Sophos Community: Staff Spotlight - Andrew Mundell

Our staff spotlight is our blog series where we get up-close and personal with our amazing team members at Sophos.

Up next is Andrew Mundell, Principal Sales Engineer.

Let's Talk Career

1. Can you tell us about your role at Sophos?
I'm a Principal Solutions Engineer, which means I spend most of my time talking to prospective and existing customers, listening to their security concerns, and advising how Sophos can help. My favorite experience is hearing someone describe a problem that really impacts their business and then getting to talk about and demonstrate how Sophos products can address those problems.

2. How did you get to the role you're in now?
I've worked for Sophos for almost 14 years, originally joining through a company acquisition (Utimaco). I like to joke with all the newcomers from the acquisition that they might have signed up for a long tour of duty at Sophos.

3. What inspired you to get into IT and security?
I've always worked in IT, right out of school. I was the computer kid, nerd, and geek in class, and I always enjoyed using technology to solve problems and have fun. Before working for Utimaco/Sophos, I was a customer of both organizations designing and deploying Sophos Endpoint and Utimaco Encryption to a large retail firm.

4. What do you enjoy most about your role?
In addition to working directly with customers, I also spend some time on fun side projects. I help Marketing with webinars and events, like the Threat Hunting Academy, a Sophos Community favorite. Getting to work on those activities gives me a great in-depth understanding of what threat actors are doing and the Sophos platform. 

5. What's something you've done during your time in the organization that you're proud of?
In 2019, I was involved in running a series of immersive threat simulation and response workshops called "Be the Hacker, Beat The Hacker," along with other Sophos colleagues. We ran more than 20 4-hour-long workshops with over 200 customer attendees. It was a lot of work, and I know all of us involved are keen to see how we can recreate the concept for the future.

6. Describe a typical day in your Sophos life.
One of the great things about my Sophos life is the variety - from days filled with customer engagements to spending hours on internal calls working on details for our next webinar or threat hunt, to getting to travel and present at Sophos Roadshow or industry trade show events. So I would say, a typical day for me, is different everyday! 

7. What's the best advice you can give to someone who has just started their career?
Be curious! If you find something you're interested in, dive in, and you'll find ways of using the experience in your professional and maybe even personal life.

8. What would you do (for a career) if you weren't doing this?
I've always been fascinated by the technical aspects of live performances, so maybe I'd be working in the theatre or on the road for a band in their sound/lighting/visual effects crew.

Role in the Sophos Community 

9. What's a fun fact about you that you could share with the Community?
I don't really like fish, but I do like sushi. Weird, right?

10. Have you posted any Recommended Read guides on the Community?
Yes. Check out the Sophos Central Operations Guide, Sophos Threat Hunting Framework, and the Sophos AMA webinar series postings! While my name is at the top of those on the poster, all of them include a lot of work from colleagues because Sophos is a team sport!

Who is Andrew? 

11. What are your hobbies outside of work?
I try to keep fit between weightlifting and yoga. I'm lucky enough to live in New York City and enjoy everything the city offers, from great food to Broadway shows, live music, and comedy.

12. What's something you're planning on doing in the next year that you've never done?
Depending on the season, in the next 12 months, I want to learn a Snowsport or SCUBA diving.

13. What's one thing you're really good at?
Just one? Kidding! I'm not sure I'm really good at anything; I'm happy being pretty good at a few things, though.

14. If you could learn how to do anything, what would it be?
I'd love to have the aptitude to be a musician, maybe a drummer.

15. Tell us about where you live (and your journey getting there - if applicable).
I moved to the US with Sophos 9 years ago and absolutely love life on this side of the pond!

16. What's your favorite thing about where you live?
The great thing about living in New York is that you can never be bored or hungry.

17. Tell us something that might surprise us about you.
As a Brit, I always get asked which team I support, but I've never been into football (soccer).

18. Any favorite lines from a movie?
I love a lot of movies; I might have to pick the opening of Star Trek: "to boldly go where no one has gone before" what an adventure!

19. If you had a superpower, what would it be?
This might not be a surprise after the last question; I'd love to know what it's like to be in space, so maybe the power of space flight!