“Every day I strive to understand the perspective of each team member, assign suitable tasks, and take care of everyone as a team.” Gabrielė Akstinaitė, mobile and file management squad lead at NordLocker.

You may be wondering why NordLocker needs a new mobile app – or why there was a “magic” squad. To answer these and other questions, we invited Gabrielė Akstinaitė to talk with us. She’s been with NordLocker from the start and is a fantastic leader to learn from. So who is Gabriele Akstinaitė?

Hello, Gabrielė. To start, can you introduce yourself and tell us what you do?

I joined Nordlocker almost 2.5 years ago. I started as a Windows platform product owner and had a chance to see Nordlocker in the very early stages. Now, I am responsible for the File management and the mobile squads.

We’ll get into details later, but I’m very curious why you previously called your squad Magic 201?

After NordLocker moved to the squads model, we had to come up with a name for our squad. The guys came up with Magic 201, which in HTTP status code means “magic created.” It’s very geeky, but we actually try to create some magic under the hood. The magic squad, or as it is now known, file management squad is more oriented towards file management, synchronization, and everything else file related. What we do is not something you often see in the app, but it’s vital for the functionality. As NordLocker is growing and more squads are created, we changed our name to File management squad so it’s easier for our colleagues to understand what we actually do.

I love it! Can you tell us how you ended up at NordLocker?

That’s a long story. But in brief, I was a project manager at an IT company in my placement year during my engineering studies. After that year, I came back to engineering and worked as a project design engineer for a couple of years in the UK. One day, I got a call from the same IT company where I spent my placement year. They said they were very happy with my previous performance and would like to see me join them as a product owner. As you can guess by now, that product was NordLocker, and I said yes.

You have been here for over two years and have double the responsibilities. How do you manage two squads at once?

Well, probably the biggest issue is that everything takes twice as long. Jokes aside, I actually don’t find managing two squads very hard. Those squads are different in size and the challenges they face daily. They must be managed differently. My job is to find the right way to do it.

Every day I strive to understand the perspective of each team member, assign suitable tasks, and take care of everyone as a team. I always give my priority to the team as I believe if people feel good at work, they will deliver way better results.

You mentioned that your squads are different. Could you tell us more about them?

The mobile squad is very small. Currently, we’re working on the native Android app that was just released. The file management squad is much larger and more complex. We are working with apps that are already in production, so compared to building a new app from scratch, the set of issues and challenges differs a lot.

That’s right! Congratulations on the app release. How long did it take for your team?

Yes, we’re very excited about the release. We spent almost a year building this app and are happy with the final result. It’s a well-developed product almost as capable as our desktop apps.

Could you tell us how the development of the app went?

There’s not much to say, really. During the development, everyone worked really hard and we were lucky to not get stuck on various issues. I think it’s a super team. Goal oriented and motivated to deliver the best app we could. That’s why all issues were resolved quickly and efficiently.

How does this compare to managing the much larger file management squad?

Working with the file management squad is more challenging. First, we are working on several different platforms such as Windows and Web Access.

But the main difference is that we’re not building something new entirely. We’re responsible for functionality and features that are being used. So we must always consider how things can impact the experience of our new and existing users.

Let’s go back to NordLocker’s Android app. There was already a web-based app. What are the benefits of this particular release?

According to our research, 60% of users access their cloud storage on their mobile devices. This shows that users want to have Nordlocker on the go. The web-based app was an alternative to the desktop, but it was somewhat limited. The new native Android app has almost the full desktop functionality, so you can truly take your files with you and access them anywhere securely.

Does the recent release mean that a native iOS is in the works, too?

There is still work to be done like enabling locker share, but yes, we’ll start working on a native iOS app very soon.

Are you looking for more people to join your squads? If yes, what specialists are you currently looking for the most?

We are always looking for new people for both mobile and file management squads. We are intensively searching for front-end and iOS developers.

I’ve heard that away from NordLocker, you’re a co-founder. Can you share more about that?

I’m always looking for different ways to challenge myself and opportunities to grow. A couple of years ago, my friend and I launched an organic cotton underwear brand called Ecosì. We want to encourage people to choose slow fashion, protect the environment, and ensure that people who make our clothes get adequate compensation.

That sounds great. But with all these activities, what do you do to relax?

The best meditation for me is the gym. One of my biggest passions is Muay Thai boxing which I have been practicing for the last six years. Also, I spend time on improving my skills as a UX designer and working on some creative projects.

Are you looking for new career opportunities?

Interested in seeing yourself in a new role? Join our growing team and help make the world safer. Contact Ema ([email protected]), our employer branding specialist, or visit our Careers page for all the available positions at NordLocker.