How long have you been with Goji? What is your role at the company?
I’m coming up on my one year anniversary with Goji. I’ve been working here as an Engineering Manager for one of the many engineering teams at the company.
Give us the inside scoop – what are some of the unique aspects of working at Goji?
This question makes me think back to my interview process with Goji! The biggest thing that stood out to me was the level of care and connection made in such a short time. Every person I met was kind, open, curious, talented, and authentic. I feel the same way now, even more so.
The company remains small enough that you can get to know almost everyone. You can wander over to anyone in the office, including leadership, and they will make time to talk with you. That level of accessibility and community certainly feels unique.
What led you to a career in Engineering and how did you end up in the financial services industry?
My career in Engineering is largely down to happenstance as I didn't know what I wanted to do after university. A close friend of mine graduated and joined a tech consultancy that trains you as an engineer on the job. What they were doing sounded really interesting and, once I graduated, we essentially reunited there. That’s where it all began for me!
Working in financial services was a similar story. I’d made a decision, together with my now wife (it all worked out), to move in together in Budapest. In doing so I found myself applying to a swathe of companies, hoping someone would take me (and accept my next-to-zero knowledge of Hungarian)! One capital markets data company did, and I found a really great home with the people there in tech solutions. I’ve remained in the financial industry since, in different sectors in each role. It revealed an interest I didn’t know I had.
What has your experience been like with working on your team?
I consider myself very fortunate to have joined a team of brilliant and talented people that are driven, collaborative, and comfortable challenging each other in striving for the best results for the users of our platform. There is a great deal of trust in the group, and I feel this is critical to achieving what we set out to.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your current role and what are some of the unique challenges you face in this sector?
I get a lot of joy from providing my team with an environment in which they can do their best work, express themselves, and ultimately see the results of their creativity, skill, and dedication. Our team focuses on the KYC/AML domain, and this is full of challenges and nuances in a compliance-heavy area where such traits are valuable. It is important for us to always remember the different needs that each of our end users have in their particular situations, and figure out how we can adapt our platform to support them.
What is your favourite memory from your time at Goji?
Every Friday afternoon, our team spends some time together focused on an activity of our choosing. The rule is that it can’t be work-related. As we are all remote, this tends to be just having a chat or playing an online game. These get-togethers have been the source of a lot of big laughs during my time here.
What was your dream job as a child?
From a young age I remember being very interested in space. Perhaps it was all the colours, the concept that there’s so much to explore and so much that is unknown. Initially, I wanted to be an astronaut.
Something must have pulled me back down to Earth though (terrible), as I moved onto what is probably quite a common early dream job of being a vet. Having grown up with pets, and having a general love for animals, it felt right to have that as a job.
After all this, I still went to university having no idea what I wanted to do for a career.
What would you do if you had unlimited free time?
I would love to learn another language, and strengthen my Hungarian. I’d also look into learning the piano properly, and likely then delve into music theory and composition. This would all be whilst playing through the long list of story-driven video games on my to-play list. If this unlimited free time happened to come with unlimited funds as well though, then I would first prioritise travelling more of the world.
Any fun projects on the horizon? What are you and your team up to next?
We're currently developing an integration with World-Check to enhance our KYC/AML product offering. Leading a project of this scale has been incredibly exciting, and we’re looking forward to rolling it out to clients and seeing the efficiency gains it delivers to their compliance workflows.
We're hiring!
To explore roles on Goji's Engineering team, visit our career page here.