Life as a SumUp Software Engineer across 2 continents
Afonso Delgado shares stories of working in SumUp’s Berlin and São Paulo offices.
Afonso Delgado joined our São Paulo team in January 2019 as a software engineer. “I was working in the Partners Squad. They take care of our sales consultants in Brazil–people who buy card readers from SumUp in large quantities and resell them, either to stores or directly to merchants. We were building a portal for them to manage their sales, order larger quantities of card readers, and track their earnings month-to-month.”
After around 6 months in this role, Afonso was offered a tempting opportunity to travel overseas for a new project. “I was approached to join the Conversion Squad in Berlin. They needed an extra frontend engineer to drive the delivery of the new SumUp Shop. This would involve decoupling the old shop from the legacy dashboard and creating a new application. I’d never lived outside Brazil and the work sounded interesting, so I was happy to accept the offer.”
In September, Afonso landed in the German capital for an initial stint of 3 months. “This was the longest time I’d spent far from home, but I instantly felt a connection with Berlin. The people are amazing and it’s very international. It also reminded me of my home city, Brasilia, because of the low-rise skyline and all the open space. Berlin definitely made this whole experience easier, because it quickly felt like home.”
Happily, Afonso’s spirits remained high after spending time with his new colleagues. “I formed a strong bond with the Conversion Squad. We’re doing a lot of great work and delivering really nice features, so this keeps the team’s morale up. We have interesting conversations in the office, we go out to dinner together–there’s a very close-knit atmosphere.
“I also really appreciated the chance to learn more about the team here, as they’re kind of hidden in Brazil. As they take care of the SumUp Shop, they’re usually people you get in touch with when something goes wrong! So it was really nice to see all the positive, proactive work they do. We’ve talked a lot about the future and vision of the team, and about how we can make the shop experience better for our merchants.”
While the team’s future may look bright, they’ve certainly had their fair share of challenges to contend with. “We were creating from scratch a new application and infrastructure for the shop. It’s been tough at times, because we had many different teams and stakeholders to deal with. There was also the risk that any changes we made could break the entire shop, so we had to carefully analyse every touch point in the company, and map out everything that we might possibly break with the new application. But I feel like we handled the challenges well–we set lots of small checkpoints during the development that we ticked off one-by-one.”
Moving to another SumUp office halfway around the world was less of a culture shock than Afonso anticipated. “I think the overall mindset is similar across the whole of SumUp, in terms of everyone being motivated to collaborate and create great stuff. But there are definitely differences. It’s usually sunny in São Paulo, so people tend to be very energised and sociable! It’s a warm place in every sense of the word. I’ve also found that the communication style in our Brazil office is more casual — people are more likely to reach out directly for a spontaneous chat than schedule a meeting. Whereas in Berlin, I really like how people are organised and plan so effectively. There’s a culture of setting goals and reaching them. And something I’ve noticed this year is that people in both offices are enthusiastic to learn from each other. SumUppers in São Paulo are starting to work in a more structured way. Meanwhile in Berlin, this warmth is becoming contagious — people are collaborating more directly and informally. I think this really puts SumUp on a strong path”.
Afonso is similarly enthusiastic about everyday life in both cities. “Berlin is known for its crazy nightlife, but on the whole it’s very relaxed. I love how easy it is to travel anywhere. You have this comprehensive public transport network, and walking and cycling are easy because it’s so flat. So if you go out with friends on the other side of the city, you can rest assured that you’ll have no problems getting home. On the other hand, São Paulo is buzzing 24/7. Life there is very fast-paced and exciting. And I’ve definitely missed Brazilian food!”
Finally, we ask how SumUp compares to other companies Afonso’s worked for. “We’re growing so quickly, and this growth mindset is embedded in everyone. People are so helpful, and so focused on learning from mistakes and making things better for next time. I really believe that it’s a perfect environment for people who want to challenge themselves and develop quickly, both professionally and personally. The multicultural environment in particular is great for personal growth — you have the opportunity to work with people from all over the world and learn from other cultures. I’m surrounded by highly skilled people, and that really motivates me to step up my game. In terms of technology and entrepreneurship, I’ve never experienced anywhere like SumUp.”
Interested in joining our global Engineering team? Check out our current vacancies in Europe and Latin America.
