Women Leaders at ImmoScout24: Tracy Roesler, Engineering Manager

What’s your position at the company and how would you explain what you do to your grandparents?

Tracy: I’m an Engineering Manager of Data Platform here at Scout24. I’m new in the role, so with regards to explaining it to my grandparents – my goal is to help my team deliver better. I want to free them up so they can focus on engineering; and what they engineer is a way for the company to make sure we can store all our data not only in the same place, but also in the same format. We also help others analyse that data to help the business make the best decisions.

What has been your biggest achievement at ImmoScout24 so far?

Tracy: I’m pretty proud of the work I did building up a culture of considering cloud cost at Scout24 in my former role as Technical Programme Manager. This wasn’t something that really existed before but now we have a strategy, a high-level timeline, and a commitment from a lot of people to be more considerate about trends in cloud spend.

What is the greatest risk you have taken?

Tracy: I don’t know if we’re talking about in my whole life, or my career at Scout24, but I think moving to Germany, where I don’t know the language, was a pretty big risk. My partner and I didn’t know anybody here, and we moved because we got jobs and had an out-sized sense of adventure. But I think it’s worked out well for both of us. Another big risk -- A long time ago I worked for a company that was doing something unethical and I spoke out against it and ultimately ended up leaving the company. At the time, that risk felt huge because I was relatively fresh out of college and I didn’t have another job lined up.

What energises you about your work?

Tracy: Right now everything is new so it’s all energising, and a bit scary. But I love being able to organise or develop systems that help make things easier for others.

What is your leadership style?

Tracy: Adaptable, I think, though I’m deep in the discovery phase here. I spent a lot of time trying to get people to do things without any explicit authority, so I’ve found that transparency and communication are really essential to any relationship. And every person is different, so what works for one person may not be the best approach for another. A lot of times I think collaboration works; sometimes you want to coach, other times you just have to make a decision. I think anybody that says they’re just one kind of leader probably isn’t going to keep their team long.

Is there any advice you would want to give to other women?

Tracy: I don’t know that I have anything particularly pithy to say that women haven’t heard from a thousand other places. I think it’s important that everybody advocates for themself, and to never give up on that advocacy. It’s difficult and uncomfortable, and sometimes it means leaving a bad situation, but in the end it’s so very important for your mental health; both at work and outside of work. It’s important to internalise that you are valuable, and what you do is valuable. But that’s a difficult thing to do, and I’m still working on it, so don’t get discouraged.