Jillian Turner - Boston

Graduating from Tufts University in 2015 with a degree in Math, Jillian has taken her first project at Galatea by storm! She started her Galatea journey on one of the company’s largest projects, dealing with a governmental regulation, and is now known as the person to go to for all business questions related to her application.   

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?
  • Working with a lot of smart people who are as motivated as I am. I also really like consulting!
• What is your favorite Galatea moment?
  • I would have to say that it was when we took the afternoon off and went to do Escape the Room in Boston as a company. It was a lot of fun spending time with people who I don’t work with every day on my project
• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?
  • Outside of work, I enjoy all things relating to dance, especially hip hop and contemporary!

Kyle Stanek - Durham

After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 2003 with a degree in Computer Science, Kyle went on to work for a company in the Boston area developing speech recognition software for medical transcription. He started out as part of the speech recognition research team where he authored two patents and then managed a team that developed a new product aimed at radiologists. After the company Kyle initially joined was acquired, Kyle left in pursuit of starting his own business for a year before he learned about Galatea. He decided to join Galatea and has now been here over six years! Some of the projects that Kyle has worked on are a trading limit tracking system, a funding optimization engine, and a back office clearing settlements platform. Kyle’s latest big step is been moving to North Carolina to open Galatea’s newest office in Durham!

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?
  • As an employee at Galatea you have a lot of latitude to identify problems and gaps and adjust your role to address them. There are a lot of opportunities to take advantage of- you just need to take the initiative and not just do what you are told to do.
• What is your favorite Galatea moment?
  • Finishing the Tough Mudder with the Galatea team! We all finished and had a lot of fun along the way!
• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?
  • Lots of different things! Spending time with my wife Lauren and son Bradley, playing guitar, watching the Bruins, hiking, and traveling are among my favorites.

Andres Teran - London

Andres graduated from Universidad Simon Bolivar in Venezuela with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He worked as a customer service engineer for several years before coming to Galatea, where he now works on a global custody platform for one of our clients.

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?
  • I love that Galatea is a relaxed atmosphere where I can take ownership of my tasks. My managers as well as the Partners are truly interested in how I am feeling and are accommodating if I want a change. I also love all of the different backgrounds we have in our Gala-UK office. We are an office of 10 people and we represent 6 different countries!
• What is your favorite Galatea moment?
  • Definitely the global holiday party this past December 2016! It was awesome that Galatea flew everyone from the other offices to Boston for the party. We all had a blast!
• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?
  • I love climbing and going to concerts. I absolutely love live music, particularly classical and opera!
• Fun Facts?
  • I am pretty awesome at chess; I was once a national champion at home in Venezuela. I also used to be a semi-professional salsa dancer and used to teach classes.

Heather Standring - Boston

While pursuing her degree in Actuarial Math from WPI, Heather stumbled upon the Galatea booth at a career fair and was delighted to learn that there was a company that would allow her to combine her love of finance, math and technology. She decided to pursue her Masters in Computer Science from Bridgewater State University, and soon after graduation she joined Galatea! Heather has now been with the company for five years and has worked on a variety of different projects such as a risk application used by traders and a platform that calculated margin requirements for clients of the bank. She is currently working on a portal into which clients can login to view their account information.

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?
  • I love the fact that everyone I work with is smart and fun, which leads to interesting conversations about difficult problems. On top of that, we enjoy having fun together outside of work!
• What is your favorite Galatea moment?
  • My favorite Galatea moment would have to be the barbecue we had upon completion of the risk project. After three years of hard work on the project, we had a huge cookout with tons of food, drinks, and cake!
• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?
  • I love going out to dinner with friends, reading, and playing softball (especially with other Galateans)!

Wayne Truong - Tampa

Wayne has been making excellent use of the Computer Science degree he earned at the University of South Florida in 2015. He has been able to leverage his knowledge in Java, Python, and Oracle/Coherence in developing an international inventory management system. He was one of the first employees at Galatea’s Tampa office and he has been a key player in its growth.

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?

  • I really like the flexible and open atmosphere that Galatea has. The flexibility that we have in terms of office procedures and policies is not something that you find at many other companies.

• What is your favorite Galatea moment?

  • Definitely the monthly outings with my Tampa team! We usually vote on what we would like to do and then venture out into the Tampa Bay area. So far we have been bowling, to the movies, dinner and drinks. It is always a lot of fun!

• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?

  • Lately, I have been trying my hand at building my own video game. I really enjoy working on side projects, they give me the opportunity to look into other technologies that I have not been previously exposed to on work projects. I also really love rock climbing!

Alex Firshein - Boston

After graduating in 2002 from MIT with a major of 18C (Math with Computer Science), Alex worked for 5 years as a software developer before deciding that he wanted to try his hand at the more numerical/mathematical elements of development. He headed across the pond to pursue his Masters in Financial Engineering from the International University of Monaco. Upon graduation, he headed north and became an Options Trader in Amsterdam. For his next career move, he wanted to find a position where he could combine his interests in both Finance and Technology.  In entered Galatea! In his seven-plus years at Galatea, Alex has worked on many interesting and challenging projects ranging from a real time risk system to an entitlements platform.  

• What is your favorite part of working at Galatea?
  • I really enjoy being able to work on some very high profile projects in a casual and friendly atmosphere. I also value how Galatea rewards you for your contributions and allows me to have control over my career growth.
• What is your favorite Galatea moment?
  • I would have to say the team dinner we had at Menton in Boston after a large production release. Nothing says a job well done like a delicious meal and tasty cocktails with my team at a really nice restaurant!
• What do you like to do outside of Galatea?
  • I cherish spending time with my family, especially my young son, who is quickly learning how to walk! I also really enjoy discovering new restaurants in the Boston area.