Tech in Motion announced Nadim Rahman, Director of Engineering at Katapult as a

finalist for the Best Tech Manager category in this year’s annual Timmy Awards, which recognizes the top workplaces for tech professionals. Exemplifying great leadership and positive influence, these managers have led their teams and colleagues through unexpected territory and identified what it takes to inspire performance and promote growth in even the most challenging circumstances.

Until Sept. 30, the Dallas community can vote here for the Regional Winner, who progresses to the national Timmy Awards, judged by experts from companies like Netflix and Oracle with winners announced at the Timmys’ virtual ceremony.

The selection criteria for the Best Tech Manager​ is based on the following:

• Promotes career growth ​and inspires innovation ​
• Goes above and beyond to ensure a great team culture​
• Employs a clear and communicated vision to produce a great product ​

Get to know Nadim

Q: Describe your typical day as Director of Engineering. What does your day-to-day work consist of and what special projects do you get to work on that make your role exciting?

A: My typical day involves providing my team technical direction on various projects and working across other departments to maintain progress on current and future strategic initiatives. 

My work is exciting because I get to work with multiple departments and teams on challenging projects that have critical business impact, and participate in the development of long term architecture that helps define technical strategies to scale the business.I also get to work with our Retail partners who offer our products to their customers and help them build custom solutions that impacts their revenue growth. 

Q: How did you get started in the FinTech space? 

A: Katapult (then Zibby) reached out to me for an informal chat about their product. I found the product and the company’s mission intriguing. Not to mention, the opportunity fit my willingness to learn new things and develop my career. . Hence, my journey starts in FinTech!

Q: One of the criteria of the Timmy Awards is the promotion of career growth and inspiring innovation in others. How do you achieve this with your direct reports and teammates and why is it important to you? 

A: It is important to me to not only gauge my team’s motivations and assign projects and goals that align with theirs, but also to solicit their feedback through regular 1:1 meetings. I also like to recommend training courses that will help set them up for success in the next stage of their career. 

Q: What is your favorite thing about working at Katapult? 

A: My favorite thing about Katapult is the team of smart, dedicated people that make up the company.

Q: What are some of your proudest achievements, either at Katapult or personally?

A: I am proud to have impacted merchants revenue goals by engineering successful and smooth integrations. Also, it means a lot to me to take part in enhancing security and implementing new communication platforms for our purchasing customers. 

Q: What advice can you share with others to help them successfully create a great team culture while developing and promoting their team members?   

A: My best advice is one of my favorite quotes from Steve Jobs: “Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.”

The complete list of awards and 2020 Timmy Awards regional finalists can be found here.  On Thursday, Oct. 29, the public can virtually join Finalists, Regional Winners, and the tech community at the celebration, complete with guest speakers and National Timmy Award announcements. For more information, visit the Timmys website.