Tell us about the start of your time at Mambu? What was your role and what you liked the most about what you were doing?
I started as a software engineer in the Lending core team in the Iasi office. One of the things that I enjoyed the most at Mambu is that, besides my main activity as a software engineer, I had the opportunity to get involved in a variety of other projects as well. For instance, I helped with the interviewing process and became a technical interviewer nine months after joining the company. I also volunteered as a technical trainer, starting with the first edition of the Mambu Upgrade Program - a project dedicated to jump-start young professionals in their role at Mambu. on top of that, I had the chance to work as an engineering manager, reviewing employees’ performances and advising fellow Mambuvians on their career path.
I spent one year and a half at Mambu, but it felt a lot longer because I had so many experiences and I professionally grew a lot during that time.
Why did you leave Mambu?
I left Mambu almost by chance. I was contacted on LinkedIn by a recruiter to interview for Google. I had no intention of making a career change, but being an interviewer myself, I decided to go through the process as a way to find good practices that I could apply during my own interviews at Mambu. In addition, I thought it would be a good experience to be on the other side of the fence, as an interviewee, as I might gain new insights on how to improve processes. Incidentally, I went through all the stages of the interview process and got the offer! My very first instinct was to refuse it, as I was very happy with my role at Mambu. However, after discussing it with family and friends, I realised that I would always have a small regret if I did not go for it. So I decided to accept the offer. I also set a reminder in my calendar after one year’s time to reflect whether I should remain there or return at Mambu. My Mambu mentor from that time knew it was very likely for me to return after one year.
Fun fact, in my goodbye email, I wrote << PS: I'll be back! >>
What did Mambu have that your other company didn’t?
One of Mambu’s benefits is the emphasis on learning and development. All successful companies provide learning opportunities for their employees, but not all go to the extent that Mambu does. For example, in the 18 months that I was at Mambu, I got the chance to join top international conferences and attended internal workshops taught by industry leaders who came in the Mambu office to share their expertise. I also took technical and soft skills’ trainings, organised and sponsored by Mambu. In addition, due to the company's exponential growth, there are constantly new technical challenges that must be tackled, which makes the everyday work very interesting.
As a software engineer, learning new things is one of the most important criteria for growth, and I realised that Mambu offered me a much steeper learning curve compared to other companies.
What was your return like?
I was away for only one year and three months, and I was very pleased and surprised about the onboarding process because it was completely different from the one in place before I left. The new process is much more efficient, and I think is a good example of the continuous improvement mindset in Mambu.
How does your new role differ from the one you left? What excited you most about coming back?
My new role is system owner, but in the industry it’s commonly known as a technical lead. In my previous role I used to be an individual contributor and I was generally responsible for my own work. Currently, as a system owner, I am leading a team in the accounting area so I am responsible for the success of the entire team.
What excites me the most about this role are the technical challenges. The team designs and implements a new architecture for Mambu’s accounting component.
This comes with many challenges, such as being able to scale our solution to support tier 1 banks, offering a good performance and migrating from the old to the new architecture without impacting our clients. From a software engineer’s point of view, this is a very exciting and motivating work.