Meet a Lexi: David Marshall, Solutions Analyst

Lexi (n): an extraordinary human and Lexer team member who works hard behind the scenes to build powerful products and support customers’ success. Our “Meet a Lexi” series presents exclusive interviews with Lexis across the business to showcase the people who make Lexer great.

David Marshall is a Solution Analyst helping our customers scope the functional and technical requirements for delivering complex customer data projects.

Throughout his career, it’s safe to say he’s made some pretty big moves.

Starting out as a law graduate at one of Australia’s Big 4 Consultancies, David quickly realized a love of data and delivery. By the end of his four-week clerkship, he’d already landed a job in an entirely different tech team and went on to become a Senior Business Analyst and Lead RPA Developer.  

Last year, he made his biggest move yet, making the jump from Big 4 life to Lexer.

We sat down with David to hear about the transition and what opportunity looks like beyond the race to partner.

First things first, can you tell us how you came to Lexer?

I was working in a Big 4 tax and accounting automation team for just over three years.

I came across a Lexer job ad online, and one thing that did really take my fancy beforehand was the company Instagram just because I loved the office pics with the plants and lego. It looked fun (and it is)!

The recruitment process was straightforward and respectful. Other places were telling me, "the first phase of interviews will start in a couple of months after everyone is back from Christmas...."

Yeah, no thanks? Lexer wanted to chat in days, and pretty soon, I was packing up my life in Perth for a role at Lexer’s Melbourne HQ.  

So what is life like transitioning from a Big 4 to tech?

The Big 4 deal with the largest corporations in the world. That’s one of the biggest draws to work for them. When you think of large corporations, you typically think of billions of dollars, complex problems, and brilliant minds. To some extent, that’s a fair assessment. But there are other brilliant, complicated, important problems beyond those of global corporations.

At Lexer, you’re working on customer-facing problems which have real impact and relatability.

Once you realize the bigger dollar signs don’t necessarily mean the most complex work or the most meaningful challenges, I think the world opens up a lot.

What’s the number one difference between consulting and tech?

A while back, I created a tool where people can share their streaming logins for a few dollars here and there.

Sure, the idea had a few holes—Netflix’s T&Cs being a big one—but I started thinking about ways to automate processes and asking: What if I had a way of making one dollar, one million times?

Compared to my previous experience, what stands out to me as the number one difference is how Lexer really rewards that mindset of “having a crack.”

Lexer executives put everything on the line and back what they believe in. We have leaders who are open about the difficult, emotional times they’ve been through for and with the company.

Imagine a CFO who listens to your “one dollar, one million times” idea and says, “great, mate. How do we help you get there?”

Your ideas are heard and you have a voice, and the company works hard to ensure ingenuity comes from everywhere.

What about the fun stuff? Lexer is famous for its perks.

You can’t go past Wednesday Wine and Cheese and 3pm Trivia each day.

During lockdown we had a Drag Queen run us through a quiz night and even a cocktail-making masterclass where our Office Manager Liam personally dropped off the ingredients in (COVID Safe) vials.

I think perks like these really carried us through lockdown and the challenges of remote working. My team has a daily standup, and my Manager, Cheyne, always has heaps of opportunities to check-in.  

Tell me a little bit more about the culture. How does Lexer support you to do your best work?

I feel free and uninhibited at work. I’m never treading carefully, and I’m always encouraging others to feel the same.

This psychological safety helps when you have to have tough conversations. I feel confident to challenge ideas to create better outcomes for our customers and our company, and that underscores my feeling that I’m respected and never spoken down to.

If I felt less comfortable or less invested, I wouldn’t bother pushing back.

What excites you about the future of Lexer?

With all the recent growth, this is a very formative time for our business. There’s a big opportunity for us to define our processes and continually improve.

This massive rate of change means that in a few month’s time, the way we define our product and talk about it to customers, as well as how we map out deliverables and manage projects, could all be pretty different.

It’s a privilege to have a voice in our evolution and to be respected enough to know that I can take ownership in it. And that’s a real opportunity for new team members, too.

Now that you’re out of that “race to partner,” how has your definition of success changed?

Joining Lexer has really changed how I think about the concept of opportunity.

What is an opportunity at a Big 4? It’s making that next grade or getting a secondment overseas.

But at Lexer, you can own a product, start a new team, or enter a new market. Opportunity is whatever you want it to be here, and I’m looking forward to all the opportunity ahead.

Looking for your next opportunity?

Lexer is hiring 🚀 with 20 roles currently open across all departments. In the US and AUS, we’re adding 50 new Lexis between now and the end of the year.

​Join us on our ambitious journey to transform the retail experience with a values-driven culture, life-friendly offices in Australia and U.S, and an opportunity to do your best work. Click here to explore open roles and learn more about our company.