Fourteen years at Adobe and an Emmy Award: Ovidiu Eftimie’s inspiring career
Fourteen years ago, Ovidiu Eftimie’s career was heading in a different direction. After working at a startup and then 8 years in a French/Romanian company, he was looking to move out of out of the country to look for new opportunities. But then Adobe called. “Adobe was just beginning in Romania and I got an interview. I immediately loved the people and the entrepreneurial spirit I found here. I decided to join the team and after a couple of months, I was amazed—I had found a place where we could work on cool ideas, new technologies, and so many amazing people. Hence, I delayed my decision to leave the country—and this delay is now 14 years old.”
Today, Ovidiu is a Director of Engineering and leads the Adobe Analytics and Adobe Primetime teams in Romania. When asked what he’s most proud of after 14 years at Adobe Romania, he mentions his Emmy Award, and his innovative colleagues. Learn more about his incredible career and accomplishments, and how people are the key ingredients in his recipe for leading high-performing teams.
Lifting his team up and being supported himself
When Ovidiu describes his current role as the Director of Engineering, he says it’s all about being a “rock lifter.” He adds, “I’m often faced with different types of ‘rocks’ I need to clear out of my teams’ paths. Some of these ‘rocks’ represent technology, processes, practices, or people challenges.” And while all this rock lifting sounds tiring, his emphasis on supporting his team is exactly what makes Adobe a great place to work for him. “That’s what’s kept me here for 14 years—the people. I have colleagues from all over the world and together we’ve built great teams, learned together, supported each other, and discovered the best way to solve challenges.”
Not only that, as Ovidiu’s career has taken off over the years, he mentions the variety of learning opportunities that have made his job exciting. This includes working on the latest technologies, being exposed to a diversity of projects, moving internally to different teams, and learning from some of the greatest minds in the world. “You have an entire spectrum of opportunities here at Adobe—it’s up to you to leverage them” he says.
Far reaching impact
Although he already has countless achievements under his belt, Ovidiu is always ready for new projects. And it’s all because of the impact he can make. “Adobe is a special place because many teams have the power to influence how an entire market segment moves, or you can work on projects that influence how millions of users are experiencing an Adobe solution.” Take the accomplishment he’s most proud of for example: The Emmy-award winning Adobe Primetime authentication project, which was a universal, user-friendly system for unlocking pay-TV content on any device. “I would probably mention the Adobe Primetime Authentication project as something I’m most proud of. This product helped define an entire market segment and won an Engineering Emmy Award Plaque in 2012.”
And behind the innovation is always the people, which is why hiring the best talent is always top of mind for Ovidiu’s team. When asked what his recipe is for hiring the right candidate, he says, “Passion coupled with the right attitude towards learning. We’re always looking for great skills in a certain area, but in this industry, technology is always changing, so your ability and desire to learn is much more important than excelling in a certain technical topic.”