Q&A Series
Introduction
Curious about what it is like to work at Seurat? Then you will enjoy our interview with recent hire, Pedro Padilla, where he reveals what he is looking forward to most at Seurat, what the interview process was like, and shares tips for people interested in joining Seurat.
Q: What originally excited you most about this role?
A: I have been tracking the additive manufacturing (AM) space for quite some time. I have worked in various industries such as CPG, Automotive, and Digital Printing and when I was contacted by Seurat I was intrigued by the technology and its differentiators from traditional AM companies. I got an opportunity to speak with the team and the more I learned about the company and the business model the more interested I became in the role.
Q: What's your family like and what considerations did you have moving to the United States?
A: I have two boys 14 and 12. My eldest is going to start high school next year, which is the key reason why we wanted to get back to the States. My kids are soccer fans, so I’m going to have to teach them American football. They're sports fans overall so they'll definitely be looking forward to rooting for the Patriots and watching some basketball and baseball games. We like the Northeast and we like skiing a lot, so being near the mountains is going to be a lot of fun.
Q: What was the interview process like?
A: The interview process of Seurat was quite thorough. I started by meeting with several different members of the executive team on video calls and then had the opportunity to come on-site to visit the facility and R&D center to get a first-row seat to view the technology.
The process really showcased the depth and the knowledge that every member of the team had in their field of expertise. James (Seurat's CEO) in particular took extra time to educate me and bring me up to speed on not only the company but also why Seurat is quite different from what other companies are doing in the AM space.
Q: What were the key things that made you decide to accept the offer?
A: Meeting the team was a great step in understanding the company culture. The technology is incredible and the potential the company has to really disrupt the traditional manufacturing industry is quite powerful. You add all those things together and it just presents a perfect recipe for what I was looking for in the next stop in my career.
Q: Tell us about your first few days. What was it like to start at Seurat?
A: I'm coming from another industry, so my learning curve is quite steep. The team organized a very detailed onboarding schedule where I had the opportunity to go very deep in meetings with each of the technology leads to understand their part of the equation. Seurat is a small, growing company so time is very valuable, but everyone on the team was exceptional about lending me their time to take me through their area of responsibility.
Q: How would you describe the culture at Seurat?
A: The culture is quite dynamic. The environment is very transparent, and the team is super collaborative. Everyone is there to help each other out with a high level of ownership and accountability. It is a great integrated culture that is very diverse which is a big plus for me. Definitely a very positive work environment.
Q: In the short term, what are you most excited about?
A: Personally, it is moving back to the United States. After being away for five years in a role in Europe, coming back home is something that I'm looking forward to. Professionally, what I'm most excited about in the short term for Seurat is us being able to ramp our facilities to get our first machines out and prove that the technology is able to do what we know it's capable of doing. We have a couple of machines already running, and seeing that ramp and that scale is going to be quite interesting to prove to the world that this technology is really going to be transformative.
Q: In the long term, what are you most excited about?
A: In the long term, what I am most excited about is how we grow this into multiple facilities that are going to be able to support our roadmap. As we look at a contract manufacturing model, we are going to be touching and impacting several different industries not only by being able to shorten the supply chain by getting next to where the use points are going to be but also the positive impact that we're going to have on the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
We are planning on ramping up this facility and multiple facilities over the next five years. So, it is going to be a steep hill to climb, but when we get there the impact that we are going to make is going to be noticeable and disruptive to the overall manufacturing industry.
Q: Any advice for people who are interested in interviewing at Seurat?
A: My advice for anybody interested is to go online, see what positions are open, and apply. You don't have to be from a traditional additive manufacturing background, I'm not from one, so it's definitely possible to learn the technology. We're looking for great individuals and for great talent to help us change the world.
We hope this interview helped you learn more about Pedro and Seurat. We are always looking for great people (with and without previous additive manufacturing experience) to join our team. To see our latest career opportunities, please click here: https://www.seurat.com/life-at-seurat