In “CatchUp with the Crew,” we take you inside life at ClickUp. You’ll get to know our team, see what makes us tick, and better understand what makes ClickUp such a unique place to work.
This week, we’ll hear from our Director of Software Engineering Kuba Jaranowski!
Name: Kuba Jaranowski
Title: Director of Software Engineering
When I joined ClickUp: August 2022
What made you want to join ClickUp?
I love the vision. The productivity space has always been close to my heart and at ClickUp, we’re actually making people more productive and saving them time every day. I used to work at Intel and Amazon and I like that, comparatively, ClickUp is a small company — but scaling quickly. I know we’re already well into our hyper-growth journey, but I’m happy to be a part of a relatively early phase, where we still have a lot of challenges and opportunities.
What do you do at ClickUp?
I’m a software director for the platform team in Poland. The ClickUp team continues to expand globally and my role is to build a team in Poland, where I’m based. Eventually, we’ll oversee the CRM (customer relationship management), billing processes, and more.
Tell us what a typical day looks like for you.
I’m still heavily focused on hiring, so a lot of my day is spent interviewing and sourcing candidates. I want to grow our team as fast as I can so we can start adding value and delivering results! Other than that, we’re in the process of transitioning CRM and billing projects to our team. Lastly, there is still a lot to learn about ClickUp as a company and as a product. As a part of the learning journey, I’m also trying to identify the areas where I can help out to add more value.
How would you describe the culture at ClickUp? What makes it different from other jobs you’ve had?
ClickUp is different! We really embrace asynchronous work, which is quite unique. We are also highly driven and laser-focused on our priorities. The sense of ownership is high; if you see something that needs to be fixed or finished, you just get it done. Everyone has an openness and willingness to help.
I also really love the way we are working in the sense of “dogfooding” — or using our own product every day. Every team at ClickUp uses our product to collaborate, manage projects, and get their work done. This is the holy grail for software teams and it rarely happens, so it’s amazing.
What do you like best about your job?
ClickUp has hired people from all over the world, many with a lot of experience from well-respected companies. It’s been incredible to learn from my coworkers and overall very motivating. I also love the vision and the ability to work remotely. Not commuting is a great efficiency in itself! Before joining ClickUp, it used to take me at least an hour to get to work so I’m glad to invest that time elsewhere now.
What’s your favorite thing about the engineering team?
Everyone is so talented but also is open and willing to learn. Two of the team’s most defining qualities are a can-do attitude and a quick-to-action mentality. We’re motivated to deliver the best customer experience by constantly improving our platform and iterating on ways for our users to be more productive.
What qualities do you think a successful ClickUp employee embodies?
A high sense of ownership; not being afraid to start contributing from early on in your ClickUp journey; learning on the go. Also, willingness to help others and work as a team is core to our culture.
Fun Facts
Favorite food: Recently this would be chili sin carne. Twenty years ago, I really enjoyed it at university, but when I moved to a smaller village, it was not so easy to get. But now there’s a new spot with great [vegetarian] chili, so I’m remembering how great it is.
Most binge-worthy TV show: “Modern Family” and “The Office”
Best movie to watch again and again: “Wind.” I haven’t watched it in awhile, but it’s probably time to resurrect it.
Go-to ice cream order: Whatever’s left after my kids are finished.
Favorite weekend activity: My family likes to sightsee all over Poland in our RV. It’s pretty cool and you don’t need to plan for it. You just kind of find the destination, and you are on the way!
Most used emoji: :ship_it_parrot: (*see it here)
Want to join the ClickUp Crew? We’re hiring! Check out our careers page to see the open positions currently on our job board and apply now.
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