Andras Horvath's README

Hi, I’m Andras, acting Senior Engineering Manager for the Data Access group. I’m in Zurich, Switzerland.

In previous decades, I had worked as an engineer for CERN and SRE (then later SRE manager) for Google, where my team ran the largest email system on the planet. I’m a Systems Engineer and I have a passion for creating clean architectures and making people happy.

This page describes the most efficient ways to work with me. Please feel free to contribute to it by opening a merge request.

Values

I moved into management/leadership because I care that people around me can work happily, progress towards their own goals and those of the company.

I value openness, honesty and trust, and I will give you mine.

I believe in making a difference through the servant leader model. My success is defined as that of my team, as individuals and as an organization.

I value and welcome diversity of thought, and not all ideas need to be good ones either. We’re still all better off discussing them than not.

My communication style

I’m striving for honest yet caring discussions and I expect the same in return. English is my second language, and we may have more cultural barriers than we know; I will not take offense from open feedback, but I might miss subtle cues. I like embedding intent into written discussions, a la https://conventionalcomments.org/.

Setting expectations, i.e. communicating what’s expected of me and what I can expect of you, makes for efficient comms with fewer misunderstandings. This includes telling me how you like your communications!

Public vs private chat

Personal topics (and PII) naturally belong in DMs. For everything else, please prefer reaching out by tagging me in channels so that others can benefit from the discussion.

When in doubt, overcommunicate

• I won’t know what you don’t tell me about, so reaching out is always welcome. Please also include why you wanted my attention: is there an action I should take?

• I still care, I just need my notes. Please remind me if I forgot a detail :-/

• Consider sending 360 feedback my way through CultureAmp

• Seriously, I read and appreciate anonymous feedback

Informal coffee chats

I’m a fan! Schedule a coffee meeting so we can understand each other better. All free slots in my calendar are fair game (or let me know if you can’t find one and I’ll make time).

I also welcome meeting in person!

My working style

I work through enabling and empowering my team, building trust and catalyzing discussions. Grab me for backup, if need be.

Talk to me about technology. While most of the engineering should be done by engineers, I very much enjoy discussing technical issues, and believe that managers can have a little coding as a treat. I have seen various design patterns work or fail in interesting ways (and on large scale) over the years, and I’m happy to learn more and/or share what I know.

Corollary: I will sometimes offer ideas or seem to nitpick while you know better. If you got this and want me to step back, please let me know, no offense will be taken.

More ways to get in touch

• Add @andrashorvath to an issue, ping me on Slack, or send an email to ahorvath@gitlab.com.
• Give me anonymous feedback