“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.”
Steve Jobs, founder of one of the big five tech companies, strived to create a workplace where employees believed in the mission. Like many things, Jobs was onto something.
Employees who believe their employer is motivated by a purpose outside of profit are 27 percent more likely to stay at the company.
Want to find your own mission to get behind? Built In interviewed four Chicago tech professionals who found their perfect fit at purpose-driven companies — and they’re all hiring.
ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC is a global clearing firm that provides an integrated suite of financial services to professional trading participants in the global financial market.
Tell us about your company’s mission. How does that mission influence the company culture? Did that mission impact your decision to join the team?
At ABN AMRO Clearing, our mission is simple yet powerful: Leading the way to safe and transparent markets globally. This purpose drives everything we do — from how we serve our clients to how we shape our internal culture. It’s about creating long-term value, not just short-term gains and being a responsible financial partner in a rapidly changing world.
This mission deeply influences our company culture. It fosters a mindset of care, courage and collaboration. We’re encouraged to think beyond transactions and focus on relationships, sustainability and innovation. That culture of purpose and integrity is what drew me to ABN AMRO USA. I wanted to be part of a team that’s not only client — focused but also committed to making a meaningful impact — both in the financial industry and in society. Joining ABN AMRO wasn’t just a career move; it was a values alignment.
From your perspective, how does your work connect to the overall company mission?
As director of client operations, our mission isn’t just a tagline — it’s a guiding principle that shapes how we serve clients and build sustainable, long-term relationships.
In my role, I focus on optimizing client experiences, streamlining operational processes and ensuring that every interaction reflects our values. Whether it’s improving service delivery or enhancing operational transparency, I see my work as a bridge between our strategic goals and the day-to-day experience of our clients.
By aligning operations with our mission, we’re not just solving problems — we’re building trust and contributing to a more responsible and inclusive financial future. That connection to purpose is what makes the work meaningful.
“That connection to purpose is what makes the work meaningful.”
What advice would you give a jobseeker hoping to join your company?
If you’re someone who values integrity, innovation and working in a culture that blends digital transformation with human connection, you’ll thrive here. Be ready to bring your ideas, challenge the status quo and work with people who genuinely care about making a difference — for clients, communities and each other. That’s the kind of energy that moves us forward.
TravelPerk is a global travel and expense management platform.
Tell us about your company’s mission. How does that mission influence the company culture? Did that mission impact your decision to join the team?
TravelPerk’s mission is to help people connect in real life. Our goal is to take the logistical struggles out of business travel and expenses to create a seamless experience that helps people connect. At TravelPerk, we practice what we preach and regularly get our teams together in real life. Whether it’s our summer party at headquarters in Barcelona or our annual kick off where we bring together every global team to celebrate our wins and align on our future ambitions. We believe that the best way to understand our customers’ needs is to live our mission. TravelPerk’s mission definitely impacted my decision to join the team. Our company culture is deeply rooted in our mission. It shows through our team-first mentality and customer-first focus where you see our values like “we are a team,” “be an owner” and “seven star experience” show up everyday. I felt like TravelPerk was not only solving a real problem and building a product I really believed in, but doing that while always putting the customer first.
“I felt like TravelPerk was not only solving a real problem and building a product I really believed in, but doing that while always putting the customer first.”
From your perspective, how does your work connect to the overall company mission?
My role as a sales development representative team leader directly connects to our mission. My team is at the forefront introducing potential customers to a more seamless way to manage travel and expenses. For example, one of my team recently met in-person with a potential client. They were able to build a deeper connection with the client than what would be possible over a 30-minute call. Connecting in real life matters and as an SDR manager I experience that not only with our customers, but also within my team. Whether it is in one-on-ones, collaborating on new messaging or reviewing calls with my team, having that real life connection is crucial to our success and culture.
What advice would you give a jobseeker hoping to join your company?
First and foremost, understand our mission. Our mission guides our culture, our innovation and our customer-centric focus, so it’s important for job seekers to believe in it. Second, research our values and come with examples of how you have leveraged them in your current or previous roles. For example, we are known for our seven-star customer service, so being able to showcase how you go above and beyond for your customers is important. Being able to articulate your owner mentally is crucial because our team aims to solve problems proactively and see projects through from start to end. Lastly, my advice would be to be your authentic self, we love to work with people who are empathetic, collaborative and genuine.
Prolaio unites patients, care teams and researchers on a secure, technology-enabled platform that drives clinical innovation and better patient outcomes.
