In just 4 years, he went from being a programmer to a team leader managing 50 people. Diversity, a friendly team, and the opportunity for growth is what František Hradil values the most about working at Deutsche Börse. He believes that employees are those who create the value of the company. “We try to make sure they are constantly developing and learning new things,“ he says. What is his job like and how does his multicultural team cooperate?
FRANTIŠEK HRADIL
Head of Section Reference Data as a Service at Deutsche Börse
You joined Deutsche Börse in 2016 as a software engineer. So, what was your career path leading to your current position?
As a software engineer, I started with the development of a new M7 application designed for commodity trading in Europe. From the beginning, this company was close to my heart not only for its business focus, but also for its friendly atmosphere, so distant from the one common in large corporations. After the development of this application was successfully completed, I was recommended by my supervisor for a position of a leader for a newly emerging team. Thanks to a rapid growth and because the development was going well, I started managing a team of 50 people within a year and a half. It had been quite a challenge for me, but I soon discovered that I really enjoyed working with people.
So, what is your role as Head of Section?
First and foremost, I am responsible for a team as the employees are those, who create the value of the company. We try to make sure they are constantly developing and learning new things, which, thanks to various projects, is going really well. Everyone can just find his own thing. For instance, we are now developing a new cloud-based data management platform. Overall, I have been overseeing the innovations of our applications and solutions protecting them from cyber-attacks. Our company employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. Its second largest branch is located in Prague, where we are growing further. That’s why our main priority in these days is communication with universities. Personally, I am looking forward to working with CTU in particular.
What does your team look like and how do you cooperate within the team?
My team consists of 50 employees across Prague, Frankfurt and Luxembourg. We have 49 nationalities in Prague location itself, which makes us unique. Some of our team members have been with us since the very beginning, for almost 15 years. We also cooperate with students and fresh graduates. Positions such as Software Engineer, Functional Analyst, Data Architect, DevOps Engineer, Test Automation Engineer, Scrum Master, and Project Manager can be found here.
A few months ago, the company introduced a hybrid working model that allows everyone to work from home on two days per week. As a team, we meet once a week in the office, otherwise everyone structures their work week as it suits them.
What technologies do you work with?
For our new data platform, we have been using Microsoft Azure Cloud Native architecture – we are working with technologies like Azure Databricks, Azure Data Factory, Golang, Python. Data integration is being handled using GraphQL API and Apache Kafka. Another language we use for existing applications is Java.
We have a very interesting data model – we manage more than 8,500 attributes. Our applications can process about 140 million data changes a day. We receive data from 60 different sources and send it to 100 other applications within the company.
What have you found in Deutsche Börse that competitors cannot offer?
The most important thing is people and company culture. I’ve been through a few companies, but what we have here, it is a great atmosphere and friendly climate. We are not afraid of innovation; we have strong management providing employees with opportunities and responsibility. We have got applications covering all phases of trading, which can’t be found elsewhere in the Czech Republic. In these difficult times, the combination of flexibility and stability is important to many, and that one is unrivalled here.
Deutsche Börse Group
- It is an international exchange organisation and market infrastructure provider.
- With its wide range of products, services and technologies, the Group organises safe and efficient markets for sustainable economies.
- The company’s second largest office with nearly 1,100 employees is located in Prague.
- Deutsche Börse’s location in Prague is, among other things, responsible for a development of IT systems and applications and serves as a support for other offices across the organization.