From Brazil to Ireland and eventually Estonia, Marcel’s career has taken quite a few interesting turns. With a background in civil engineering, hospitality, customer support, and data, he has found his place in Growth Operations at Scoro.
Working behind the scenes, Marcel helps connect teams, improve processes, and make sense of data. It’s a role that combines his analytical mindset with his experience working with people.
We caught up with Marcel to hear about his journey to Estonia, what working in Growth Operations actually looks like, and what he enjoys most about life at Scoro.
1. Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your background?
Hi! I’m Marcel, a Senior GrowthOps Analyst at Scoro. I joined in December 2023 and I’m based in Tallinn. I was born in Brazil, but both my parents are Japanese, so I grew up in a very traditional Asian family in one of the most talkative countries in the world.
2. You’re originally from Brazil and now live in Estonia. What brought you here?
Before Estonia, I was living in Ireland, studying IT and working in a restaurant as a chef and manager. After a few years there, I was ready for something new. A friend from the restaurant had moved to Estonia and kept telling me I should come too. I’m quite adventurous, so I gave it a try. That was eight years ago, and Estonia is where my career in tech really started, first in customer support and later in data.
Growing up in warm Brazil, I honestly believed that if you stayed outside in an Estonian winter for more than a few minutes, you would die. But if you’re well wrapped up, there’s no problem at all.
The day I arrived, everything was covered in snow. A friend and I walked to the supermarket, and it took us a while to realise we were walking in the middle of the road. There were no cars, and with all that snow I couldn’t tell where the pavement ended. Welcome to Estonia.
3. What did you study, and what did your career look like before joining Scoro?
I’m a former civil engineer, specialised in hydraulics and energy. Later, I studied IT in Ireland, and I recently finished my studies in Data Science for Business.
Even with such a technical background, I’ve always been drawn to people. I went from working in a restaurant kitchen to leading a customer support team for four years, and for the past four years I’ve been working in data.
Marcel has gotten used to Estonian winters
4. What made you want to join Scoro, and what stood out to you when you first joined?
Definitely the warm environment. When I joined my previous company, it was still small enough to know most people. Then it grew very fast, and that closeness slowly disappeared. I started to miss the small chats and mini brainstorming sessions in the office kitchen, knowing everybody, and solving problems fast without the bureaucracy. Scoro gave me that back.
5. For someone who isn’t familiar with Growth Operations, how would you describe what you do at Scoro?
In simple terms, we make sure the data and processes between teams work smoothly. Growth Operations sits between marketing, sales, finance and legal, so we’re one of the few teams that see the whole customer journey, from the first lead to the signed contract and beyond. That gives us a good view of the big picture.
I work mostly with marketing and sales. Every month, we prepare the reports for management, but we don’t just share the numbers. We look at what’s behind them, how they connect to each other, and how they compare to previous months. That’s what turns a report into something management can actually use to make decisions.
We also build a lot of workflows and scripts. The workflows keep up with every product change, and the scripts automate processes that used to be done by hand. This makes things faster, keeps the data accurate, and gives our team more time for bigger projects. We also make sure leads reach the right sales rep and help with order forms for custom contracts.
Most of this work goes unnoticed, but it lets other teams focus on what really matters, like sales closing deals and marketing running their campaigns and initiatives.
Growth Operations Team
6. What do you enjoy most about your work?
What I enjoy most is untangling complex logic. I like understanding why something works the way it does, and then finding a way to make it better.
Recently, we reworked our whole lead funnel, from the moment someone starts a trial until they’re assigned to a sales rep. We also started using an AI agent to filter leads for specific cases. I also enjoy the detective work of finding out why something broke and making sure we cover even the weirdest scenarios. In operations, the weird scenario always shows up eventually.
7. What skills or mindsets have helped you most in your role?
Coming from an engineering background helps me a lot. I’m used to mapping a workflow from beginning to end, so I can see where the gaps are and how to improve them.
Working with people for so many years also taught me how to talk to different kinds of people. Whether I’m explaining why a bug happened, how to fix it, or asking non-technical questions so I can understand a problem, I have to adapt my language to the person in front of me. Everyone has their own background and vocabulary. That’s usually where miscommunication starts: you ask one thing, the person answers something else, you think they answered your question, and suddenly it’s a big problem.
8. How would you describe the culture within the Operations team at Scoro?
The Operations team is very efficient, and everybody is willing to help. One moment sums it up for me. We went to a team event where everyone else was Estonian, and I was a bit worried I’d end up standing in a corner. Instead, the Ops team pulled me straight into the activity, and I wasn’t left out for a single second.
That’s when I understood that for this team, it’s not only about work.
Scoro Operations Team
9. Having lived and worked in Estonia for a while now, what has surprised you most about life here?
Even after eight years, I’m still surprised by how private people in Estonia are. In Brazil, everybody is talkative and wants to know everything about you.
The funny part is that Estonia has changed me more than I thought. On a trip back to Brazil, I was standing in line at a pharmacy when the older lady behind me started chatting about the queue, and then about the things in my basket. For a second, I was genuinely shocked. A few years earlier, that would have been a normal day for me.
10. Looking back at your time at Scoro so far, what are some moments that stand out the most?
Two moments stand out. The first was in my first year, when I was asked to give a Google Sheets training. As a new joiner, I wasn’t very confident, but I was happy that people trusted me to run it.
The second was receiving the Unicorn Award in 2025. The nomination described me as a dark horse working behind the scenes, which made me laugh, because that’s exactly how I see my job. So it turns out unicorns are real, and at least one of them really likes Google Sheets. I’d never received anything like it, and being recognised like that meant a lot.
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