I'm Victor Da Luz. I spent most of my career building software and leading engineering teams, working from individual contributor up to Director of Engineering. A few years ago I realized I missed building more than I liked managing the people who build, so I moved back down the ladder on purpose: Director to engineering manager to IC. I write about that decision too, because more people should know it's allowed.

My homelab is where I learn the infrastructure and networking side of the job I never spent a career on: a small Proxmox cluster, self-hosted services for almost everything I use, and a lot of trial and error I write about on this blog.

Outside of engineering, I'm into music production, soccer, hiking, cycling, game development, and board games. I hold a soccer coaching license and have volunteered coaching youth teams in at-risk neighborhoods, one of the most rewarding things I've done, and a big part of why I care about mentorship in general.

I also coach engineers and engineering leaders on productivity, leadership, and career growth, pulling on the same 15 years, just pointed at people instead of systems. If that's something you're looking for, you can read more on the coaching page.