Nordstrom: The Engineer Who Opens Tech’s Doors to Women and Nonbinary Developers

Our Partner Spotlights highlight the innovative ways our Partner companies are advocating for change and equity in the tech field. Learn about Cynthia Tee, a Senior Director of Engineering at Nordstrom, why she loves her current job, and why she is a strong advocate for diversity in tech.

As a Senior Director of Engineering at Nordstrom, Cynthia Tee has a lot on her plate. Luckily, it’s work she’s passionate about. “I’m excited about the technology my teams build – checkout, payments, gift cards, order management – because of the huge impact they have on our bottom line and customer experience,” she said. “I want these to become JWN enterprise solutions serving customers across our four boxes.”

Cynthia’s decision to come to Nordstrom was greatly impacted by the people she met during her interview process. “They were supportive and clearly lived the company’s values,” she said, “I chose to come here because I felt like I could be my authentic self.” Since then, she’s only become more confident in the decision. “My role has so much potential for impact. It combines my love for fashion and engineering and allowed me to pursue my activism for diversity and inclusion — it checks all the boxes.”

On June 11, Crosscut published an in-depth interview with Cynthia spanning her impressive career path, her upbringing in the Philippines, and her commitment to promoting and encouraging women in tech.

Read an excerpt from article below, and check out the full Crosscut piece here.

I’m a senior director of engineering at Nordstrom. I run the commerce services that power our nordstrom.com and our Nordstrom mobile app. And I love the company because I feel like it’s really very committed to the full notion of diversity, inclusion, and belonging. I love that I get to partner and work with diversity leaders and advocates in Nordstrom that go beyond the tech organization.

I always feel like when women do this work, you get branded as the diversity champion. I struggle with this, and a lot of women in leadership positions struggle with this, because we wonder, “Are you going to look at me as a diversity leader or an engineering leader?” But I’m both.