When Rommel talks about his work at Files.com, he doesn't reach for buzzwords or big slogans. He sums it up simply:
"Working for Files.com checks all of my boxes. Any job I had before, no matter how much I liked it, there was always something missing. Files.com gives me everything I want out of a company."
That wasn't always the case.
Before he joined six years ago, Rommel was the lone technical person at a three-person startup. He built everything-from scratch.
"I was doing everything," he says. "Frontend, backend, infrastructure, databases. And while I like building software from scratch, I didn't like having to be the infrastructure person and database person and everything else. I really just wanted to focus on frontend engineering."
The startup also didn't have much funding. The office was a drive away. Work-life balance suffered. And even when he enjoyed the work, he could feel the constraints.
He knew what he wanted next: something more established, fully remote, built around modern frontend technology, where he could grow as an engineer without wearing every hat at once.
That's when he found Files.com.
A Different Kind of Interview Process
The Files.com job site immediately grabbed his attention. The way the company described its culture, the emphasis on remote work, and the technology stack-especially React-felt like they were written for him.
"Everything about it really spoke to me," he remembers. "It sounded like exactly the kind of company and tech I wanted to work with."
But his first contact with the company wasn't a perfect fit. He had a full-time job and was initially just exploring extra work at night. The first recruiter he spoke with told him the role had to be full-time, during the day. So he passed.
Then Files.com called back with another idea: if full-time wasn't workable yet, what about starting as a contractor?
"That was really cool," Rommel says. "It made me think: this company is flexible. They're not doing everything the conventional way. They were willing to find a way to make it work."
He also spoke to the frontend lead and loved what he heard. The problems, the technology, the approach-it all lined up with the kind of engineering he wanted to be doing.
He signed on as a contractor.
First Impressions: Complex Code, Interesting Product
For the first six months, Rommel worked remotely as a contractor, taking on issues and quietly learning the product.
"The codebase was massive and very complex with the way it was built back then," he says. "That was the first surprise."
The second surprise was more pleasant.
"I remember being impressed by the product, even then. It was an earlier version of what we have today, but it already felt like a really good product."
Those early months were spent untangling complexity and discovering how everything fit together. Far from scaring him off, it pulled him in.
When the contract term ended, Files.com offered him a full-time role as Frontend Lead. It wasn't an easy decision-he was leaving a tiny company he'd built with friends-but looking back, he's very clear:
"I struggled with the decision at the time because of the personal relationships I had. But if I could talk to myself then, I'd say: you're absolutely making the right decision. Don't doubt it. Files is where you want to be."
"Basically an Ideal Job"
Ask Rommel what working at Files.com feels like now, and he doesn't hesitate.
"It's basically an ideal job for me," he says.
Remote work is a big part of that. It's changed his daily life in simple but important ways.
"I can help my wife with school drop-offs and pick-ups," he says. "That's a big improvement in my personal life, just because I'm remote."
But remote work alone isn't enough for him. What makes it ideal is the combination:
"I do a lot because I'm driven to do a lot," he says. "I enjoy it. I don't feel like the stress I have is proportional to the amount of work I do. It's a high-performing position with a relatively low amount of stress, and that's huge for me."
On the financial side, he feels something he didn't feel in past roles: security.
"In previous jobs, I'd always be questioning whether I should look for something else that pays more," he says. "Files.com has gotten me beyond that. I don't really have to think that way anymore. I don't feel like I need to search for a better version of this job somewhere else."
Shipping Ambitious Work
Over six years, Rommel has had a hand in many parts of the product, but he lights up when he talks about the systems he's built from scratch.
One of those is the new mover app-essentially a modern version of the Files.com web interface built in a fresh codebase.
"It was like re-implementing the web app in a new code base," he explains. "We built it from scratch using modern technologies and approaches, while still talking to the same APIs as the old app. It was a really interesting project, and I'm proud of how it turned out."
And when Files.com acquired ExaVault, Rommel built the Node application that translated between the old ExaVault API and the Files.com API. It acted as a relay and translation layer, and it was critical in getting ExaVault customers successfully migrated onto Files.com.
"That was a hard thing to do," he says. "It took a lot of effort to figure out, but it was absolutely essential."
Those are just the big, visible projects. There's also the everyday impact: guiding his team, making architecture decisions, and helping ship improvements continuously.
Growing Into Leadership
Rommel is now an Engineering Manager, and that shift from individual contributor to leader has been one of the most meaningful parts of his time at Files.com.
"I feel like I've learned a lot and improved a lot at helping other engineers do the best job they can," he says. "Helping them become better engineers, and making sure we deliver and ship things in the best way possible-that's something I really appreciate about my position now."
A lot of his approach is anchored in Files.com's culture of documentation and communication. The internal "book"-the company's comprehensive knowledge base-is something he both relies on and contributes to constantly.
Learning From Exceptional Leadership
When Rommel talks about what's shaped his own growth the most at Files.com, he keeps coming back to Kevin, our Founder/CEO.
"Kevin, absolutely," he says. "I regard Kevin as a genius."
For Rommel, it's not just what Kevin says-it's what he does.
"He sets a really good example in the way he does things and in the amount he gets done," Rommel explains. "It's inspirational. It makes me want to try to come up to that level. I don't know if that's possible, but it makes me want to do more."
Recently, he watched Kevin use AI to rapidly improve parts of the marketing site. That flipped a switch.
"There were things I'd thought about doing for years that we hadn't done," he says. "Seeing that, I just thought: I'm going to jump in and do them."
In a short period, Rommel pushed through multiple large frontend projects that had been sitting on the "someday" list. AI was part of it, but so was the expectation that if something should be better, you don't wait-you ship.
That combination-strong leadership, modern tools, and a culture that values action over hesitation-has shifted how he thinks about what's possible, both for himself and for his team.
Who Thrives at Files.com
Rommel is clear about the kind of person who does well in this environment.
Someone who is self-driven. Someone who can work autonomously without a lot of hand-holding. Someone who cares about the quality of their code and the clarity of their communication. Someone who wants to ship.
"You have to want to do well," he says. "In the code you write, in the way you communicate, in how you deliver. If you're driven that way, this place gives you everything you need."
For him, that adds up to a rare combination: a remote role that supports his life, work that he genuinely enjoys, a culture that pushes him to grow, and a company he doesn't feel the need to leave.
"Files.com gives me everything that I want out of a company," he says. "It's a pleasure to be here on a day-to-day basis. I don't see myself looking for a new position, because there's nothing else that I want that Files isn't giving me."