“The Co-op program was the major reason I went to Concordia. Right from the start, I was writing code and acting as a software developer.”
Developer, manager, team leader, director and vice-president of engineering — Dominique Simoneau-Ritchie’s striking career trajectory included serving in diverse roles at companies such as Lockheed Martin Canada, IBM, BlackBerry QNX, Shopify, and Lever.
Simoneau-Ritchie is currently on the executive team as vice-president of engineering at Wealthsimple, a Toronto-based fintech (financial technology) giant with financial and investment services. She has always aspired to maintain a big-picture perspective. “We build products for real people. How does our work help our clients?”
Proudest moment
“The day the Blackberry 10 went live was incredible; at Lever, I built a team comprised of 40 per cent women and non-binary people.”
Pandemic reset
“A core part of my job is team-building and helping people thrive. People were really affected by the pandemic and still are. I reset the rules, for example, giving the parents permission to not be online all the time and to set their own hours.”
The Concordia factor
“The Co-op program was the major reason I went to Concordia. Right from the start, I was writing code and acting as a software developer. My last co-op term was with IBM, on a prestigious program called Extreme Blue. I wouldn’t have had that opportunity without all the other development experience before that.”
Inspiring Concordia professor
“Concordia had such an amazing software engineering practice because of Patrice Chalin, who developed the content for the first software engineering classes. He had a big impact on who I am as a leader.”
Career advice
“Don’t worry too much about where you’re going. Follow what makes you happy and you’ll be doing things you love.”
Words of wisdom
“You own your career: What are your passions? What do you want to learn? What’s the right next step? Practice having conversations with people you trust.”
Giving back
“I donate to FoodShare, which supports community-based food initiatives with ongoing advocacy and public-education projects and I mentor engineering managers.”
Outside of work
“Avid gardener, nutrition-conscious cook and whole grain expert.”