In the Summer of 2025, I had the opportunity to return to Pepper as a co-op student on the Technical Support Engineering Team. In this report, I will reflect on my time at the company and give an overview of the work I accomplished during this term.

Pepper provides a white-label eCommerce solution for independent food distributors serving businesses such as restaurants, schools, and retail stores. Founded in 2019, Pepper has grown to a team of approximately 200 employees, supporting distributors across Australia, the United States, and Canada. Notably, one of these distributors serves several Canadian universities, including the University of Guelph, where I study. The company is based in New York, but also has an office in Toronto, with most employees working remotely. During my Co-op term I had the chance to visit the Toronto office and meet some of my colleagues in person.

On the technical support engineering team, I was responsible for maintaining and improving the integration codebase that connects Pepper's platform with various client systems. This involved ensuring that data synchronization processes were functioning correctly, troubleshooting and resolving any issues that arose, and implementing new integration logic as needed to accommodate client requirements. Our team played a crucial role in ensuring that our existing clients were satisfied with our platform and felt that they could rely on us to support their business needs.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to assist with testing a new AI tool designed to help our team triage customer support requests more efficiently. This tool used Claude Code to review an incoming support request, inspect aspects of the client's integration with custom built tools and provide a summary of the issue along with potential solutions. I was responsible for testing this tool and providing context to the developers on how the technical support team investigates different types of issues.

Since this was my second co-op term at Pepper, I was able to be an experienced team member and help onboard new hires to the team. I assisted with training sessions and provided guidance to new team members and helped write documentation to document common processes and procedures. I also developed various Python scripts to help automate some of our team's common tasks and improve our overall efficiency.

1. Develop a strong understanding of Pepper's platform and be an effective technical resource for our team



During my time at Pepper, I developed proficiency with a variety of tools used for modern software development and support. I gained experience writing SQL queries to navigate and analyze a large, complex database with multiple different tables. I used Git regularly for version control within a shared codebase, ensuring efficient collaboration. Additionally, I learned to use Sentry for monitoring and diagnosing errors in production code and Jira for organizing and managing work tasks. I gained familiarity with the different AWS components that Pepper uses, including S3, Cloudwatch, Batch Jobs and monitoring EC2 metrics. These skills have equipped me with confidence and practical expertise that will support my future career ambitions.



2. Assist with onboarding new team members into strong contributors



During this term, I was placed on a newly formed Technical Support Engineering team, which was created to better support our growing customer base. As one of the more experienced members of the team, I had the opportunity to assist with onboarding new hires and help them become effective contributors to the team. I helped conduct training sessions to introduce new team members to our tools, processes, and procedures. I also provided one-on-one guidance and support to help them navigate their new roles and responsibilities. Additionally, I contributed to writing documentation to capture common tasks and procedures, which will serve as a valuable resource for current and future team members. Overall, I am proud of the role I played in helping to build a strong and effective team that is well-equipped to support our clients.



3. Assist with improving team efficiency and scalability



As Pepper continued to grow rapidly, our team needed to make sure we could scale our support services to meet the needs of our growing client base. During my term, I helped identify areas where we could improve our efficiency and effectiveness as a team. I provided feedback in our team retrospectives and one-on-one meetings with my manager to suggest process improvements and identify areas where we could streamline our workflows. I worked with our Operations team to assist with the development of a new AI tool used to help debug and triage bugs in our integration codebase. I also developed various Python scripts to help automate some of our team's common tasks and improve our overall efficiency.

Working at Pepper for a second co-op term was a rewarding and fulfilling experience. I had the opportunity to build on the skills and knowledge I gained during my previous term, while also taking on new challenges and responsibilities. I am proud of the contributions I made to the team, particularly in helping to onboard new hires and improve our team's efficiency and scalability. Getting the opportunity to learn about how a modern SaaS company operates and the challenges they face was a valuable experience that will serve me well in my future career. Overall, I am grateful for the opportunity to work at Pepper and look forward to applying the skills and knowledge I gained during this term as I work towards building a career in the tech industry.

I would like to thank my supervisor, Stacy, for her support and leadership to our team throughout this term. Our team faced a large challenge as we made the shift from technical account management to a support team and Stacy did an excellent job keeping our team focused and motivated through this hard transition.

I would also like to thank my colleagues on the Technical Support Engineering team for their support and collaboration. Working in a primarily remote environment can be challenging, but our team did an excellent job staying connected and working together effectively. In this role, I felt supported and valued as a team member, and I appreciate the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with such a talented group of individuals.

Finally, I would like to thank the entire Pepper team for their support and kindness. It's been a pleasure to work alongside such a talented and driven group and I am proud to say that my work ethic has been shaped by the culture at Pepper. Working in a fast-paced and dynamic environment has taught me the importance of adaptability, collaboration, and continuous learning. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an innovative company and look forward to seeing how Pepper continues to grow and evolve in the future.

Overall, I am deeply thankful for this opportunity and would be thrilled to cross paths with anyone from Pepper again in the future.