Mums in Tech ft. Rachael Pink

As part of the ‘Mums in Tech’ series, MotherBoard caught up with Rachael Pink, Engineering Director at AB Dynamics.

The purpose of our ‘MotherBoard’ content series is to highlight incredible working mums within tech, as well as individuals and businesses that are supportive and progressive within their approach to creating more inclusive tech teams for women.

Firstly, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your current role?

Hi, I am Rachael, and I am the Engineering Director for AB Dynamics. I lead a team of over 60 engineers across software, electronics, systems and mechanical engineering. My team develops driverless vehicle solutions for automotive testing, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) test platforms, and vehicle dynamics rigs. We work closely with companies across the automotive sector to deliver solutions to their testing challenges.

It’s a small Engineering team and we work end to end, both innovating and developing brand new products but also supporting our UK based manufacturing operations and working closely with our customers. So, every day is a balancing act of competing priorities, but I am very fortunate to have an exceptionally talented team to help me deliver.

If you could sum up what it’s like being a working mum in tech in one sentence, what would it be?

Being a working mum in tech is a privilege; I get to help shape a small part of the future my children will grow up in, even if balancing it all can be quite a juggling act.

How do you find the balance between your career and motherhood?

The day-to-day balance is a team effort between my husband and myself, with a carefully orchestrated calendar of who is doing pick-up, or taking the children to after school club or cooking dinner. We sit down every Sunday evening to plan out the week.

But more broadly the balance is ensuring that I carve out some time in the week to spend with my children, with no distractions; so whether that’s spending time with my daughter as I coach her U10’s football team, going to the gym on a Sunday morning with my son or playing a board game on a Saturday night we ensure we spend dedicated time together.

We even managed an amazing 4-week family holiday to Australia this summer. Making memories of precious family time together.

What has been your greatest challenge as a working mother in tech?

The biggest challenge I’ve faced has been being perceived in the same way as my male colleagues who also have children. I’ve been told I probably got a role to meet a diversity target, asked whether I’m truly committed to my job because I might need to do the school pick-up, and even questioned about whether my husband minds me working so much!

These moments remind me that being a working mother still shapes how others perceive me.

What skills have you developed as a mother that have helped your work life?

Negotiation. Whether its negotiating with my children about what to have for dinner that they like but is healthy, or negotiating who gets to pick the movie for family movie night. I get a lot of practice doing it at home and take this into my work.

When you were returning to work, what one thing helped you / would have helped you the most?

When I returned to work after having my first child, I was fortunate to have an incredibly supportive manager who genuinely believed in me. He never questioned my commitment, in fact, the day before I went on maternity leave, he announced my promotion (with maternity cover in place). When I returned, he also supported my request to move to a four-day week.

His belief that I could be both a mother and a capable, ambitious professional, at a time when many had written me off the moment, they knew I was pregnant, remains one of the most supportive things anyone has ever done for me.

What do you feel should be the top priority for employers who want to support working mothers better?

There are loads of things that employers can do to support working mothers better, but I think the most important thing is to speak to the employee and find out what they need. We all have different circumstances and there isn’t a one size fits all approach.

Any final words of advice for other mothers in the Tech Industry?

If you can find a support network of other working mums in Tech. Largely throughout my 20-year career (12 of which have been as a mum) I have had very few negative experiences; but when I have, having a group of women in a similar boat to discuss them with has been really helpful, and made me feel a lot less alone.