iF DESIGN ACADEMY Alumni Spotlight: Andra Cimpan of Deel

In her current role, Andra leads a team supporting payroll products. "In very simple terms, we ensure people all around the world get paid correctly and on time while navigating the legal compliance complexities that come with operating globally."

Before joining Deel in 2023, Andra had worked as a designer in startups and large enterprises in the telecommunications and cybersecurity industries, among others.

"What's been consistent throughout my career is my interest in complex systems and figuring out how to make them work better for people. This probably comes from my computer science background and technical ways of thinking."

When Andra joined as a senior designer through an acquisition, the company was just starting to build a new product for the U.S. market. "It was a zero-to-one environment with big challenges, lots of unknowns, and fast timelines. This was lucky because I immediately had the opportunity to contribute meaningfully and prove to myself, as much as to everyone else, that I was a good fit."

She quickly showed that she was more than just "a good fit." When the company introduced individual contributor levels, Andra was promoted to Staff Product Designer and then went on to become one of the first designers promoted into a manager role.

At the time, Deel was in an accelerated growth mode and still building its processes to help people take on new challenges via upward or lateral moves. Andra talked with design leaders within the company and across the industry to figure out how people acquire the knowledge and confidence to become strong leaders. She found that almost none of them had received formal training before stepping into leadership roles. They were learning by doing, often by trial and error.

Andra was able to learn from seasoned Deel leaders who served as sounding boards throughout her initial transition into her new leadership role.

But, even with the support and guidance of senior colleagues, Andra realized that with the accelerated pace of business, learning by doing could be riskier than it had been for previous generations. She turned to iF Design Academy for a structured leadership program specifically made for designers.

"The course gave me a solid foundation to build on and shaped me into a more confident and intentional leader."

Andra was able to apply course tools directly to her ongoing work. "I use the design leadership toolkit to navigate through tons of different situations. It helps me to think more critically about how I can optimize the processes I'm involved in at my company."

Andra had been deeply involved in hiring for the design team at Deel, but hadn't reflected on why the established approach worked or how it could be optimized. She found that the course equipped her to think more critically about her company's hiring processes, consider alternates, and ensure that managers were aligned with best practices.

Andra also started using the toolkit, along with exercises and frameworks, to spark meaningful conversations and better collaborate with her design leadership team.

"We're currently leveraging course materials to better articulate our design organization's identity in a more intentional way, now that Design reports directly to the CEO and not into Product. The toolkit has been invaluable in structuring these conversations and ensuring that we capture our team's mission, values, norms, and the definition of success.”

The toolkit has been invaluable in structuring these conversations and ensuring that we capture our team's mission, values, norms, and the definition of success."

In addition to the toolkit, learning how fellow iF DESIGN ACADEMY classmates navigated challenges provided Andra with fresh perspectives that she's using to further strengthen her team.

With the deeper understanding of strategic design leadership and the cross-industry insights that she's gained through the course, Andra feels better able to anticipate and successfully manage future situations -- especially those situations in which learning-as-you-go can be particularly risky.

"The Designing Organizational Structure module was fantastic because you might get to do that only a few times in your career and there will be major repercussions if you do it wrong. Now, I feel confident in my understanding of organizational structures and the best practices to employ."

The course also highlighted for Andra just how important a leader's image is to the leader's effectiveness and success.

"Especially in companies with big talent pools, it's crucial to cultivate a leadership style that inspires people. What I've learned in this course will enable me to increase my impact beyond my team and inspire others across the organization. I know I'll continue to use all that I've learned as I move forward in my career."