Peter O'Connor

Go-getter
DISC Type : d

Director Platform Engineering at Stack Overflow

Hagerstown, Maryland, United States

Overview

Peter OConnor is the Director of Platform Engineering at Stack Overflow, where he focuses on enabling product engineering teams to deploy services to the cloud with confidence. With a Master of Science from Hood College, he has a rich background that includes teaching Chemistry and Computer Science before moving into technology full-time.

Before his career in tech, Peter was a teacher and received the Philip Merrill Outstanding Teacher Mentor Award for his leadership and dedication to students. This passion for mentorship continues in his current role, where he helps junior developers grow and fosters continual team improvement. He has also taught at the collegiate level.

Unique fact: Peter was a guest on "The Platform Engineering Podcast" to discuss Stack Overflows major shift from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud.

Personality Overview

Self-Confident

Challenger

Vision Oriented

They can be nudged to make faster decisions by offering what they value.  They respond well to confident salespeople. They don’t always try to control the conversation but neither do they like yielding it fully.

Topics They Care About

Platform Engineering
Leads platform engineering at Stack Overflow and was a guest on a podcast specifically about this topic, discussing cloud migration and fostering innovation.
Developer Enablement
His professional headline and work focus on enabling diverse teams, reducing cognitive load for developers, and helping them ship products faster and more confidently.
AI Augmentation
He has posted about his belief that AI is a tool to augment and assist humans by reducing the work needed to create and find knowledge.

Media Appearances

Engineering Culture Change with Stack Overflow's Peter O'Connor. Featured in Platform Engineering Podcast

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Leaders of Code – Two‑part episode featuring Peter O'Connor, Director of Platform Engineering at Stack Overflow. Featured in Facebook (official Stack Overflow)

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Stack Overflow – Join Peter O'Connor, Director of Platform Engineering, and Ryan J. Salva, Senior Engineer (Facebook Post). Featured in Facebook

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Work History

4-2024
Director Platform Engineering at Stack Overflow
2-2023 - 4-2024
Engineering Manager at Stack Overflow
4-2022 - 2-2023
Senior Software Developer at Stack Overflow
1-2012 - 2-2023
Software Engineer at Independent
2-2020 - 3-2022
Lead Software Developer at Carroll County Public Schools

Education

8-2010 - 5-2016
Master of Science - MS from Hood College
2013 - 2016
Master of Science - MS from Hood College

More Information

Social Presence :

Prographics :

Exp : 21 Location : Hagerstown, Maryland, United States Job Level : Mid-senior Designation : Director Platform Engineering at Stack Overflow
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Insights For Selling To Peter

During A Call Or A Meeting

DO's

  • Highlight the competitive differentiation of your product
  • Get to the point quickly instead of spending too much time on pleasantries
  • Refer to testimonials from others in similar positions

DONT's

  • Avoid repeating yourself or making generalizations
  • Don't try too hard to get friendly, let it happen with time
  • Don’t expect them to change their mind quickly if they say no once

When Cold Calling

When Writing An Email

While Negotiating & Closing

    The secret to closing fast with Peter is

  • Conviction in the product matters to them, followed by proof points and strong testimonials.
  • Will you ever get a clear answer from Peter

  • They may not be very forthcoming, but they will say no if needed.

Insights For Deal Planning

    How fast (or slow) will Peter move?

  • Their decision making speed is somewhere in the middle.
  • Can Peter take some risk or not?

  • They can take risks but after weighing up the pros and cons.

You And Peter

Personality Compatibility


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