Meet Melanie Freilinger, Team Lead Android Development at Bitpanda

“I appreciated from the beginning that Bitpanda enables people to work in a self-organised environment”

In her role as Team Lead Android Development, Melanie heads a team of three developers. In close cooperation with the iOS and web developers, she is partly responsible for the most important interfaces to Bitpanda's users.

So what made you want to become a developer?
Melanie Freilinger: It wasn't actually my first choice. I enrolled at the Hagenberg University of Applied Sciences after graduating from the HLW (Höhere Lehranstalt für Wirtschaftliche Berufe) and wanted to study media technology. Since the course was full, I enrolled in Mobile Computing. After the first semester, I even found it fun! (laughs)

Did you find cryptocurrency and blockchain interesting at the time?
My primary interest was in video games. At the end of my studies, I moved to Vienna and was self-employed for a while after my first job. However, I missed the cooperation and exchanges with a fixed team. And then I stumbled upon a job advertisement for Bitpanda.

Seeing that you made it to team lead in less than a year and a half, I guess it was a perfect match?
From my point of view, yes. I appreciated from the beginning that Bitpanda enables people to work in a self-organised environment. Of course, we work closely together with project management, but as developers, we are relatively free in how we implement that and can live out our creativity as long as the agreed goals are achieved.

What does the company offer to its employees? Why would you recommend someone to apply?
Apart from great colleagues, I would mention the other benefits: joint breakfasts, special memberships for the on campus gym, lunch discounts and regular team events to grow internal communication. We also have collaborations to get to know the team, like Frinks, where we stay for a beer in the kitchen after work on Fridays.

Sounds like fun! For developers thinking about applying for your team, what do you give particular importance to when selecting new team members?
We need people who are able to work independently and who also deal intensively with our technology. It's not about being a blockchain or crypto professional –which of course wouldn't be a disadvantage. The human resources department usually decides whether someone would fit in with us. When the candidates pass the first test, they have an interview with me. Or, depending on the future tasks, with the team leads for iOS and Web Development.

Bitpanda has experienced fast growth in the past year, and this development will probably continue. Are you still able to meet new colleagues?
That's exactly what we appreciate about all the team events; nobody loses touch, no matter how long they have been with the company.

When there is a deadline, the working days are likely to be longer. How does your team deal with stress?
Nobody is forced to work overtime. But if a certain feature has to go online at hour X, then we all stick together. If it goes into the evening, which is rare, you just order pizza in the office. And to relieve stress, we sometimes treat ourselves to a Nerf Gun Battle.

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Photo credit: Jobiqo.com/Bernhard Madlener