Career Stories: A Chat with Ola Sendecka, Director of Engineering

Welcome back to Careers Stories! Follow this series, where we’ll hear from Depop folks at various stages of their career journey, as we shine a light on how they reached their version of success – and the people that helped them along the way. This week, we're chatting with Ola Sendecka, Depop’s Director of Engineering (Product).

Hey Ola, tell us a bit about yourself...

I'm Ola, an Engineering leader with over 15 years of experience in tech, including 2.5 years at Depop. I enjoy connecting technical, data-driven work with people and communities. Great people make for great work, which is why I love to focus on community building.

I co-founded DjangoGirls, a foundation that runs programming workshops for women in over 100 countries and have organised international conferences (including one in a circus tent!). Outside of work, I'm learning figure skating and it's probably my favourite topics to bore people with.

Where did it all start for you in your career?

In high school, my art teacher advised me against pursuing an art career due to limited opportunities in Poland. Instead, I chose to study computer science, which combined my passions for logic and creativity.

What's a career milestone you're most proud of?

Moving from an individual contributor to a management role was a difficult decision for me. I was concerned about losing my technical credibility and clung to the individual contributor track for too long, becoming increasingly frustrated and unhappy. With the help of a coach, I realised that I couldn't let others dictate my career path. I let go of those concerns and focused on the work I wanted to do and the passions I have for teams and people. Having said that, there is not one week that I wish I had more time to tinker with code.

What led you to join Depops UGIT (Underrepresented Gender Identities in Tech) ERG?

Experiencing double standards and a glass ceiling in my career left me frustrated and feeling sorry for myself. But the longer I am in the industry, the more I realise that as a white, able-bodied person born in Europe with access to free university education, I am extremely privileged myself. I want to use this privilege to make the world a better place for others. I enjoy the sense of community in ERGs, where people at different career stages can learn from each other.

What's a moment in your career where you could have benefited from allyship?

One of my fondest memories is attending my first international Django conference. Despite feeling like an impostor, I was convinced by a core team member, Russell, to attend the hackathon. With his guidance, I made my first contribution to Django and gained confidence in my abilities. After Russell showed me the ropes, I took on fixing a nasty bug in the depths of Django ORM (which took 2 Django core team members 2days of code reviews to confirm my fix works). This experience led to my first Django job offer, meeting my best friend, starting Django Girls, and becoming a Django Core member myself. All thanks to Russell's encouragement and belief in a newcomers potential.