I recently caught up with Mathew Corderoy, Head of Support APAC, at world leading payments platform, ​Adyen​.​ With offices across the world, Adyen delivers frictionless payments online, mobile, and in-store and is the payments platform of choice for many of the world’s leading companies.

We took a deep dive into what it's like working in the fast-paced, evolving world of fintech. Here’s what Mathew had to say.

JOHN:​ Tell me a little about your journey at Adyen.

MATHEW: I joined Adyen as a Sales Engineer where I was responsible for initial conversations with merchants; guiding them through the set-up of systems and implementation.

Adyen then launched Point of Sale (POS) in Australia and it was all hands on deck to get it up and running. When I started we were only offering e-commerce solutions in this region, so this was an important, new development for us.

As we continued to grow and increase our customer base we began hiring a support team and implementation managers, which became my responsibility too. I felt it happened fairly organically and was just a natural progression.

Adyen is fast paced, we are growing exponentially year-on-year and we want to make sure we are finding the right people to support our growth. Since I started, the technical team has more than tripled in size and we have now hired Team Leads for the technical support and implementation teams. Whilst managing these teams, I recently took the new role of managing tech support, sales support and operational support for the APAC region, including Australia, Singapore and China.

I recognise that I have joined the business during a phase of rapid growth, and opportunity came with that. However, being in a high-growth sector like fintech means there will always be career opportunities for those who wish to pursue it.

JOHN:​ T​hat’s quite a journey! What makes Adyen such a great company to work for?

MATHEW: Culture. When hiring we always look for the best talent available – however cultural fit is just as important. We hire the right people and hire people that will work well together.

Another thing I really appreciate about working at Adyen is the staff are trusted and given the freedom to make their own choices, it’s really empowering.

And lastly working in a professional working environment without having to wear a suit is a big positive too.

JOHN:​ S​o what does a day in the life at Adyen look like for you?

MATHEW: What I quite enjoy is waking up in the morning knowing, sure, there are standard things I know I need to do (meetings etc), but it's really a case of where the day takes me. It varies vastly from day-to-day and what I most enjoy about the role – is the variety.

JOHN:​ W​hat are some examples of projects you work on?

MATHEW: It's pretty vast to be honest, which makes things really exciting. We have worked with some of the biggest and most exciting brand names you'll find in retail, e-commerce, fashion, QSR (quick service restaurant), travel, entertainment and more. We support these merchants with either their online payments or in-store payments – or both, which we call unified commerce. Some of the brands that we work in Australia include: Lorna Jane, the Cotton On Group, Michael Hill, Freelancer.com, Kogan.com, Budgy Smuggler, Movember, Showpo, Rodd & Gunn, Jurlique and Easi Australia.

I have personally worked on a broad range of projects and brands including a big project in the online streaming space; a full POS payment roll out for a fast food chain and a unified commerce solution for a major gym brand. Each project is so unique and different and that’s what makes this job so exciting.

JOHN:​ W​hat requisite skills do you look for when hiring for someone at Adyen?

MATHEW: I​ think the most important thing for everybody joining Adyen is culture and that is top of mind for everyone here. If we have someone with good tenure and a payments background but they are a so-so culture fit, we would much prefer somebody that doesn’t come from a payments background but who is a good cultural fit. That is the most important thing for building a sustainable business. Obviously from a tech perspective, a tech background is definitely what we are looking for but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in this particular Fintech vertical.

JOHN:​ W​hat are the biggest challenges you face as a Head of Support for APAC?

MATHEW:​ H​iring! We do have a lengthy recruitment process, including several checkpoints because we focus heavily on culture. It’s about building out that tech talent pipeline and ensuring that we are attracting the right candidates, and we are engaging the right people when we can.

JOHN:​ What tips and advice can you offer to anyone looking to carve a career in technology?

MATHEW: B​e flexible. I think flexibility is probably the number one thing and a focus on the team rather than just yourself. It’s all well and good if you can do everything yourself and you are an absolute superstar, but you really need that supportive base and I think that really ties back to team culture. This is true for any role; it doesn’t have to be just support. Everyone at Adyen works in a team environment and we all work collaboratively together.

JOHN:​ W​hat challenges have you faced during Coronavirus and how have you overcome them?

MATHEW: I am a big fan of being in the office and having face time with team members and colleagues, it helps me connect better. Thankfully we are well set up to work remotely and Zoom catch ups have worked really well for the team with very little disruption to our output. I do however look forward to working face-to-face again.

 

S​o there you have it. Cultural fit, great perks, trust and flexibility are all key elements to what makes life great at Adyen. Our thanks to Mathew from Adyen for providing this insight into what ‘a day in the life' as Adyen's Head of Support APAC looks like. If you are looking for a job in fintech, or you are looking to recruit in the fintech sales space in APAC, including Australia, Singapore or Hong Kong, please connect with Kaliba’s Principal Consultant and Fintech recruitment specialist, John Armstrong, and the Kaliba team. 

 

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