Sorin grew up in post-communist Romania, in an industrial city tucked into the Carpathian Mountains. Childhood for him meant snow, mountains, endless hours outdoors and the kind of unsupervised freedom that felt less scary then than it might today. At home, the influences around him balanced one another: “My extremely caring mom, my strict dad AND an extremely funny grandfather,” he recalled. His mother taught him to have a heart, his father instilled a sense of control and responsibility and his grandfather brought levity (sometimes with a streak of dark humor). When silence gets awkward, Sorin admits, he’s often the one to break it with a joke.

As a kid, he dreamed of becoming something quite different than what he does today. “Little Sorin wanted a career in the army and was dreaming to become a military pilot. I was close to getting enrolled but failed to get admitted to the military high school by one point.” That near miss became a hinge. Engineering was in his family, as both his parents were engineers at that time. So, that became his new path forward. He went on to study Industrial Design and after he graduated, moved to Belgium and soon joined a German engineering company where he stayed for nearly twelve years.

It was there that another turning point occurred. “I believe a crucial moment in my professional career was when I met my mentor approximately 3 years into my working career. I believe he saw something that I didn't know existed and he challenged me in a way that I found intriguing and fun. Stepped in a leadership position 1 year later and continued on this path ever since.”

That path eventually led him to Oneflow, where he was drawn in by a single, deceptively simple, interview question: How would you lead people who are smarter than you? It struck him because he had already learned that leadership was not about being the smartest person at the table. The answer, in his view, is equally simple: they should be smarter than you. Leadership, to Sorin, is about curiosity and listening first. It’s about showing different ideas and options and giving space for experts to challenge one another, and him. 

In three years at Oneflow, Sorin has grown from Engineering Manager to VP of Engineering. He’s proud but also mindful. “As you grow, there are fewer guardrails and safety nets for mistakes.” He approaches this reality with a philosophy of balance: openness with decisiveness, empowerment with accountability and the constant reminder that leadership is rarely black and white. “There is a lot of gray in between and you need to navigate this blurry line.”

One of the decisions he is proudest of at Oneflow was taken two years ago. “The decision we took to empower the teams. It resonates with how I see  collaboration in a professional context. I am a firm believer that the two go hand in hand.” Empowerment, for Sorin, isn’t about passing responsibility off to others. It is about pairing freedom with consequence. As he told me, you cannot have empowerment without accountability.

Much of Sorin’s philosophy has been shaped through trial and error. “Listening to first understand and then be understood. I had my share of mistakes which helped me learn and become more comfortable and confident today.” Engineering, he added, is about accuracy and true or false, but leadership deals in human complexity. “In reality you work with humans and we are all cocktails of emotions. If you disregard this aspect you will fail.”

Outside of work, Sorin is no less multidimensional. He describes himself as a full-time parent, mornings, evenings and weekends. Free time, when it comes, is filled with snowboarding (snow in general), fishing, swimming or tinkering with his 3D printer. “I gifted myself a 3D printer last Christmas and have been using it intensively ever since, I guess it helps my brain relax in a different way.”

Gaming, too, remains a thread from his teenage years. Once a dedicated Counter-Strike player, he now uses gaming as a way to keep in touch with old friends. On Fridays, you’ll find him on Call of Duty, connecting with former classmates across Europe, or with neighbors over board games after the kids are in bed. Of course, not too late though as there is always an early alarm that comes in the form of his little munchkins.

When asked what advice he would give to someone applying to Oneflow, Sorin’s answer echoed the lessons he has carried through his own life: “Dare to make mistakes, own them, and move forward.” More than anything, though, he insists on authenticity. “Better to join a discussion and be yourself. Keep your vision, ambitions, don’t try and mold yourself to a need. What I like to see is that somebody knows what they want in life, where they need to develop and where they are strong. Don’t try to paint a perfect picture. Be yourself.”

For Sorin, whether on a snowboard, behind a screen, or in the middle of a leadership challenge, the through-line is clear: keep your balance, learn from the falls, and stay true to who you are.