Gina Sauer, a senior lead project manager and executive director at Wells Fargo, has spent more than 20 years in technology, most of it at banks. In 2015, she was at a boutique consulting firm and wanted more stability, and a friend working on a Wells Fargo engagement told her to take a look. She joined as a consultant on governance around vulnerability management, the kind of work she calls her superpower.
When software has vulnerabilities that need fixing, someone has to build a standard way to classify and work them down — creating that foundation is what Gina does at Wells Fargo. Her role grew into a full-time job in 2017. These days she is on a technology modernization initiative and a business-to-business network migration, which involves coordinating across 10 partner organizations at once.
Gina's day starts around 8 a.m., when she gets a handle on where all 10 partner organizations stand. The rest is troubleshooting, answering questions from clients and team members, thinking a week or two ahead about what teams will need, and negotiating schedules. She does that work from Wells Fargo's Columbus Tech Hub in Easton, where she has been since it opened in 2024.
The building is new and has the amenities you would expect, but she says what actually makes it worth the drive is the work people do to make it somewhere worth spending a day. Gina is part of that work. She is one of the leaders of the Site Leader Program – Employee Engagement, a corporate initiative aimed at giving every office a welcoming culture. She creates events that pull people away from their computers and into a room together. Recently, it was a college tailgate, with everyone in their team's gear, a potluck, and fight songs playing. "I'm very proud to have a part in this initiative," she says.
The freedom to do that comes from the company. Wells Fargo sets enterprise standards every office has to follow, and within them, Gina says, sites get to run things their own way. She credits the company with giving each site room to shape its own culture. "There are some enterprise standards we all need to follow, but we have autonomy to celebrate our unique passions," she says.
The company’s volunteer work runs the same way. At the end of this month, the Columbus Tech Hub is doing a Habitat for Humanity playhouse build, the third year Gina has been part of it. A community involvement team picks the organizations where the site can make an immediate impact, and Habitat has been a long-standing relationship. "Some of the talents our team has and the creativity is incredible," she says. "Seeing the kids as they reveal the playhouse is heart-warming."
Outside of the office, a few people have appointed themselves resident social directors, planning happy hours at nearby spots where anyone who wants to come can show up and pay their own way. Ten or more people usually do. "It's not officially Wells Fargo, but it's a way to connect with others outside of the office," she says.
Gina works with people across the country, and neither her leadership nor her day-to-day work ties her to a team in Columbus. But she grew up in northern Ohio, and a few years ago she asked about relocating back to Columbus. Wells Fargo supported the request, a decision she says made her feel supported by the company.
The move also changed how she experiences her job. Because none of her projects connect her to the people around her, the Columbus Tech Hub allows her to meet colleagues from teams and departments she would otherwise never work with. That’s why the local hub matters to her as much as it does.
Colleagues from other Wells Fargo offices notice the culture when they visit Columbus — Gina credits the company for giving the site the room to build it. "People have talked about what it's like to come to our office," she says. "To have people come and visit and say, wow, you've got something special here."
Almost 10 years in, Gina isn’t looking for a change. She says being at Wells Fargo in Columbus is what makes the difference. She is also excited about what is coming for the city.
"In some of the bigger hubs, you feel like one in 10,000," she says. "But here in Columbus, you feel like a person. That is the powerful difference. We have built a community here that takes the benefit and growth of a big company and distills it into a small town."
The Columbus hub is still growing. See what Wells Fargo is hiring for on Purpose Jobs.