Leading with Data; Meet Rachel Christian
You joined GoCardless in 2019, how has the business changed since then?
When I first joined GC, it was fully entrenched in its “startup era”. We had around 200 employees, each of us wearing several hats. In many ways, it was a little like the Wild Wild West. We had a lot of autonomy and freedom to make the choices we thought were in the best interest of moving GC forward. In some cases, this enabled us to be extremely agile resulting in an almost insane pace of development and delivery. In other cases, it ended up with us working at cross-purposes and saddling ourselves with future tech debt.
Since then we have matured significantly and for better or worse we are on our way to becoming truly “corporate”. We are much more focused on what we want to achieve and how we want to get there. Our roles are now clearly defined and delineated and we are realising that for the product to be truly successful the business processes behind the scenes must be equally efficient and scalable.
How has the role of a Data/BI/Analytics Engineer changed since you started your career?
The Data Engineer role didn’t really exist when I started my career, I had the title of “programmer” for a few years then “consultant” before making it to engineer in the last 5 years. Even now, there isn’t a standard industry definition of what it means to be a Data Engineer. Every company has their own variation. In some ways this is great, it gives you the freedom to try lots of new things, that may eventually blur into a different speciality. In other ways, it can be confusing when you’re trying to benchmark yourself against others in similar roles.
What was it like transitioning from a consultancy to a product-based company?
For me it was a one-way door that I was happy to push through and never look back. Consulting was hard because it felt like you were more focused on delivering “a” solution rather than the right solution. You never truly felt like you were part of a team and you didn’t stick around long enough to see the fruits of your labour. When I made the switch to being a full-time employee, I appreciated the feeling of belonging and also the ability to step back and think more strategically about the things that would help the business succeed in the long-term.
How did you get into leadership?
Like most people, I was pushed off the cliff :) The head of my team had left the business and my manager suggested that I lead the team for an interim period while they tried to hire a replacement. Almost two years later, I’m beginning to think it was a trick because I haven’t seen that replacement materialise as yet….
If you could give some advice to yourself at the start of your career what would it be?
You haven’t “gotten lucky” — you’re smart, you’ve worked hard and you deserve to be here. Believe in yourself, and your abilities. Whether that’s asking for a pay rise, promotion, or putting yourself forward for new opportunities.
How do you find the culture at GoCardless?
GC has been one of the best places I’ve worked culture-wise.
Sometimes I think we’re too nice — our over-helpfulness at times can make us lose focus on the bigger picture. Equally, the psychological safety of such a great team means we’re not afraid to try new things, to fail, and get back up and fail again. It’s what keeps us innovative. I think we still need to find the right balance but I feel lucky to be part of a team that looks out for each other, is responsible and accountable, and always willing to help.
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