By: Charith

Today marks my first year with Opn in Thailand. Looking back on the journey, it has been a mix of challenges, adventures, and joy - a bit of everything.

Around mid-September, I was traveling in Bali as a digital nomad when Bernard, a Technical Talent Acquisition (TA) Partner at Opn, approached me. This opportunity looked promising, especially considering my interest in the growing FinTech domain. Little did I know that Opn was one of the biggest payment processors in Southeast Asia.

Getting Hired & My Onboarding Experience

The interview process was well-structured. I had my first call with the TA team, and they clarified all the questions I had and assessed my ability to fill their position. The technical rounds were designed to test the practical aspects of Software Engineering.

One thing I noticed was that the interview panel wasn't there to interrogate me; instead, they were focused on understanding what I had worked on previously and how I had applied my knowledge to tackle complex technical issues. These discussions felt more like sharing my experience with a colleague rather than an intimidating interview panel. This was a refreshing experience for me, as some of the interviews I've faced in the past were somewhat nerve-wracking. If I recall correctly, from the first call to the offer letter, it only took two weeks.

Once I got my offer, the next step was to get everything ready for my relocation. The support I received from the People Operations (PO) team was amazing. They even checked if it was possible to apply for my visa from Indonesia, showing how far they would go to help their recruits. All the documents needed for the visa were provided to me on time. All I had to do was hand over the documents to the Royal Thai Embassy in Sri Lanka, and the process was seamless.

Furthermore, The company handled my relocation fees and provided one month of accommodation in Thonglor, which is considered one of the best neighborhoods in Bangkok. Throughout this entire process, the PO team was constantly checking in with me to make sure I didn't have any issues adjusting to the new environment.

Domain & My Job Responsibilities

I was assigned to the Card team in the Payments department. Our team's responsibility is to handle transactions made through Mastercard and Visa credit cards using various financial products designed in Opn. It's an exciting and challenging domain to work in, and I consider myself lucky to be a part of Opn's ecosystem in this role. So, after my orientation, I thought I'd be cranking out code at a rate of 1 CLPM-1 (that's one code line per minute - if that metric ever becomes official, I want my credit!).

However, I soon realized that before I could write a single line of code, I needed to understand the Payments domain, credit card processing workflows, and all the security and compliance requirements. I didn't figure this out on my own; my manager had weekly calls with me, explaining that I needed my first few months to grasp the domain and our internal systems. The company understood how crucial it is for engineers to have a solid understanding of the Payments domain.

I was also encouraged to proactively reach out to my team members and other teams to gather knowledge from them. Everyone was very supportive and ensured I had answers to my questions or knew where to look for them. This support helped me settle into the company and the payment domain, and it boosted my confidence in my ability to support the team.

Once settled into the domain, my responsibilities included stabilizing card endpoints, implementing new mandates from card networks, and handling technical incidents. Beyond technical complexities, we bear the responsibility of ensuring the accuracy of every transaction and compliance with security requirements. Sometimes, it's tricky to find the balance between a perfectly aligned system design and compliance with all the security requirements. Also, We need to keep a close eye on the system round the clock to ensure our customers don't experience any outages.

The Opn Culture

Opn's culture fosters innovation regardless of hierarchy. It doesn't matter if a great idea comes from a senior manager or a junior engineer. Everyone gets the support they need to make their idea a reality. But your design or idea must still follow the rules I talked about before. This has been very beneficial for my growth as an engineer, and it has also prompted me to include additional considerations when designing solutions.

Moving Forward

This year has truly been a handful. It involved settling down in a new country, diving into a new domain, elevating my technical skills, and having the chance to roam the beautiful beaches of Krabi and drive through the misty mountains of Chiang Mai, among many other adventures. I'm genuinely grateful for the incredible opportunities I've been given at Opn.