Tell us about your company’s mission. How does that mission influence the company culture? Did that mission impact your decision to join the team?
We at Prolaio are on a mission to address the number one leading cause of death in the United States — cardiovascular disease. Each person’s heart beats differently and every beat may tell us a small part of their story. At Prolaio, we analyze every beat to put together their story, extracting personalized insights that help us better understand who they are and how their physiology behaves in their condition. With this information, we intend to bring cardiology to the age of personalized medicine.
This ambitious mission shapes everything we do. Prolaio’s culture revolves around our core value “Patient at Heart,” ensuring every decision prioritizes what’s best for the individual patient.
This patient-centered culture, combined with our drive towards cutting-edge innovation, ensures no workday feels the same. This made joining Prolaio an easy decision — it’s rare to find a place where advanced technology directly translates to the potential to improve lives. That combination of purpose and innovation was irresistible.
“This patient-centered culture, combined with our drive towards cutting-edge innovation, ensures no workday feels the same.”
From your perspective, how does your work connect to the overall company mission?
I see myself as a cardiac translator, directly advancing our mission to bring cardiology into the age of personalized medicine. Hearts speak in signals, both electrical and mechanical, but patients fighting cardiovascular disease need answers in plain English; answers they can understand and act upon. Every algorithm we build translates these cardiac conversations into clear, personalized insights that bring hope to patients and their families.
Recently, our insights flagged a patient whose heart was beating dangerously slowly — they needed help quickly. We translated subtle changes in their heart’s electrical story into medical insights into the patient’s condition. That moment perfectly captured our mission: taking every individual heartbeat and turning it into personalized medicine that gives patients the clarity and hope they need.
What advice would you give a jobseeker hoping to join your company?
Don’t just look at our technology; look at why we built it. Whether you are looking for a role in engineering, operations or marketing, if you’re genuinely excited about contributing to the fight against cardiovascular disease, you’ll thrive here. We hire people who see patients behind every project, not just tasks to complete.
Be ready to adapt quickly — we’re pioneering personalized cardiac medicine in a fast-moving space where priorities can shift as we learn from real patient data. During interviews, share examples of how you’ve successfully navigated change while staying focused on meaningful outcomes.
Most importantly, be authentic about what drives you. We can teach specific skills, but we can’t teach someone to care deeply about our mission. If the thought of your work — whether coding, strategy, partnerships or operations — directly improving patients’ lives motivates you, then you’re already aligned with our ‘Patient at Heart’ culture.
Wolverine Trading includes a number of diversified financial institutions specializing in proprietary trading, asset management, order execution services and technology solutions.
Tell us about your company’s mission. How does that mission influence the company culture? Did that mission impact your decision to join the team?
Wolverine provides liquidity, technology and investment opportunities to our customers with unwavering integrity. We innovate and compete in market — making, agency execution and asset management, with a special focus in equity derivatives markets.
Wolverine’s culture is collaborative and long-term oriented. We seek colleagues who want to develop their careers and relationships at Wolverine in terms of decades, not years. We empower our colleagues to grow at the firm.
“We seek colleagues who want to develop their careers and relationships at Wolverine in terms of decades, not years.”
Wolverine’s mission and culture struck me when I started as an intern 15 years ago and it absolutely impacted my decisions throughout my career. First, my colleagues are [the most] down-to-earth, loyal, humble people I’ve met in financial markets. Second, our core competency in options and derivatives trading empowers them and our customers to make better decisions in work and in life.
From your perspective, how does your work connect to the overall company mission?
Wolverine Execution Services, our agency broker and dealer, facilitates electronic trading on behalf of retail customers, e.g., everyday Americans. WEX delivers millions of dollars of savings to retail customers every day in a highly competitive market, via those household — name brokers that enable ordinary people to trade with few frictions on their phone or laptop.
My role is to interface with these retail broker clients and provide nuanced insight into trade execution, market structure, potential repercussions of new industry proposals and more. I also represent the Firm in our relationships with the exchanges on which our customers trade.
What advice would you give a jobseeker hoping to join your company?
I would advise you to be yourself, rigorously. Coming from a quantitative background, I regularly see resumes that claim mastery of every novel statistical method, all the buzzwords from AI to LLM to ML and so on.
While we have prerequisites for many job opportunities, we favor fundamental passion for and competence in whatever problem space you study, whether you come from a background in accounting, chemical engineering or philosophy. Our most successful hires bring that passion to learn and solve novel problems into the complex world of financial markets.
