Meet Alvin Richards, Technical Director for Performance and Quality at MongoDB, where he oversees the engineering department's cross-functional work to ensure high-quality products that are performant. Prior to joining MongoDB, Richards worked at Oracle for 16 years and later pursued a second degree in photography before returning to tech. He now lives in California and enjoys activities such as hacking his car's system and playing music over a network using MongoDB. Richards values the people aspect of his job, enjoying watching the growth and development of his team members. As Technical Director, he faces challenges like solving the next problem and finding balance between short-term goals and strategic objectives. He finds personal projects, such as debugging a vintage car, to be rewarding experiences.