Mums in Tech ft. Karoline Lende
As part of our ‘Mums in Tech’ series, we caught up with Karoline Lende, Senior Software Engineer at Multiverse.
The purpose of our 'MotherBoard’ content series is to highlight incredible working mums within tech, as well as individuals and businesses that are supportive and progressive within their approach to creating more inclusive tech teams for women.
Firstly, can you please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your current role?
I’m currently a Senior Software Engineer at Multiverse, an upskilling platform for AI and tech adoption. I have a background in Civil Engineering, but decided to change my career path after gaining exposure to product and software development during my time at the engineering consultancy Arup. For the past 4 years I’ve been at Multiverse, contributing to and leading the development of a range of new features, from interview scheduling and candidate assessment to diagnosis of customer skill gaps. I love the logical approach to problem solving that comes with software engineering, where the quick feedback loop allows you to focus on best outcomes for the user.
I’m originally from Norway but have spent the last 13 years in the UK. I have two daughters, a 2-year-old and a 3-month-old. I have really enjoyed the new perspectives and fresh challenges I’ve experienced so far in motherhood.
If you could sum up what it’s like being a working mum in tech in one sentence, what would it be?
Challenging, as you try to regain your work-life balance, but so rewarding to be exposed to the intellectual challenges and opportunities for growth offered by these two very different roles.
How do you find the balance between your career and motherhood?
I am lucky that my employer is open to flexible working arrangements, which means I can get my work done whilst still being able to do the nursery run and bath time. I enjoy how my career and motherhood challenge me in different ways and how each can provide valuable experiences and learnings to be applied in the other. For example, I can use my love for problem solving to help build my daughters’ analytical brains, by encouraging them to solve their own problems and providing them with the tools to do so effectively. On the other hand, motherhood has taught me to be more efficient and prioritise better, which are invaluable skills to apply at work.
What has been your greatest challenge as a working mother in tech?
Returning from mat leave after 7 months with my first daughter was a big adjustment. I found it challenging coping with the guilt of not spending enough time with my daughter whilst also trying to catch up on all the changes that had happened at work while I was away. I returned to find we had pivoted to a completely new tech stack that I had no prior experience in, and I felt pretty out of my depth. Thankfully I had very supportive colleagues who helped me ease back in, and slowly I started to regain a sense of achievement in my work. I was also able to secure a part-time arrangement which meant I worked 4 days a week for the first few months after my return. It was incredibly valuable having that extra day a week for some quality mother/daughter time.
“I found it challenging coping with the guilt of not spending enough time with my daughter whilst also trying to catch up on all the changes that had happened at work while I was away.”
What skills have you developed as a mother that have helped your work life?
Patience and perspective. Firstly, the amount of patience you need as a parent of a toddler is unlike anything else I’ve experienced. Secondly, once you are responsible for a small human being, you realise that the problems that crop up at work aren’t about life and death, and most of the time nothing is so urgent that it can’t wait until tomorrow.
When you were returning to work, what one thing helped you / would have helped you the most?
As mentioned, what really helped me was having the opportunity to go part-time and gradually ramp up, as well as supportive and understanding colleagues who were aware that the return from maternity leave can be challenging. I was also lucky enough that my employer offers the workplace nursery benefit which really helps with childcare costs.
What do you feel should be the top priority for employers who want to support working mothers better?
Better paternity leave! I find it appalling that in 2026 in the UK, paternity leave is only two weeks for so many fathers. If we want to support mothers returning to the workplace and balancing work and parenting, we need to normalise fathers taking sole responsibility of looking after their children for a period of time. The difference in maternity and paternity leave policies leads to the mother often becoming and remaining the default caregiver, even long after she has returned to work, and it deprives fathers of that special bonding period with their child.
Any final words of advice for other mothers in the Tech Industry?
Returning to work after becoming a mother can be really challenging, especially in the tech industry where change is constant. Returning to a company where goals, priorities and team members have changed is tough, but trust that you come back even more competent than when you left, with so many new and invaluable skills under your belt. Looking after a newborn and seeing them thrive into toddlerhood is an amazing achievement!
“Returning to a company where goals, priorities and team members have changed is tough, but trust that you come back even more competent than when you left, with so many new and invaluable skills under your belt.”
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