Size Matters: Our Ever-Growing Meister Team

This post was updated on June 29, 2023.

We’re growing! If two is company and three is a crowd, then 70 is… a lot. With our offices in Vienna and Seattle continuing to expand at pace, it’s time once more to introduce a star-studded lineup of new members to the Meister team. 

Hiring, however, is more than just a numbers game. Each new employee brings a range of unique strengths and experiences to the table on our journey toward a creative and collaborative future. Think you might fit in? Excellent! Click here to find the perfect position at Meister. 

Nikola Domazet: Product Manager

My background

Although I am originally from Serbia, I studied economics and philosophy in Boston, USA. Back in Europe, my background in marketing and project management helped me nurture a career as a brand marketing manager in Ferrero, Luxembourg, and later to found my own content agency. I added valuable growth and marketing experience to my portfolio in my last position, senior growth marketing manager for I5growth, a role in which I helped SaaS startups grow at speed. That leads me nicely to Meister.

My role at Meister

I’ve joined the MindMeister team as a product manager, which for me has two key facets: helping to improve this already-great tool while leveraging my experience as a SaaS consultant to support user onboarding. I will also collaborate with the marketing team to uncover new growth opportunities.

About me

I like to travel and do sports. Usually at the same time. Although I was once really into competitive martial arts, nowadays I prefer hiking, scuba diving, and climbing. Maybe that’s because I started meditating too…

Alejandro Llana Ben: Junior Data Analyst

My background

I grew up in a city close to Madrid, Spain. After studying Economics (with an Erasmus year in Stuttgart) I moved to Berlin in 2018 to do an internship, finish my thesis, and to learn some German. In Berlin, I worked as a financial operations analyst for Funding Circle, a UK-based fin-tech firm. Recently, I graduated from a data science boot camp, which really sparked my passion for data.

My Role at Meister

As a junior data analyst, my main role is to deal with data. I do really enjoy it, so whether it’s making new reports or improving old ones, I’m your man. I’ll also be helping turn bright ideas into reality by finding and presenting data that supports my colleagues with their work.

About me

I played basketball from a young age, reaching a reasonably high level in Spain and playing tournaments in France and Germany. I also have a coaching certificate, which is great because I love training kids. Apart from basketball, I’m passionate about motorbikes: I ride mine wherever I go, so I’m really looking forward to discovering Austria on two wheels. 

Caleb Dorfman: Customer Success Agent

My background 

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and received my BA in journalism and photography at Ohio Wesleyan University. After graduation, I took off to explore South America, traveling through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. It turned out to be a great decision: while I was working at a boutique hotel in the Sacred Valley of Peru, I met my wife, who was also working there. Professionally, my interest for customer success grew while I was working for Pana, a corporate travel agency based in the US, where I worked as a travel experience agent prior to joining the team at Meister.

My role at Meister

I’m really looking forward to getting started in Seattle! As a customer success agent, my main role is to help users make the most of our incredible products. As part of the role, I provide assistance and resources to make sure that the awesome work of the Meister team is utilized to its full potential.

About me

Outside of the office, you can often find me photographing or appreciating art, hiking, biking, and eating delicious food. 

David Hochegger: Sales Specialist

My background

I was born and raised in Carinthia, Austria, but after finishing high school and my civil service in 2016, I moved to Vienna to study business administration and e-business management. I worked all the way through my studies, gaining my first management experience in the clothing industry. After two years as an assistant department manager, I was promoted to the company headquarters to work as a merchandise controller. In this position, I was responsible for allocating merchandise across the company’s stores and for supplier relations.

My role at Meister

In my new role in sales, I sell Meister products directly to our customers. To make their purchasing decisions even easier, I provide product demos, help to explain features and functions in detail, and provide all the details a company interested in our products would need.

About me

I love food, both eating it and cooking my own. Besides that, I have a huge passion for sneakers. Football has always played a big part in my life: I played myself for about 11 years, but nowadays I’m much better at watching on TV. That said, a little game with my friends in the summer is still great fun!

Andreas Baumühlner: Accountant

My background

I was born and raised in Tulln, about half an hour outside Vienna. After high school, I started my working life as an accountant at Deloitte, one of the biggest tax consulting companies in the world. After three years, I moved to AGRANA, a stock-listed group in the food industry, as a senior accountant. There, I worked on all kinds of financial topics, in addition to SAP FI-related topics and projects. Alongside my work, I achieved a senior accountant’s diploma and a master’s degree in accounting from FHWien.

My role at Meister

As the company’s first in-house accountant, my main objective will be to keep accounting and bookkeeping running smoothly. This will involve the implementation of an ERP System, as well as a reevaluation of our existing finance processes. In the long run, we want to be able to pass external financial audits and to push the digitization and automation of finance at Meister.

About me

I played semi-professional football for several years, but I had to give it up two years ago through injury. This prompted me to find some new hobbies, of which my current favorite is bouldering. Besides that, I’m really into video games, traveling, and hanging out with friends.

Ahmed Farrag: iOS Developer

My background

I grew up and studied in Dubai, achieving a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but I moved “back home” to Cairo, Egypt, to continue my studies after graduating. As a lifelong Apple fanboy, it was a great honor to become a professional iOS developer: I still find the company’s hardware and software products absolutely amazing. I moved to Vienna back in November 2018, but I’m still loving life here and eager to discover more about this beautiful city.

