Meet the Team at Gousto Tech — Razvan Spatariu — Lead Software Engineer
This post is the ninth in our series interviewing members of our GoustoTech team. In this post we meet Razvan Spatariu who is a Lead Software Engineer in our Haricots squad.
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your role at Gousto.
Oh hi there! I’m Razvan and I’m a haricot. Yep, you read that right. Actually, I am part of a squad called Hacking Haricots. I am the Lead Software Engineer of this squad, which to be fair, is a very easy job as my colleagues are very talented engineers. I mostly just have to nod and approve their ideas and then go to meetings and validate them. Another part of my job is shaping the direction of our frontend ecosystem alongside my fellow frontenders. Other responsibilities include pairing, mentoring, code reviewing and all the fun stuff related to ensuring the quality of our work is a high standard.
Also, don’t tell anyone, but I had no idea what a haricot was before joining Gousto. But now it’s my favourite vegetable.
How long have you been at Gousto?
I’ve been at Gousto since the beginning of March 2019, so at the time of writing this, just over 4 months. Although it feels like I’ve been here for way longer than that (in a good way).
Can you tell us a little about your journey until arriving at Gousto?
I am originally from Romania, where I studied automation and computers, but I always knew that my career would be in software/web development. I started working as a frontend/designer during my university years (at the time frontend as a role wasn’t that common so frontend developers were more like designers with coding skills). I’ve worked in various companies in Bucharest, from small digital agencies to SaaS companies with worldwide clients, slowly focusing more and more on coding and leaving the dark days of my (bad) artistic skills behind.
At the end of 2014, I got an interesting job offer from a London based fintech company, and that’s how I ended up in the UK. I stayed with that company for 4 years and I learned so much and grew as an engineer, before joining Gousto in March 2019.
What made you decide to join Gousto?
I am a terrible cook, but I am good at following simple instructions. So when I discovered recipe boxes (around a year before joining Gousto) I went from making half decent sandwiches to looking like a knowledgeable chef, almost overnight.
As I was looking for my next career move, a recruiter sent me the job description for Gousto, and that was the one that stood out both from a product and from a tech perspective. Meeting different people at Gousto during the recruitment process made the decision a no-brainer for me.
What has been the most exciting thing you’ve worked on at Gousto since joining?
Helping the squad deliver an important upgrade on Laravel has been difficult, but very exciting. It’s in one of the main services, which had implications in most areas of the platform. But I’ve already learned so much more than I expected to learn!
What’s in the pipeline that you’re excited about at Gousto?
There are many ideas for the future that make me excited to be here. But I’m most excited for the chance to work with the UX/design team and shape our internal design system while delivering other features. I guess my days as frontend/designer left a mark!
How would you describe the culture at Gousto?
Friendly. Before joining I was worried about coming in as a tech lead and not knowing the ins and outs of the systems, but everyone has been extremely supportive and helpful. I feel like I can go up to someone I’ve never spoken to before and just start chatting with them and get the information I need. Also, having such an interesting and unique mix of departments (e.g. recipe creators or our colleagues from the factory in Spalding) is awesome as you get to meet people you wouldn’t find in your run-of-the-mill tech company.
Why would you suggest that someone considers joining us in GoustoTech?
Tech-wise we do a lot of cool things. We use a lot of interesting technologies and we tackle fascinating challenges. But I would say that the unique selling point of Gousto is the passion of the people. A lot of us are users of the product so we are trying to make it the best product on the market. The current size of the company allows us to shape the future of Gousto, and that makes me feel truly valued here.
