Welcome back to our employee spotlight series! We hope you enjoy getting to know the diverse and unique talent we have the pleasure to work with everyday.
In this post, we get to know Cristian, a Senior Software Development Manager based in Romania.
Let’s dive in! Tell me a bit about your role at Opensignal.
As an Engineer Manager, I’m responsible for two teams, or squads at Opensignal. The customer solutions squad, which is responsible for developing our analytics products primarily, and one of our innovation squads, which looks at finding new ways our data can add value to our clients.
A typical day starts with standups. These are really quick and simple, 20 minute meetings I hold with each of my teams, discussing progress, plans for the day and identifying any roadblocks and challenges. And then we get into some of the long term plans, discussing and planning new feature rollouts, making processes more efficient, and of course, the backend work. If I can, I also like to carve some time out to do some coding. I’m a programmer at heart!
What attracted you to Opensignal?
That's easy, the people. My journey here started almost 5 years ago when I was interviewing for an engineering team lead position. I was based in Romania and following several rounds of virtual interviews I flew down to the London office and met with members of the team. I spent 4 hours in the office that day and by the end of it, I was convinced I wanted to work here. I got a really good feeling about the atmosphere and the culture; the teams were all so welcoming, friendly and brilliant professionals at the same time.
What do you love most about your role?
I love programming, but equally I also love working with people. Seeing my team grow and learn, empowering them to do their best, it really gives me a sense of purpose, pride and joy. Growing from a technical programming role to an engineering lead felt like a natural evolution to my career.
What makes Opensignal work for you?
Many companies say this, but at Opensignal it really works in practice too: people come first. Valuing individuals, valuing diversity and treating everyone fairly and equally - these are really important to me. Being a part of such an international team, where on any given day I will be chatting to a member in Canada, Brazil, or the UK provides such a unique opportunity to learn from a brilliant and diverse group of people.
Remote working is another aspect I value. I’m still amazed at how, during the pandemic, we made remote working… well, work. Managing the transition so smoothly, and being able to continue to work remotely and so efficiently is down to everyone on the team.
Can you recall a project you are especially proud of?
I was involved in a really challenging project quite early on. We spent months working on a really complex backend job. It was a huge undertaking, but we felt really proud once we completed it. It felt good to have such an important project early on in my role, giving me a feeling of success, but also an understanding that I can create impact from day one.
How do you recharge after a long day?
A good meal for sure. I really enjoy cooking, it’s a great way to switch my mind off and transition from work to chill time in the evening. And you get a delicious dinner at the end.
I also took up a new hobby recently, punch needling. It’s a type of embroidery and I feel that working with my hands after a long day at work really helps me switch off.
What was your first job?
I was hired by the Romanian Statistical Institute to help with carrying out the census. Back then, it wasn't a digital process at all. So I was going from door to door, asking people questions and then also inputting the results into the system. Thinking back, it was quite a boring student job, but it was my first experience at earning money, which I spent to the last penny partying on the seaside that summer!
What was the last book you read?
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. He’s a medical surgeon and the book is basically a collection of stories, from a variety of industries, showing examples where checklists work and they work very well. I was always a fan of checklists but after reading this book I love them even more. I highly recommend it.
What’s your favorite place in the world?
That’s a hard one. There are so many beautiful places in this world where I could move to in a heartbeat. My hometown Brașov, is an amazing place to live, to visit, and to eat well. Bordeaux is an amazing city too and I fell in love with it the first time I visited. I could live on any given island in Greece. There are way too many to count and the list just keeps growing.
Interested in learning more about the Opensignal team? In our recent employee spotlights we get to know more about Ryan, a CAI manager, Sam, a Senior Analyst, Lisa, a Data Scientist, Harley, a Customer Success Specialist, and Yi En, a Customer Success Manager.
Want to know more about Opensignal? Have a look at our About page or browse around the Careers page to find your next opportunity!
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