Software Architect – recruitment for Tpay

So far, our recruitment activities in Humeo have focused on Krakow, Warsaw and the Tri-City. When Poznan’s Tpay asked us for support in recruitment, it was like a breath of fresh air for us 🙂.

Who is Tpay? A company from the FinTech industry that offers a system of fast online payments. Founded by graduates of the Poznań University of Technology, it has built a strong market position within 10 years. The company works mainly with e-commerce stores, providing services such as transfers, internet transfers, card payments and QR codes or using BLIK.

Brief

During the first conversation with Patrycja (a recruiter in Tpay), we learned that the company was looking for a Manager of Engineering and System Operations. In the case of this recruitment, the client was very keen on time, so we abandoned our standard – a physical meeting in the office – for video call. During the conversation, based on well-asked, comprehensive questions, we were able to learn about the real needs of the company.

Market mapping

Until now, the Poznań market has been terra incognita for us. Therefore, after starting the implementation of the order, we set ourselves the goal of not only getting to know the market well, but also ensuring that the candidates match the needs of the company – both in terms of technology and approach (so called: mindset).

Change of client’s concept

The initial action plan was to find a Manager of Engineering and System Operations. Someone who was to design architecture and technical support, but also to plan a business strategy dedicated to the development of the internal payment system.

After internal discussions about the company’s needs, these roles were separated. Ultimately, we focused on looking for a technically oriented person – a Software Architect.

Preparation of communication

Having the final information on the client’s demand, we could start creating communication. Based on the specified requirements, we have created a comprehensive, yet informative message that generated responses from the best-matched people on the market. As a result, it saved us a lot of time and contributed to a more efficient closing of the topic.

Sourcing

During the search for matching candidates, we used Linkedin and newly acquired knowledge of the Poznań IT market. In sourcing, the most important for us were:

systems (more precisely, their types) on which the targeted group worked. The most important thing was for the candidates to have experience in working on systems dedicated to e-commerce;

commercial knowledge of technologies on the basis of which the candidate sought would work every day. These were: PHP 7, JavaScript, Node.js, RabbitMQ, ElasticSearch, SQL;

Product companies recognized on the market with high traffic, like OLX.

Screening calls and presentation of candidates

During the process, we interviewed seven candidates, all of whom were invited to an interview with the client. Then 4 people qualified for the second step of the recruitment process. Finally, Tpay considered 2 candidates, and finally signed one with one of them.

Further recruitment activities were already on the client’s side, but we had everything under control due to constant contact with the candidates. Due to the greater number of recruitment steps than usually, the process required us to constantly monitor the situation. A Software Architect in the context of a significant business change is a critical role. Our client wanted to make the best decision possible.

Summary

The process, although it took slightly longer than recruiting for a typical development position, closed smoothly. Less than 6 weeks passed from the briefing to signing the contract with the candidate, and all this took place in the middle of the holiday period. Tpay had a very clear and in fact business need. Simply put, the client knew exactly who he needed and why. This greatly facilitated cooperation and translated into clear communication of needs and possible changes, followed by efficient handling of candidates on the client’s side 🙂

What did we like about this project?

The opportunity to meet a new (for us) IT job market and an efficient, communicative client who offers an interesting product. The position – Software Architect that arouses considerable interest – was the cherry on top

The candidates were curious and at the same time realized how difficult this task was. A Software Architect, especially in the FinTech industry, is a person who has a very large responsibility related to security and system performance, but who also has a real impact on building a programming team from scratch within the company.

It’s crucial because the team created by the Architect actually programs the solutions developed by him. It significantly affects the adaptation of people to the needs of the project and plans for system development.

Interestingly, the candidates were attracted by the new technology stack of Tpay: PHP 7, JavaScript, Node.js, RabbitMQ, ElasticSearch, SQL; which is not so obvious with financial systems, which are usually complex and outdated. That’s why work in the new financial system is just interesting 🙂

Recruitment for a company from the FinTech industry turned out to be a very interesting project. Changing the environment, the need to learn about the new IT market and considerable client’s requirements – all this made the project interesting and (positively) demanding :). A great advantage was also the product offered by Tpay itself, which is of high quality and the market shows a real demand for this type of solution. We love such projects!