Leading with Innovation: Donald Lika's Journey as Engineering Team Lead at SmartRecruiters
In this interview, Donald Lika, Engineering Team Lead, shares how his team balances innovation, teamwork, and customer impact to create seamless candidate experiences.
Your role & team
Q: Can you describe your current role at SmartRecruiters and the team you work with?
In 2022, I joined SmartRecruiters as a Senior Software Engineer on the Apply Experience team, and now I serve as the Engineering Team Lead. I lead a team of four engineers focused on delivering a seamless and scalable candidate application experience across multiple platforms, primarily through public APIs. We also focus on maintaining and improving the screening question process to further enhance the overall candidate experience.
Q: What do you enjoy most about your role? Can you share three key aspects and why they stand out?
Here are some of the key aspects that make my role enjoyable:
- Shaping the Team’s Strategic Impact: One of the most rewarding aspects of being an Engineering Team Lead is ensuring the team’s work aligns with the company’s broader goals. I enjoy guiding the team to work on projects that not only enhance our product, but also have a long-term, strategic impact on the company’s success.
- Collaborative Problem-Solving: I actively work with engineers to brainstorm and challenge each other technically, always striving for the best possible solutions. Our team culture emphasizes transparency, open communication, and shared responsibility. Whether brainstorming potential solutions or executing plans, we do it together, celebrating wins and learning from setbacks.
- Enhancing Customer Experiences: Leading a team that directly influences customer outcomes is incredibly fulfilling. Working closely with engineers to improve features that make the candidate application process smoother and more efficient, and hearing customer feedback, really reinforces the impact of our work.
Life at SmartRecruiters
Q: What do you appreciate most about working at SmartRecruiters?
- People: What really caught my attention during my interview at SmartRecruiters was the genuine openness and the emphasis on people and culture. After nearly three years here, I can say that everyone genuinely values and respects each other's opinions and perspectives. This culture of listening and collaboration is at the heart of what makes SmartRecruiters successful.
- Remote first company: SmartRecruiters’ flexible work environment is something I truly value. I work remotely from Hamburg, and when I visit my hometown, I can continue working without any issues, which gives me the perfect balance between work and personal life.
Innovation and Project Impact
Q: Can you share a project you've worked on that made a significant impact on our products or services?
- New candidate portal: One of my key projects was leading the backend effort to replace the Old Smartr portal with a simpler candidate portal. We aimed to streamline the process by enabling easy email login without a full profile and adding one-time password (OTP) authentication. This redesign has significantly reduced maintenance costs and enhanced the user experience, with the project already showing notable benefits in production.
- Introducing Conditional Screening Questions: One project that stands out is the introduction of Conditional Screening Questions, driven by customer feedback, to simplify the screening process. We faced architectural and product challenges while aiming for an intuitive interface. It was crucial that our public API consumers could adopt the feature at their own pace without disrupting their workflows. Ultimately, we delivered a solution that enhanced usability and allowed customers to customize their screening processes, making a significant impact on their hiring workflows.
Tips for future candidates
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering joining your team?
- Stay curious. Curiosity drives innovation, and asking questions or exploring new ideas will help you find better solutions to complex problems.
- Challenge assumptions and always seek answers. Don’t be afraid to question the status quo or pursue a deeper understanding; this mindset fosters growth and continuous improvement.
- Be customer-centric. Always keep the customer in mind and think about how your work impacts their experience, as solving their problems is at the heart of everything we do.
Finding joy in solving customer problems and putting yourself in their shoes are two critical aspects of being a successful product engineer. Our team thrives on discovering innovative projects, conducting behavior analysis, and always considering how to make life easier for our users.
