Solving problems at work and after hours. Hania’s story in AUCTANE
Hania is professionally involved in finding solutions. How does she cope with her responsibilities, and is it just as easy for her to face the challenges of motherhood? Read an interview and see how we try to support her in combining the role of parent and Solution Architect at AUCTANE.
Hania, your position sounds puzzling to many people. Let’s start by explaining what a Solution Architect does.
As I heard recently from my supervisor, we are the bridge between customer requirements and our products. And this is a very accurate description, because my responsibilities include, first of all, receiving customer guides and forwarding them for implementation, and then managing the implementation of this change on the customer’s site.
For example, a customer would like to have a new courier on our platform. It is our responsibility to find out where they want to send the parcels from, how and what services they want to use. Then we check if all of this is available to us. If not, do we need the work of our wonderful developers to add a new website? In the end, all the guidelines go to the implementation department and we start implementing.
So you work with every department in the company: implementation, developers and requirements analysts. What is the biggest challenge with this type of work?
The mentioned contact with everyone because you have to get one well with each department (laughs). We must also be able to negotiate, both with the client and our colleagues. Sometimes the client wants some functionality, and the developer says it shouldn’t work that way. But the client insists. Sometimes it is difficult to reconcile and you have to look for other solutions.
However, you are already experienced in this matter, because you have been working at AUCTANE for 8 years. What is your history in the company?
Yes, 8 years ago I started in the implementation department. In fact, I was the first or second person to join this team. Together with my colleague Paweł, we built this department from scratch. Then a few more people came.
I also had two maternity breaks. After each of them, I was afraid to come back (laughs). I was afraid of changes, but somehow everything is so well organized here that the returns were really easy and pleasant. Despite the fact that a lot of people changed along the way, a lot of new people came, but it was effortless. There was no problem with getting in touch with them.
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Did you have a lot of catching up on your return?
Our platform, our products, everything is constantly evolving. Such a break of over a year and a half is a lot, so it’s no wonder that I was afraid when I returned to work. But it’s a bit like riding a bike, some things you just don’t forget.
Especially with such a long work experience, let’s add 😉 So you came back, you caught on, but you are still a mother of two children. From your perspective, is the working environment at AUCTANE friendly to young parents?
Yes definitely. I have never had any problems with it. It is known how children in nurseries or kindergartens have emergencies and diseases and you have to pick up the child. If this is necessary, this is never a problem. It is also not in any way pointed out that someone is on sick leave because of your child or that you need to finish work sooner and pick up your child from school. I haven’t met or heard of anyone having a problem with this.
So is hybrid work better for you? Makes it easier to organize everyday life with two children?
It depends (laughs). If the children are healthy and they go to the nursery or kindergarten, then working at home is pleasant. I lock myself in, there is silence, and peace, and I can focus strictly on work. But if at least one of them is at home for even half a day, it is a bit more difficult. However, I think that such a balance must be found. For example, we in the team meet every Wednesday to see each other, talk, go for the most delicious coffee in the city, and talk about crap, because sometimes it is also important and it builds a team.
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Due to the transition from Metapack to AUCTANE, the last few months have been full of challenges for all of us. How does it look in your department? Do you already have tasks planned or do you expect specific changes?
We certainly expect some reorganization. We know that the teams will be merged, although we do not know how it will all work out yet. However, we are very curious and look forward to the next stage in the company’s history.
