A new tech team in Poland

Hello Grzegorz. Could you tell us a bit about your background?

I joined UBS just over a year ago, after a number of years working in telecommunications. I started my career as a maintenance and field engineer, enjoying the explosion in mobile data transmission and deploying top-notch mobile technology.

During my time with different IT businesses, I took part in setting up the first IBM Mainframe operations in Wroclaw! Eventually, I joined the financial sector, in the role of regional and mainframe & midrange (MMS) head for Poland.

What do you see as the future for this team?

In early 2017, we decided to set up the mainframe & midrange engineering team in Wroclaw. Our focus is predominantly on software services, covering mainframe operating systems, customer information control systems (CICS) and database engineering.

Our first joiners have formed a strong foundation, and this will help to drive further expansion and growth. A strong focus on system programmers will continue next year to support technology development in the business.

What’s the culture like in the Wroclaw office?

In technology, we try to promote creative mindsets. Those who are able to challenge the status quo. We encourage vision that drives the technology forward, seeking ways to improve the client experience.

Mainframe is not only about maintaining legacy systems. It is the key and core technology that enables financial institutions to operate in the most demanding environments and in the most reliable and secure ways. The personnel that handle mainframe have to be equally trustworthy. However, a sense of humor, friendliness and being passionate are great traits to have in technology.

What’s the benefit of building this team here?

Some of the key benefits are access to talent, relationships with universities, the local culture, and geography and travel. These combined have led to Wroclaw becoming a recognizable business hub in Europe.

So you’re still building the team. What kind of candidates are you looking for?

We’re looking for ambitious, talented and skilled engineers. People who are passionate about mainframe, who want to develop themselves and also push that technology further. Mainframe is often mistakenly considered as a bit of an antique. But let's remember there is no other technology that can offer that level of parallelism, serviceability or security! Many current releases offer state-of-the-art solutions in hardware and software.

What stereotypes are not true about working in Technology in UBS Poland?

Since we are part of globally aligned teams, it is definitely not true that we do simple tasks delegated or assigned by other locations. In the majority of cases, we are formed as one project team with colleagues from US, Switzerland or the UK. So we are fully involved in the most complicated and challenging engineering tasks and duties. That's the beauty of an organizational setup that allows us be on point with technology issues, problems and their solutions. This really fosters collaboration and creativity.