Elena Polubochko, CTO of Godel has been shortlisted in the Hero of The Year (SME) category at the Computing Women in IT Excellence Awards 2017. She joins eight other industry peers within the category.

The award will go to the woman who has demonstrated excellence in her support of others, or in going beyond the call of duty to achieve a business goal – which may include championing a person or idea, rescuing a failing project or going the extra mile to help others.

Elena has direct responsibility for every project manager, project coordinator and SCRUM master in Godel’s 400-strong development teams.

“It’s great when things go well, but when something needs my attention it’s challenging. My team know they can come to me for help – escalating problems is not a sign of weakness or incompetence, on the contrary, proactively highlighting a problem is a sign of maturity. I have created that environment amongst my teams,” explains Elena.

“Every team member is empowered to change things and I am always fair – there is no blame and we share any lessons we’ve learned along the way which can lead to process changes for the better.

“I’m really excited to be shortlisted for Hero of the Year (SME) and look forward to the awards in November.”

Tech journalist Holly Brockwell will lead the judging panel. She is best known for founding the female-written, female-focused tech site Gadgette and is no stranger to awards herself, most notably winning The Drum’s award for Woman of the Year in 2015. She is a big advocate for both technology and women, and well placed to lead the panel as they choose the leading lights of the industry.

The awards ceremony takes place on November 1, 2017 at the Montcalm Hotel, London.