Putting the emerchantpay IT team under the spotlight

A programmer: one person, a thousand lines of code.

Almost all aspects of life are inextricably linked with technology and, by extension, programming and coding. IT specialists are carving out the path for the future of many industries, including fintech. At emerchantpay, we’re proud to be working with passionate and inspired trailblazing IT specialists in our ever-growing IT division, proving that the success of a company relies on the people within it. Together, we foster a positive and forward-looking work environment where IT teams can build, develop, test and ensure the bug-free operation of our payment and anti-fraud infrastructures.

We believe in the agility of our code and systems when setting our products to high gear. For our main technology stack, we rely on Ruby, Rails, React, and Golang, but we also utilize PHP, Java, and .NET for various products and components. Our mobile applications are written with Kotlin for Android and Swift for iOS. On the database side, we rely on MySQL and PostgreSQL, and lately, on cloud solutions such as Aurora, DynamoDB, and ElastiCache Redis. We build cloud-native software, and utilise the latest and best-of-breed AWS services. This way, we make billing and transaction processing for the businesses we work with hassle-free, helping them deliver frictionless and secure payment journeys to their customers.

Our IT team members are inviting talented problem-solvers and out-of-the-box thinkers to unleash their unlimited capacity and lead the charge of payment innovation with us. If you’re looking for inspiration, here it is. In this article, we take a dive into our IT team where we meet Martin Lazarov, a Software Engineer, who shares his experience working at emerchantpay on his feature in the Bulgaria Wants You campaign (watch the video here). Keep on reading, as we also give you a snapshot of our working culture through the lens of two other IT team members of emerchantpay.

Martin’s motivating career path at emerchantpay

With our footprint expanding across our global offices, having effective IT and technical support systems to meet our business goals is at front of mind. Our IT operates on a dynamic blend of highly skilled, qualified professionals who reassure our robust in-house technology offers an unparalleled level of service and flexibility to our customers. In turn, we prioritise our team’s personal and professional development by allowing them to thrive in a productive and rewarding workplace.

Martin Lazarov is no stranger to best-of-employee success stories at emerchantpay. After graduating from London’s UCL with a Computer Science degree, he started working for one of the largest corporate banks with an office in the British capital. Three years later and while in pursuit of different job prospects, Martin attended a career fair in London. Following a conversation with one of emerchantpay’s HR representatives at the event, he expressed interest in returning to Bulgaria and joining our company. As already immersed in the fintech sector, Martin decided to apply for one of our available job positions at the time for which he received a response within a day.

His journey at emerchantpay started in 2019 as a Software Engineer. A few months in and he was able to explore other career opportunities at emerchantpay by taking over managerial responsibilities as a line manager. Finding a company that encourages a work-life balance was a strong motivating factor for Martin, as he believes a happy team makes a fulfilling workplace. In his own words:

“emerchantpay is the place where I work, have fun and feel wonderful. When I'm here, I don’t need to worry about work. I know I can handle everything and for things I have no control over, there is always someone to help me."

Martin Lazarov | Software Engineer

Pair programming, where two programmers work together at a single workstation with one writing the code and the other reviewing it, is a common practice in IT. Teamwork sits at the heart of who we are and what we do. This means that when there are roadblocks along the way, the insights shared from co-workers are invariably valuable, direct and efficient.

Get to know more about our powerful IT team

The sense of having the “golden keys” to a mind-bending technical issue in a functionality is pervasive in the life of IT professionals. There shouldn’t be anything more satisfying for a software engineer than running code linters through PHP CodeSniffer to analyse them and succeeding to build something with no issues, inconsistencies, or duplications. At emerchantpay, we believe that the stories our employees narrate are the most human-leading indicators of organisational resilience and efficiency. We treasure the enthusiasm and dedication of our IT team, and we constantly equip them with the support and tools they need to achieve greatness.

This is what Dilyan Dimitrov, Software Engineer of seven years at emerchantpay, has in mind when he comments that:

“In IT and at emerchantpay, in general, we're working at the ‘open door policy’ where honest communication is a given. Knowledge is free-flowing while training on new technologies and systems is offered at the drop of a hat.

Each project can bring a new set of varied challenges. But being a developer here has enabled me to refine the skills and adaptability needed to create robust payment solutions for the businesses we’re serving. Part of my role is the implementation, configuration, customisation, and deployment of Salesforce solutions, so clear objectives and specifications for each stage of the process are imperative. emerchantpay has given me the opportunity to grow as a developer by working on interesting and challenging projects while being a part of a successful team.”

Dilyan Dimitrov | Software Engineer

Andrei Burnazov, Web Services Technical Lead, has been at emerchantpay for six years and it’s certainly a mainstay on the “top list” for our IT culture, and for good reason – Andrei’s background and people-first mindset is one to look up to:

“I have always been fascinated with computers and online games – how they’re developed and function. Visual Basic is a classic in every beginner’s coding story that showed me the ropes to programming. But only when I joined a promising product-driven company like emerchantpay did I gain full access to the wondrous and rapidly evolving world of IT.

Every day holds something new and unique in store for me, and I always find myself spinning a lot of plates during my day-to-day – from reviewing pull requests and interviewing candidates, to mentoring other IT employees and producing my own code. Challenges are part of the game, as everyone has a different vision and creating products that align with several stakeholder expectations can be taxing. However, the virtues of keeping positive, focused, organised and up-to-date with industry trends can lead to unimaginable perspectives, delivering measurable value to our team and customers alike. My colleagues are an invaluable asset to my profession, as we have managed to cultivate a strong sense of fellowship early on. At the same time, our level of trust always results in more collaborative and meaningful work.”

Andrei Burnazov | Web Services Technical Lead

Takeaways

At emerchantpay, we take pride in fostering a productive and inclusive IT team where all our team members can thrive so in turn we can deliver future-proof payment solutions for our clients and partners. Seeing our four core values of agility, efficiency, transparency, and excellence embodied is more than just an idea; it’s something that our IT employees manifest daily and in grand ways. Behind every action and decision lies the overarching aim for business growth forged by a strong IT team that strives for excellence. We're an international family of pioneers that makes a difference by being relentless in our quest to transform the payments ecosystem.

Attracting and retaining the best talent is a top priority. So, if you’re looking to join a people-centric IT culture in a flexible and inspiring workplace, in which everyone is empowered to progress, we want to hear from you.