From Ukraine to Poland — A Product Delivery Manager's Journey

As we’re having this conversation, Olena is at Foundation Ukraine (Fundacja Ukraina), where she worked before joining 10Clouds. She's agreed to tell me all about her journey to becoming a Product Delivery Manager.

Since Olena had family in Poland, she always felt a connection to the country. She started speaking Polish almost as soon as she learned to speak Ukraininan and would visit Wrocław regularly with her parents. “It’s always been their plan that I study in Poland, '' Olena says. “My Mum used to dream that I become the director of a bank,” she adds, laughing.

And so at the age of 16 Olena got on a bus and travelled all the way from Ukraine to Wrocław where she would become a student. Knowing the language, the move wasn’t too difficult and she easily made new friends. And just as her family imagined, she pursued a Finance and Accounting degree at Wrocław University of Economics and Business.

Finding her calling

“I’ve tried many different things before I landed in Project Management,” Olena confesses. Her university would encourage students to prepare for their professional future. Olena honed her CV and completed several internships.

Her first job was in a major corporation, then she worked as a pastry chef. She was trying to figure out her calling in life.

Olena’s boyfriend worked with his friends to expand the work of Foundation Ukraine, as that was the moment when it began to really evolve. The Foundation was established by the honorary consulate, and 2013 was a turning point. It began to offer language courses, training, and other support with official matters.

At first there were just three people working in the Foundation. Then the CEO - Artem, began to expand it and soon there were 35 members of support staff. They worked on many different projects, including supporting Ukranian children in Polish schools, working with teachers to train them up on how to adapt their approach for these children, offering legal advice, organising picnics and cultural events. The initial goal was to support the entire Ukranian community, and to help them assimilate into life in Poland. Later, this support was expanded to cover all migrants who moved to Wrocław and Lower Silesia.

Landing the perfect position at 10Clouds

There came a time when Olena understood that while she enjoyed what she did, she wanted to try something new. This meant that moving to 10Clouds came as a very conscious decision.

Olena had a whole list of things that she expected from the company, and it wasn’t so much the idea of working in software development that appealed to her, but the fact that she could bring happiness to those people who were pleased with the outcomes of their projects.

What were the factors that she paid the most attention to when choosing the role?

The remote work

Before Covid, there were few companies such as 10Clouds, which gave their employees the freedom to work from wherever they want, and to be flexible around other life demands, provided that they attend the relevant meetings and get their work done.

The atmosphere of constant learning

She previously worked as a freelancer and she didn’t have the space to learn. She craved being able to chat with people, to brainstorm and together work on solutions to problems.

The fast pace of evolution

As soon as she joined, she noticed how quickly the company is evolving. She’s fascinated to see what we will achieve next as a business, as we keep learning and improving on existing processes.

The best parts of the Product Delivery Manager role

Olena has enjoyed all of the projects that she’s worked on. Every one of them has been completely different, which is why she can’t pick a favourite.

The role of a Product Delivery Manager at 10Clouds is multi-faceted. Olena loves the fact that we work as partners with our clients, advising them from the outset about the challenges that their product is trying to solve, and how they might work together to give it the very best chance of success in the market.

Some of these elements of her role can also be applied to being part of the 10Clouds Remote Team, which is all about keeping the culture and values of the company alive in a dispersed team setting. Another fantastic part of this is the fact that the team brings together people from different departments who might otherwise never work on the same projects.

Olena predominantly loves the sense of possibility at 10Clouds, and the fact that there’s always a new and exciting project around the corner.

Want to join our team?

Check out the roles we’re currently hiring for or send us your CV through the Careers Page.