My role at Meister

As an iOS developer, I develop all MeisterTask applications that run on Apple devices: iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS. My favorite aspect of the job is being able to automate things that can save time and make people’s lives easier.

About me

I love traveling, exploring new places, discovering new cultures, eating local foods, meeting new people, and making new friends. On top of that, I cycle, run, and read.

Chloe Fons: Backend Developer

My background

I’ve always been interested in computers: I built my first one with my dad when I was 15! However, I have many other passions, especially mathematics and the environment. Motivated to save the planet, I graduated from university in 2012 with a master’s degree in environmental economics and in 2013 with another master’s in environmental management. After this, I went to work with a start-up in the environmental sector, which was where I started to code, use databases, and familiarize myself with FileMaker, an application development tool. I became a FileMaker developer in 2015, but more recently I’ve been working part-time while studying for a remote degree in business informatics. I finished that one in February.

My role at Meister

I’ll be working with the MindMeister team as a backend developer. At first I will help the team with smaller tasks while learning Ruby on Rails, but I’m looking forward to some bigger tasks soon. I relish a good challenge!

About me

I love immersing myself in fictional worlds; in games, films, or books. I love to play or watch all kinds of narrative-driven games, especially RPGs. I’m not entirely lazy though, with yoga, running, and hiking through vineyards among my hobbies. The latter is a perfect excuse for a glass or two…

Thomas George: Senior Content Writer

My background

I was born and raised in the Medway Towns, a little southeast of London, but I left aged 18 to explore and turn my interest in writing into a career. In the intervening decade, I have worked as a Technical Editor, Copy Editor, and Content Writer across Europe: in Berlin and Düsseldorf in Germany, Kharkiv in Ukraine, and eventually in Graz, Austria, with a brief interlude as an entertainer at a holiday resort (don’t ask) in Turkey in between.

My role at Meister

As a senior content writer, I write things. You’ll probably encounter my words in and around the company’s online presence, from the blog, to the landing pages, and a fair few other stops in between. The role requires creativity and precision in equal measure, so if you see me looking blankly into space, I’m either searching for pure inspiration or trying to decide where my commas should go. Or both.

About me

I spend a lot of my free time in coffee houses and restaurants on my creative writing projects, mainly because I like to use strangers as inspiration for my stories. I also wrote a children’s book last year, A Very Special Flamingo, which is currently being illustrated.

Fabian Schnider: Frontend Developer

My Background

I studied information and computer engineering at the Technical University of Graz, my hometown. Although I worked for a few years at AVL in Graz and Seoul, my passion for software engineering means that I’ve spent most of my free time creating projects to learn new techniques and skills as well.

I’ve always loved using MeisterTask for projects, and it was one day that I thought to myself: “I wonder if they are looking for a developer?” As luck would have it, they were, which is how I became part of the Meister team.

My role at Meister

I am a frontend developer for MeisterTask. Although there are a lot of things that I enjoy about my work, the best is the opportunity to contribute to a product that I believe in and regularly use.

About me

I love learning new things, so I regularly try new hobbies. Some of my favorite pastimes are cooking or building small Arduino projects. For example, I recently made an Alexa-connected AC remote. On a quieter night, a good movie and some homemade popcorn suit me fine.

Jeffrey Kassa: Account Executive

My background

I grew up near a golf course in Seattle and, aged 12 and against my parents’ wishes, started a business selling golf balls. There were loads of lost balls in the bushes, so I would crawl in, find them, wash them, then sit on the course presenting passing golfers with an egg carton and a price. I even made some business cards and had people calling at all times of day to come and buy balls at our house. By the end of the summer I’d made $8000. At 12, that felt like being a millionaire!

My professional background is something of a mixed bag: I’ve done a little project management, owned a couple of small businesses (including some in Thailand), and worked in sales positions. I’m passionate about understanding leadership, communications, human behavior, and the philosophy around these topics. 

My role at Meister

I’ll be working with Oliver’s team in the Seattle office, helping to grow revenue for MeisterTask. 

About Me

In my spare time, I enjoy playing basketball and training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The rest of the time I spend hiking or in the park with my two dogs. I spent three months in Germany while living abroad and really enjoyed it, so I’m really looking forward to my first visit to the HQ in Austria.

Bogdan Iordache: Junior QA Engineer

My Background

I come from a relatively small town in Romania, which is called Calarasi. After graduating from high school, I continued my education in my country’s capital, Bucharest, where I studied psychology. I’ve worked in QA since 2014, gaining my first project experience on the EA Sports game for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Since then, I’ve moved from game testing to software testing, even trying my hand at QA automation.

My role at Meister

As a junior QA engineer, I’m a soldier battling bugs on all fronts, whether that’s on our web platform, Android, or iOS. It’s an important job: QA helps us to ensure that the quality of our products meets customer expectations.

About me

When I’m not working, there are a few hobbies that I like to get involved in, especially aquascaping and aquariums, gaming, drone-filming, and ping-pong. I love travelling the world and exploring new places, making new friends and, if the situation allows, having a couple of beers with them.

A new beginning

Your career could be about to change. By applying for a position at Meister, you take your first steps on the road to joining a vibrant team on the cutting edge of collaborative and creative technology. Think you’re up to the task? Click here to see all our current openings and apply today!