Receive articles like this
Receive articles like this
Jobs you might be interested in
Salary
Location
Poland
Location
Poland
Department
Engineering
Description
The Senior Internal IT Specialist ensures the reliability and security of our global technology environment. While primarily focused on providing advanced end-user support, this role also encompasses
Reference
d0d4e9f8-5ea5-41c8-9fb6-afa513fc7cce
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
Poland
Department
Product
Description
As a Senior Product Operations Manager at SmartRecruiters, you will play a key role in building scalable, efficient, and high-impact product operations. Your work will enable Product Managers, Designe
Reference
883c814d-44fb-4bdf-bee6-1b391fb2d937
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
United Kingdom
Department
Product
Description
As a Senior Product Operations Manager at SmartRecruiters, you will play a key role in building scalable, efficient, and high-impact product operations. Your work will enable Product Managers, Designe
Reference
8acc6c27-c086-4008-9954-1b13b59ab912
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
Germany
Department
Engineering
Description
We are looking for a Senior Product Designer, AI Experiences with a strong design foundation and solid experience designing AI-powered products, including conversational, generative, and agent-to-agen
Reference
e2d1793c-ef1d-41c0-9616-d167ac2ae89b
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
France
Department
Engineering
Description
We are looking for a Senior Product Designer, AI Experiences with a strong design foundation and solid experience designing AI-powered products, including conversational, generative, and agent-to-agen
Reference
f0717a5c-8927-4b19-b27b-c3e5186e4519
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
Poland
Department
Engineering
Description
We are looking for a Senior Product Designer, AI Experiences with a strong design foundation and solid experience designing AI-powered products, including conversational, generative, and agent-to-agen
Reference
76ff45cc-0ff5-4bc3-94db-99f4ee245834
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
United Kingdom
Department
Engineering
Description
We are looking for a Senior Product Designer, AI Experiences with a strong design foundation and solid experience designing AI-powered products, including conversational, generative, and agent-to-agen
Reference
70976e1a-257c-4637-a5e7-311e8ab635cc
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United States
Location
USA
Department
Marketing
Description
As the Vice President of Product Marketing (VP, PMM), you will be a key member of the SmartRecruiters Executive Leadership Team (ELT), with primary responsibility for how SmartRecruiters shows up in t
Reference
57b36502-a1d6-4e43-93e3-ecbbced5acea
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United States
Location
USA
Department
Marketing
Description
As the Vice President of Product Marketing (VP, PMM), you will be a key member of the SmartRecruiters Executive Leadership Team (ELT), with primary responsibility for how SmartRecruiters shows up in t
Reference
d8ba88a1-121e-4eb8-a9d0-e098624d8366
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Salary
Location
United Kingdom
Location
United Kingdom
Department
Engineering
Description
R&D AmplifierAs a key support to the R&D leaders, the Chief of Staff will enhance the leaders impact by:Acting as a buffer: Resolving challenges, addressing escalations, and managing sensitive issues
Reference
e12fe809-30c4-462c-a2ec-4f3e636ef021
Expiry Date
01/01/0001
Working at SmartRecruiters
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
01/26/2026
Summary
As part of our Women in Tech series, we spotlight SmartRecruiters teammates who are shaping the future of hiring, so candidates can meet the people behind our mission and see our values in action.
Teaser
Day in the LifeContent Type
BlogPublish date
12/16/2025
Summary
In this edition of our Women in Tech series, we hear from Jordan Jennison, Account Manager - Mid-Market. With nearly three years at the company, Jordan shares her journey into the tech industry, the
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
12/08/2025
Summary
For nearly three years, Mirela Lane (Senior Manager, Onboarding Consulting) has been a vital part of the SmartRecruiters team, bringing a unique perspective that bridges the gap between technical inn
Teaser
Day in the LifeContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/28/2025
Summary
Welcome to our Day in the Life series! In this feature, we sit down with Lucy Dawson, our Growth Marketing Specialist, who shares her unique career journey - including joining SmartRecruiters through
Teaser
Day in the LifeContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/18/2025
Summary
We at SmartRecruiters recently joined the SAP family, a huge milestone that promises exciting growth and new opportunities. Yet, for some of our employees, this isn't their first experience with our
Teaser
Day in the LifeContent Type
BlogPublish date
11/03/2025
Summary
This is another episode in our Women in Tech series, where we spotlight the talented female colleagues driving innovation at SmartRecruiters. Today, we're featuring Maryam Habibi, a Senior Machine Lea
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
10/24/2025
Summary
We're back with another inspiring episode of our "Women in Tech" series! This time, we're spotlighting Viveka Ramakrishnan, Group Product Manager. Having been with SmartRecruiters for almost three yea
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
10/16/2025
Summary
Welcome back to our Women in Tech series, where we highlight the inspiring careers of our female colleagues across SmartRecruiters. Today, we're sitting down with Larissa Jasmin, one of our dedicate
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
10/08/2025
Summary
What does it take to transform a customer support team from reactive problem-solvers into strategic business partners? Our very own Regional Director of Customer Support, Brian Rule, shared his insig
Teaser
Our PeopleContent Type
BlogPublish date
10/06/2025
Summary
Welcome back to our Women in Tech series! This week, we're featuring Edyta Newman, a Senior Managed Services Consultant for Attrax who is nearing her four-year anniversary with the company. Edyta's
SmartRecruiters is hiring!
Start your searchJobs you have shown an interest in