TrueTalk with Raluca

Tell us about your role.

I lead an engineering team focused on building connectivity in Europe – to ensure that we have market leading coverage and to enable high quality open banking payments to happen everywhere. 

What brought you to TrueLayer?

When I started, it was just Fra and Luca (the founders) and Neil and Simone (engineers). I was excited to join a small startup where I could influence the engineering function and shape the product in the early days. Four years later, I’m still here and TrueLayer has evolved into a successful scale-up with 200+ colleagues!

How has the company changed since the early days?

Working for a startup means being zen in an environment of perpetual change. It’s both a blessing and, at times, a curse. Going on holiday sometimes means you miss an important milestone or the opportunity to influence decisions. But equally, there are endless opportunities to try new things, broaden your experience and evolve as a professional. 

How has your role evolved?

In my four years at TrueLayer, I’ve gone from writing our first bank integrations in the UK to leading teams responsible for integrating with banks and various open banking protocols across Europe. My focus has shifted from shipping products and code, to ensuring reliability and quality of the service as the usage of our platform increases.

Describe a typical day at TrueLayer.

No two days are the same but every day I try to strike a balance between being involved in delivery, helping my colleagues solve technical problems, having an impact across the wider organisation and helping the people I manage to achieve their own goals.  

What’s the best thing about working at TrueLayer? 

Definitely the people. I’m proud to work in a diverse and inclusive environment – I’m part of a female-led engineering team for example, with my colleague and product manager Rosalie. 

It’s also fantastic to be part of TrueLayer’s unstoppable expansion and to see us achieve the ambitious goals we have set for ourselves. And we’re just getting started!

If you weren’t an engineer, what might you have done?

I might have been a professional dancer. Dancing has played a huge part in my life and has given me a lot of transferable skills.

It has taught me that the fastest way to improve is to seek feedback and to see criticism as an opportunity for growth. It has also taught me to be resilient, to persevere and to be open minded to different approaches to tackling a problem.  

When you’re not at work, where might we find you?

Before the pandemic – either dancing at a festival, teaching people how to dance or training for dance shows. I’m looking forward to getting back to it, now that restrictions are lifting. 

Words to live by?

Value loyalty above all else.

What’s next for you in 2021?

I’m about to take maternity leave. While I’ll miss the team and the work, I look forward to the challenges of parenthood. TrueLayer has been incredibly supportive of this new journey in my life – and I look forward to seeing what the team has achieved when I get back!