Easy one to start. Who are you and what do you do?

My name’s Stanis, I’ve been at Hero Teams for over 8 years which is apparently long enough to become General Manager. 

My job is to make sure everyone in our Ukranian team is happy and has all they need to deliver great work. As part of the leadership group at Hero Teams, I also help uphold our business vision and values. 

One of the core focuses for me is recruitment and bringing exceptional new talent into our business. We are always on the lookout for brilliant people and are very particular about finding staff who are not only technically skilled, but a really good culture fit. 

I also ensure the facilities are up to scratch and cutting edge for the team. This year we completed a major renovation here in our Zaporizhzhya office - more to come on that in a later post!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

What I love about this place is the team culture we’ve all built. My role is making sure everyone is super comfortable and supported so they are free to focus on quality software. The result of this - and something we measure closely - is that we have industry leading staff retention rates which gives clients long term stability.

What does a typical day as a developer look like?

Like most dev teams, onshore or offshore, we start the day with morning team meetings to set the priorities for the day. These could be WIP meetings with clients in Australia, retrospectives or project scoping. 

After that our developers will settle into project work in their client teams. We’re set up well for working from home and remote teams, with plenty of meeting rooms and video facilities for large groups or just one or two people.

At lunchtime we’ll get together and take time out in the kitchen and games room which has table tennis, foosball, mini basketball, darts and PlayStation - all of which can get quite competitive! Some of the team smoke shisha in the smoking room, which has become a bit of a tradition in Ukraine.  

Any other perks?

We’re big on staying active. While things have been a bit restricted recently (COVID-19), we normally have a personal trainer in the office twice a week for anyone keen to join fitness or yoga sessions, with shower facilities for people who run or ride to work.

We have an annual tradition of big summer and winter staff parties where we’ll travel away from the office and do something fun as a team with learning sessions (we recently did a scrum day at our summer party) and prizes - often inviting partners and families along too. 

Often on Fridays we’ll get together for casual drinks, and whenever new people join the team we’ll all meet over pizzas and make sure they get a nice warm welcome and that we all get to know a bit more about each other.

The atmosphere in the office is relaxed and supportive. We’re pretty flexible with remote working, dress codes and work policies - people do their best and most productive work when they’re happy.

What about skills development?

We take this seriously. We take a lot of time to find the right people to start with, then invest in their growth. We have annual budgets for professional development training, subscriptions to a range of online skills courses, and like to get the team travelling to different cities, industry events and conferences to keep up with the latest innovations and trends.

Would you recommend people join your team?

Of course I would say this, but ABSOLUTELY. We’re all really proud of the team culture and skillset we’ve built here.

Personally I think we're the best in the industry - one of the best at the very least! I believe that’s why we’ve been able to attract and retain such great talent.

What are you looking forward to next year?

With some fantastic clients coming on board and some really challenging projects, we’re excited about continuing to grow in the year ahead.

Personally I love to travel and experience new cultures and can’t wait to get back overseas when things open up - including getting back to see the team in Australia. Outside work I’m a big fan of basketball, soccer and spending time with my family. 

Are you hiring?

Glad you asked! Yes, at the moment we’re looking for passionate developers to join our team in the Ukraine. If Hero Teams sounds like a fit, get all the details on our jobs page.