At CluneTech, we have an extensive Milestone Recognition Program that rewards employees that choose to build a long and successful career with us. As part of this programme, we love celebrating and sharing the stories of those reaching major milestones with the company.

We have an extensive Milestone Recognition Program that rewards employees that choose to build a long and successful career with us. As part of this programme, we love celebrating and sharing the stories of those reaching major milestones with the company.

This month we caught up with Preslava Lazarova-Dushkova, Sprintax's Program Manager, who has been on our team for the last 10 years.

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What is your favourite thing about working in Sprintax?

Two things, really. The first is getting to see the whole business, not just a slice of it. I started by sitting with every team: Sales & Chat, Business Development, Filing, Payment, Finance, Campaign & Info, CRM, Marketing and Operations. So, I understand how a decision in one department ripples through all the others. That cross-functional view is still what I love most. I'm never just managing a project. I'm connecting people and teams who might not otherwise see how closely their work depends on each other.

The second is the people. I work with amazing colleagues: real professionals and true team players, who are generous with their knowledge and always ready to help each other. Every team brings its own expertise and its own pride in the work, and that is what makes coming to work a pleasure.

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What has been your biggest achievement or highlight since joining Sprintax?

Growing from Business Analyst to Programme Manager for the whole Sprintax business. But the real highlight isn't the title change. It's the relationships I've built along the way: colleagues I can count on, who trust me and count on me in return. That foundation started in my first months, learning every team's daily reality, and it's still what makes me effective today. Every system we've improved, every CRM enhancement, every process change, I could shape well because I understood the real problem people were living with, and because the people around me trusted me enough to be honest about it.

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What is the biggest change that you have witnessed in your time here?

Watching us grow from a single product into five distinct pillars, each developing its own identity and strength while staying deeply connected to the others. It's remarkable to see how our systems now communicate across those pillars, how we track and serve our partners and customers, and how marketing and service coverage have matured into something truly complete. Then the positive feedback from customers who feel that care. Business development has delivered amazing results, and our development teams have matched that growth, working at their very best to protect milestones, quality and teamwork all at once. It amazes me every time I stop to look at it. I have huge respect for everyone who made this growth possible, and I'm thankful to my colleagues and to management. That same team spirit will carry us through the next stage of growth together.

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What is the greatest challenge that you have faced in your time here and how did you overcome it?

Working with a temporary development team based in Bangalore, India, was a real challenge and a great experience at the same time. It was hard at first to build the kind of trust where people felt comfortable talking openly with me. Getting them to raise their real issues and explaining a process in a way that truly landed, took daily effort given how different our working styles were. Despite our efforts, it was ultimately a short-term arrangement. Still, it was a valuable professional experience. I learned a great deal about working practices in India, so different from what I knew in the EU and the US, and it has shaped how I approach cross-cultural communication ever since.

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What has been your favourite project to work on?

Honestly, it's hard to pick just one, because every project here has its own kind of fascination. Returns and Calculus gave me a real intellectual challenge early on: understanding how a customer's tax residency is determined, what a tax treaty actually means, how a tax return gets generated, and what happens inside the software engine to make all of that work. I also loved being part of the new Sprintax marketing portal, www.sprintax.com. I worked closely with the MK team on the redesign, and seeing it finally go live and look amazing was very satisfying. The Dividend projects have been a journey of their own, starting with Swiss Dividends and growing through the Irish and Norway reclaim flows, alongside the CRM development behind them. Each one touches different teams' needs, and that's what makes it interesting every day: getting to know the processes, the people, and what our customers and partners truly need.

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Do you have advice for someone who is just starting their career in CluneTech / Sprintax?

Go and see how things actually work before you try to change anything. Sit with the teams, ask questions, and listen. People will show you far more than a process document ever will if you approach them with respect rather than assumptions. That groundwork pays off for years. Ten years on, I'm still drawing on what I learned in my first months here.

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