figure out my identity and purpose. Today, I am a strong leader working with the brightest minds building tomorrow’s network today. I am here today not only because Cox opened the door to me, but also gave me the opportunity to be mentored and taught by the most brilliant leaders in the industry.”

A legacy of kindness
Julie’s ambitions match well with Cox’s values: she wants to be remembered for making a positive impact in the lives of people around her, and she’s bucking misconceptions that technology has to be cold or impassive.

“I have a very ambitious dream to become a great leader who is not only influential, charismatic, and forward-thinking, but also empathetic, inclusive, and caring,” she added. “I want to be a leader who creates an environment where everyone feels valued and has an opportunity.”

Interested in learning more about the people who make innovation happen at Cox? Check out the rest of our Behind the Code series here, and follow along on social using #BehindTheCode. Ready to explore a career here? Search for a new role today.