This is how you become employed at GoCardless

In our first Breaking into Fintech in 2023, we sat down with Luke Fossett, managing director of Australia and New Zealand at GoCardless, to discuss how graduates can be employed in the fintech field.

GoCardless is an Australian-based company that provides online payment processing solutions to a range of international businesses, enabling payments to be made directly and easily between businesses and consumers.

What top tips can you offer candidates looking to join the industry?

Fossett opens by emphasizing the fast pace of the industry and the many avenues for growth.

“There are many ways into the industry,” he explains, and describes that employees can thrive in fintech by focusing on career growth in various forms and prioritizing customer success. “At GoCardless, we’ve seen people start as a Sales Development Representative (SDR), travel overseas to expand into new markets, and then move into product management. The variety of opportunities, especially when starting up and scaling up, is exciting, but at times it has to be balanced with a little patience.”

Second, he encourages people to join the payments industry now: “We’re seeing many new developments and innovations unfolding rapidly, such as PayTo’s rollout and adoption across Australia. It’s really satisfying to feel that we’re all working to shape these significant, industry-wide advances, leveraging the new technology to help businesses take the pain out of getting paid.”

What does GoCardless want from their ideal candidates?

Fossett explains that GoCardless is always looking for team members who want to learn, who question the status quo and are ambitious without ego.

On a day-to-day basis, GoCardless values ​​candidates who have a genuine, collaborative spirit, are focused on the quality of what they produce, have a team-focused mindset and a willingness to learn and question the status quo.

Fossett states that the three main traits they look for in new hires to ensure success are:

1. The ability to prioritize: “There are so many opportunities in the sector right now, but to seize them we need focus. People and teams who know how to dedicate our resources to the most important activities will really help us “move the needle”.
2. Collaboration: “We work with greater efficiency and effectiveness together. Teamwork is at the heart of what we do; one thing our people always tell us is how generous everyone is with their time at GoCardless, despite long to-do lists.”
3. Passion and drive: “We thrive thanks to people who are ambitious, curious, love what they do and are ready to deliver the results of their careers. GoCardless is a place for anyone looking to add some big accomplishments to their resume.”

He adds that moving forward, an ideal candidate will have a problem-solving mentality, tenacity, empathy, flexibility to drive definitive solutions and a positive attitude.

What roles is GoCardless currently hiring for?

Fossett states that there are several new openings that will soon be listed on GoCardless that will be based in Australia. The company also has offices in London, Paris, Riga and other international locations hiring in its marketing, data, design, engineering, product development, sales and risk departments.

“As always, my advice is if you really want something, don’t wait for the role to become available. If you have a deep interest in and passion for technology – or maybe you’re a rock star who has GoCardless on his ‘good companies to work for’ list, connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message.”

Why work at GoCardless?

Fossett emphasizes that GoCardless attaches great importance to diversity and inclusion in the company’s values.

“As an industry, the payments sector is experiencing a huge boom at the moment, and GoCardless in particular is uniquely positioned to succeed in this key period. The rise of account-to-account (A2A) payments has been a key contributor to this boom – and our expertise is second to none in this regard as we built the world’s first global bank payments network.

“We also have a positive impact on the economy, allowing money to move quickly and efficiently and allowing businesses to focus on what they do best without having to worry about getting paid. The sense of impact in a small company where cash flow is the difference between success and failure, or navigating and solving problems for very large companies, is a rewarding experience.”

The company also encourages employees to maintain their wellness and focus on their mental health with “GC Fridays” that take place on a quarterly basis, giving the entire company time off. GoCardless also has an annual off-site corporate event, GC Live.

Fossett reminisces: “GC Live happens in London every year and some of my best memories at GC have been traveling as a team and then spending time with colleagues from around the world.”

What can GoCardless do for you?

Fossett indicates that there are a number of training programs available to GeeCees (GoCardless employees): “We offer leadership training across our entire business because we want to be known across the industry for having best-in-class leaders – but that’s just the tip of the iceberg . In addition to training programs, we also allocate skill-specific sessions in our L&D budget, which amounts to AUD$900 per person per year.”

Benefits offered at the company include private medical insurance through BUPA, generous annual leave, income protection, retirement pension provision, paid voluntary days for employees to work on causes of their own choosing, and a Work Away scheme which allows workers to operate overseas for 90 days per year.

“For example, one of our account managers, Phoebe Howlett, went and worked in Bali for three months after Melbourne’s period of extended lockdown. We trust our people to be able to perform their roles, wherever they are in the world. We are big advocates of well-structured telecommuting policies, as they are a simple, effective way to offer employees flexibility and freedom – and that certainly makes us a lucrative place to work for talented people seeking a positive, supportive culture.”

Fossett adds that GoCardless also has employee resource groups to integrate new hires and when it comes to parental leave, offers 12 weeks paid leave and 6 weeks half pay for birth parents or primary adopters, and 6 weeks full time for partners/secondary adopters.

Tell us the success stories of GeeCees who have risen through the ranks.

“One of my favorite success stories is about our colleague, Jess, who is a senior leader in the Global Payment Partnerships team at GoCardless. Jess started at the company in 2014 as a hiring coordinator when the company only had 35 employees. In 2016, she moved roles to become Head of People .After two years, Jess moved on to become Sales and Operations People Partner where she worked on similar areas to her previous role and spent some time setting up our People/Talent processes in our newly opened Melbourne office.

“On her return to the UK, Jess was supported by our careers coach and applied for a Global Payment Partnership Lead role. In 2019, Jess moved into the GPP team as a Lead and was subsequently promoted to Senior Lead in 2021 due to her constant hard work, commitment and excellent work ethic. In Jess’s current role she looks after the arrangements and sponsor banking relationships we have in Australia and New Zealand and our relationship with Wise as our foreign exchange provider. She is also currently working on our much anticipated PayTo launch.

“Although HR and Global Payments Partnerships are very different aspects of our business, Jess had many transferable skills that helped her adapt to her new role, particularly relationship management.”

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