About
My name is Emma Dobrescu and I work with engineering leaders and organisations who want to move with more clarity, confidence, and impact. Not by imposing frameworks — but by understanding what's actually happening and helping you design what comes next.
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My approach
I came into engineering leadership through design and front-end development — which means I've always thought about systems and people at the same time. I didn't grow up in a backend codebase; I grew up in the space between what users experience and how teams build it. That perspective shapes everything I do.
Over 10+ years leading engineering organisations at Booking.com, Marktplaats/Adevinta, and high-growth start-ups, I've learned that most organisational problems look like technical or people problems on the surface — but underneath, they're almost always about clarity. Clarity of direction, clarity of ownership, clarity of what good looks like.
"I build engineering organisations where psychological safety, clarity, and experimentation enable reliable, customer-impacting delivery at scale."
I'm framework-agnostic, direct, and genuinely invested in the people I work with. Everything I do is designed to build capability that stays when I leave.
Career history
Credentials
What I believe
Most organisational dysfunction is caused by ambiguity — about priorities, ownership, and what good looks like. Creating clarity is often the highest-leverage thing a leader can do.
Teams that feel safe to speak up, challenge ideas, and admit mistakes learn faster and deliver better. It's built through consistent behaviour, over time, by leaders who model it.
Everything I do is designed to build capability that outlasts my involvement. If you're still calling me for the same reason in two years, I haven't done my job.
Organisations that struggle to ship consistently almost always have a culture problem underneath. Fix the culture, and the delivery follows.
The best engineering organisations treat uncertainty as a given and experimentation as the answer. Fast feedback loops aren't nice-to-haves — they're how you build with confidence.
Work with me
Whether you're looking for coaching, a diagnostic, a facilitated workshop, or something that doesn't fit neatly into a category — the best place to start is a conversation. Tell me what's going on, and we'll figure out together whether and how I can help.
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