In this Employer Spotlight, we speak with Kayla Brendle, University Recruitment Lead at Veeva, a global leader in the delivery of industry cloud for life sciences with software, AI, data, and business consulting. Kayla highlights Veeva's commitment to co-op students' professional growth, outlines the qualities and skills they look for during recruitment cycles, and provides advice for UBC students, especially those relocating to Toronto.
What does your company do?
Veeva Systems is a global leader in cloud-based software for the life sciences industry. Veeva provides critical cloud technology, data, and software applications such as Veeva Vault and Veeva CRM to over 1,000 customers ranging from the world's largest pharmaceutical enterprises to emerging biotechs.
Ultimately, Veeva delivers solutions that help life sciences companies bring life-saving drugs and therapies to market faster and more efficiently.
What is the culture like at your organization, and how do you support the professional growth of your employees and co-op students?
Veeva’s culture is anchored by its four core values: Do the Right Thing, Customer Success, Employee Success, and Speed. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Veeva emphasizes high character, accountability, and ethical citizenship.
For co-op students and recent grads, Veeva provides comprehensive onboarding, structured mentorship, educational workshops, and networking events through Generation Veeva’s Engineering Development Program (EDP). EDP is designed around "learning by doing," offering meaningful responsibility from day one. EDP Interns and Associates work out of our Toronto office 4 days a week which fosters a fun environment where they’re surrounded by engineering peers and mentors to socialize with and gain help right away.
What qualities or skills do you look for when hiring a co-op student?
At Veeva, we look for well-rounded candidates who align with our values and possess the following key traits:
- A strong work ethic and a passion for taking on complex, difficult technical tasks.
- A love for digging into technical challenges to build robust, scalable, and high-performance software.
- The initiative to spot opportunities for technical improvement and bring fresh ideas to the table.
- Integrity, honesty, and alignment with our "do the right thing" ethos.
- Deep understanding of object-oriented programming, data structures, and algorithm design.
- Excellent written and verbal skills, recognizing that successful engineering requires strong collaboration, not just good code.
- A "captain your own ship" mentality with a drive for continuous learning.
How do UBC co-op students contribute to your organization?
Co-op students do not work on side projects; they operate as full-fledged software engineers, expected to contribute and perform at the level of an Associate towards the end of their internship.
Students work directly on enterprise cloud platform features, writing clean code and shipping enhancements that reach thousands of global users. Students also build and maintain backend APIs, frontend UI components, automated testing suites, and data infrastructure. Finally, students bring creative problem-solving and modern technical insights, helping product teams innovate faster.
What can UBC students expect from relocating to Toronto?
Relocating from Vancouver to Toronto is an exciting transition to Canada’s largest tech hub! EDP offers relocation resources such as housing recommendations and a roommate finder to help ease the transition. Veeva’s Toronto office serves as a key product hub, offering a collaborative workspace where team members regularly gather for team days, social events, cross-functional work, and free lunch that’s offered 4 days a week on our newly opened 3rd floor! The downtown Toronto location offers easy transit access via the TTC and GO Transit. Living close to downtown or along major subway lines keeps commutes short.
Relocation Best Practices:
- Secure housing early (using EDP’s housing recommendations, reputable rental listings, and/or realtors)
- Factor in winter attire for the East Coast climate
- Explore Toronto's diverse neighborhoods (such as King West, Queen West, or the Harbourfront)
What advice do you have for students interested in working at your organization?
Understand the Domain: Learn about Veeva’s mission as a Public Benefit Corporation and how cloud software empowers the life sciences sector.
Highlight Real Projects: Show impact on technical projects—whether through past internships, class assignments, or personal hackathons. Focus on architectural choices, code quality, and problem-solving processes.
Demonstrate Core Values: Be ready to share examples of taking ownership, working collaboratively, demonstrating integrity, and prioritizing user/customer success.
Apply Early & Network: Apply to Veeva’s Intern Software Engineer (12-16 months) position here and connect with Veeva employees in the upcoming virtual workshop: Software Engineering Interview Prep with Veeva Systems, on October 15th from 12-1pm PT. Register here!
