BrightBridge team talk: NetSuite Technical Consultant job focus

Meet Sam Batten

National Careers Week 2022 may now have finished, but our BrightBridge careers focus blog series hasn’t. Today it’s the turn of Sam to tell us about his journey towards becoming part of the BrightBridge team and how he settled on the career he loves – a NetSuite Technical Consultant.

His takeaway to young people considering their next move? It’s ok if you don’t know what you want to do and it’s never too late to figure it out. If you’re considering college, university or your next step (at any age), we hope learning about the job roles we have on offer at BrightBridge will help to steer you in the right direction for you. If you’re a current or prospective customer, pull back the curtain and learn about how our team works together to deliver… enjoy!

Tell us about your role?

I’ve worked at BrightBridge for almost three years and in simple terms I configure and develop the NetSuite solution for customers’ unique needs, as well as integrate other software when required. I’m assigned to a project once the customer has signed their contract and while other consultants also work on building out the system. By using scripts and/or workflows I can create solutions to go beyond NetSuite’s the ‘out-of-the-box’ capabilities.

Recently I was involved in writing our in-house carrier management and integration script, which removes time-consuming processes and the chance of errors for businesses like Crafter’s Companion, that use various logistics companies to dispatch orders to customers. I’ve also helped to create an automated architecture for company’s dealing with very complex taxes – there could be up to ten taxes per product in the US, covering the city, state, E911 charges and if you can believe it, these can change on a daily basis.

Do you work on multiple projects at once?

Absolutely, which means time management is a big part of a consultant’s role – I have to prioritise tasks all the time, but I do enjoy the fast pace. I look after a number of long-term customers, such as Onfido and Bannatyne, assisting them with queries and making optimisations to NetSuite as their business grows. Currently I’m also working on Fendercare Marine’s project – which is a migration from SageLine 500 to NetSuite – a very famous retailer’s new solution, and Monro has just gone live last week.

How did you journey into this career, and have you got any advice?

I wanted to go into the Air Force when I was at school, but unfortunately, I didn’t get in. I started off worked at a cycling shop, working in their warehouse and progressed into the office as a customer service advisor. I was there for around 4 years and then moved to another retail service job, but found myself helping out with internal IT more and more. I used to fix computers as a bit of a hobby so getting more technical felt naturally appealing, and I gained more IT knowledge until I landed a job with another company as an in-house System Administrator.

At this point I hadn’t even heard of NetSuite, but before too long I was handling support tickets whilst also dipping into the development of the system. Between shadowing colleagues and trying things out for myself, I got up to speed with NetSuite fairly quickly and knew I wanted to work in a development role. A couple of years later I applied to BrightBridge and the rest is history.

A lot of young people get pushed towards university and it’s not always the best option – you might have no clue what you want to do, like me! I guess my story shows that it’s never too late to figure that out and with the right focus you can get to where you want to be. I’ve definitely been very lucky, but I’ve also worked really hard to get where I am. I think if you have the right attitude, use your own initiative to gain knowledge and find a company that supports your ambitions with training, then you can have the career you want.

If you missed the first two job focus blogs, click here to read more about…

Keith – a Senior ERP Consultant

Dylan – a Microsoft Dynamics 365 Solution Architect

…and don’t forget to pop back in two weeks to learn more about our team members.

If you’d like to learn more about the number 1 cloud ERP solution, head over to our NetSuite page, or contact us for an initial chat about your business goals.