A solid bank foundation
with modern agile approach

Vaida Garbauskė

Scrum master, Finance & Risk department SEB Global Services centre in Vilnius

Education: Master's degree in International Project Management (in progress); Bachelor's degree in English
Personal interests: traveling, hiking, cooking, playing chess, reading

What was your career like before entering tech?

I’ve shifted my career in different ways a few times, but I always knew that I am very interested in people’s growth. I studied English philology for my bachelor's degree and during my studies I worked as a translator. I was also coordinating educational projects between culture field professionals and students. After graduating, I tried myself in Human Resources. I had a feeling that HR would be close to my heart and to my soft skills. I started with HR Operations, then tried Talent Acquisition. Later I moved to project management. My education and career path show I was really trying to experiment and find out what’s best for me. I think it’s important to explore, to try different things and not be afraid to change.

What made you think about a career in tech?

When I was working in talent acquisition, I was very fond of hiring for tech roles. It was and still is a huge challenge to find employees for tech positions. I needed to proactively look for tech talents. Somehow, I realized that IT really interests me. Mostly it was because I saw how tech people are constantly learning, they are very dynamic. I think if you want to succeed in IT, you need to have this learning mindset, keep up with the trends and newest technologies.

And when I heard about Women Go Tech program and applied for it. I was happy to find out that I can choose not only tech roles but also project and product management. I decided to go with project management as it was very close to my job at that time.

How did you find SEB?

It was really good timing. When I was almost at the end of the Women Go Tech program, I saw SEB’s job ad for a scrum master. The job description seemed to be relatable to what I wanted to do and what I’d learned. I went through the interviews, got to know my manager and everything worked out.

Tell us more about your responsibilities at SEB.

Doing everything together with the team – it’s everything scrum-mastery is about. Here at SEB, I have three teams of 4 to 6 people. In short – I am working on helping the teams to grow and be as autonomous as possible. I establish and maintain agile way of working, instruct on Scrum practices, identify and solve impediments, shed the light on more challenging situations within the team. It’s a lot of listening, planning, coaching, ensuring the smooth work process, feeling the pulse of the team. I closely work with a team manager, I help coordinate some projects, organize trainings.   

I think the most important thing for a scrum master is not to interfere with how developers work. I don’t want to force doing anything unless the team sees value in it. Scrum masters’ work is work with people, so you need to patient and understand that changes never happen overnight.  

What are the things that you like the most at SEB?

I think my curiosity is flourishing here. Learning is one of the highlights of working at SEB. I already got so many opportunities to learn. I’ve already completed my SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) certification, I had a lot of training and opportunities to grow as a specialist. Another thing are the initiatives of the people. There are so many events, meetups, different groups, which you can join and share your experience, learn new things. 

What are your superpowers?

I think I am a time traveler because I really like to reflect. And during retrospectives we do that in our teams too. I always reflect, ask myself: “Am I fine with what I am doing right now? Should I learn something? Am I doing what I really want to do?”. And if I am not happy with something, I can openly talk with my manager and try to maneuver my role into the future. 

What are your dreams for the future?

For now I want to continue working as a scrum master and become better at this role. Later maybe grow into either an agile coach or a manager. I want to broaden my knowledge, so currently I am studying for my master's degree in International Project Management, also I am enhancing coaching skills. The highest purpose is being fulfilled in my role and what the future will bring – you never know!

What are your hobbies?

Traveling – I am very much interested in seeing new places and faces. I relax and recharge when I am in a new environment. I would really like to travel to Asia and would love to come back to Iceland. Besides traveling I also like hiking, being around mountains, cooking, and reading. I like to try different things, like aerial yoga and crocheting. Now I am trying to level up my skills in chess.

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Danielius Barkovskis 

solution architect

It seems that your passion for IT started very early. How did it happen?

It all started with my first computer which I received quite early. My parents had downloaded some games to my device, but as I played them, I realised that I was more interested in how those games worked “behind the curtain” rather than the actual gameplay. “Counter-Strike”, “GTA” were one of my first games. I was around 13 years old when I created the first “GTA” server. 

How did you learn to do that?

Basically, I taught myself by self-study. I found information on the internet and figured the next myself. At that time, I experimented intensively and learned a lot along the way. That has laid a very solid foundation for later. I have to add that I was already working as a freelance developer before I started my studies. I was developing game servers. While I was still studying, in my second year, I already took part in SEB internship programme.

Did your studies offer you anything new in this field? It seems that you had already studied and mastered a lot of things by yourself.

Yes, I knew many practical things that I had researched and tried out. However, I often lacked an understanding of why they worked in that specific way. Studies has given me this theoretical understanding, the scientific perspective and knowledge of the IT field. 

How did your career at SEB start and develop?

I started my career in the bank six years ago as a software development intern. Later I was hired as a junior software developer, soon I became a software developer and solution architect later. The career has developed step by step. My field of work at the bank was and still is the development of mobile applications.

At the moment you are one of the bank’s technical leads. What are your main responsibilities?

In general, my responsibilities are to create architectural solutions for business needs and to support team while following and implementing it during the entire cycle of development.

Does the position of solution architect mean that you do not directly participate in software development processes, only monitor them?

It depends on the project, but I am always more than happy to get involved in the programming if needed.

What appeals most to you in this work and specifically when working at SEB Bank?

After six years at the bank, I can say that there is no such thing as routine here. Every new project is like a new job because all projects are different in every way. So even though I have worked for one employer the whole time, I feel like I have changed jobs several times. It is never boring here, that's for sure!

Would you recommend SEB as an employer?

Because of the size and scope of the bank, everyone has the opportunity here to find something that suits their interests and abilities. And even if a person finds that the work does not really suit them, it is always possible to find something new and try it out. In that sense, this is a really great place to start and continue a career.

What qualities does a software developer need to make a successful career in this field?

The most important thing is to keep curiosity and passion. It is also important that a person should take the initiative to do something, to change and to improve. You cannot sit back and wait for someone to tell you what to do and how to do it. For you to improve, you have to take the initiative yourself - come up with ideas, questions and suggestions. As for myself, what motivates me most is the fact that this field is constantly evolving, and I can always learn something new.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

Developing, actually (laughs). As strange as it may sound. My professional career began as a hobby, and it still is. 

Do you still play games?

Yes. My favourite game is “Counter-Strike”, which started my passion for computers in childhood. Over the years, the game has evolved and changed a lot.

Find your new job at SEB Bank