Charles watkins ItC manager
when did you start with PFS and what is your current role?
2018, IT Manager.
What does a typical day look like in your job?
There’s a huge breadth and depth to this role. There’s three different realms I regularly keep an eye on – PFS the company, the Taara contract in California, and the ARSLS contract. Managing two independent teams for two independent contracts means regularly switching contexts, switching customers, and playing in three totally different worlds – pretty much every day.
What do you enjoy most about your work here?
I don’t know how to pick, “THE MOST” so here’s a few:
I didn’t truly realize how mission driven of a person I was until I left polar IT back in 2015 for a short break. Coming back to it in 2018 at PFS highlighted the personal value I have for being connected to the mission.
I like the challenging work we do in the challenging places we get do it. Bill Jirsa once said that PFS IT folks are like the “outdoor cats of IT,” and I completely agree with that. It’s a tagline I use in most of the interviews I lead when looking for new folks to join the team.
The ESOP! It goes back to that same sense of connectedness to the company’s mission. I feel like being a part of an ESOP is a force multiplier for good and boosts the incentives for creating a healthy, well running PFS.
What experience or education got you involved with PFS?
I have worked in Polar IT since 1999 when I started with a position at the USAP Help Desk. I worked through a variety of positions including desktop support, server administration, and Project Engineering for the Black Island Telecommunications Facility in 2017. Over the years I deployed to Antarctica 10 times – working at every facility from McMurdo, South Pole, to some of the furthest reaches of the Antarctic Deep Field before joining PFS in 2018.
Do you have a favorite memory or project from your time with PFS? If so, can you tell us about it?
There’s a thousand – but a fun one I like to tell stories about is my first deployment to Greenland. I got lucky and joined Jessy and Jill on a whirlwind tour around the island. We started off with 2-3 weeks in Pituffik Space Base helping move 10 bedrooms worth of stuff out of one dorm and into another. From there we spent the next few weeks going to Kanger, Summit, Nuuk, and Iceland. Each point along the way was a like a deep dive into something that would give me a lasting perspective on what the Arctic Program looks like. And this was only a month after leaving McMurdo Station, Antarctica!