At Helcim, we’re not just writing code, we’re helping small and medium-sized businesses thrive. As a growing Calgary-based fintech, we’re on a mission to be the world’s most loved payments company. Behind our merchant-first platform is a world-class engineering team that solves meaningful problems every day.
From the very first draft of Helcim’s Culture Book, we’ve codified the kind of team we want to be: values-led, resilient, and who set an unapologetically high-standard. Brett Popkey, Helcim’s Chief Technology Officer, shares “a unified culture (our collective beliefs and habits) is what turns everyone here into a team.”
Helcim’s engineering culture is anchored on shared standards designed to help the team thrive in a high-growth and fast-moving environment. We’re excited to share these with you:
1. Builders, Not Doers
Engineers shape what gets built through advocacy, not just execution. We care deeply about our merchants, co-create with product and design, and take ownership from start to finish. We have the amazing role of making decisions to solve real problems that better serve our merchants and shape ideas into impactful products.
“When I first joined Helcim, one of my first projects was to build a new third party integration. Although a simple implementation would have sufficed, our builder mindset led us to prioritize future considerations. We decided to rework the code, incorporating abstractions that enable easy and rapid development of similar functionalities,” shared Darcy, a Senior Software Engineer at Helcim.
“We then leveraged these abstractions to refactor existing integrations, significantly improving their scalability for future growth. This also allowed us to test the code more easily and ensure edge cases were covered and be confident we had a great solution going forward.”
2. Growth Mindset & Innovation
We are learners, embrace feedback, experiment with emerging technologies, and aren’t afraid to fail forward. Learning is shared openly, and mistakes are lessons, not liabilities. This pillar is all about how we learn, adapt, and elevate others.
“Experimentation and continuous feedback have been a constant part of my day-to-day over my last two years at Helcim. I’ve been encouraged not only to keep track of my own career goals, but given regular feedback on where I can stretch my skills,” added Nishrin, a Software Engineer at Helcim.
“Helcim embraces the idea of experimentation and we’re often challenged to make critical decisions on projects even if our ideas may be out-of-the-box. Failures are inevitable when you’re innovating, but they aren’t regarded as moments for blame, rather opportunities where the entire team can support in solving a problem and move forward with lessons learned.”
3. Startup Resilience
This is about how we adapt and keep moving forward together by operating with urgency even in ambiguity. We are a team that leans into change, adapts quickly, and supports one another through tough challenges. We rally around the challenge of serving our merchants better and faster.
“Coming from a larger company, my first year at Helcim has been an interesting growth experience learning what startup resilience truly means. It’s not just about pushing through challenges, but sustaining intensity with purpose. The cadence here is fast and deliberate—there’s a rhythm to how we build, learn, and adapt that keeps us moving forward in the right direction,” said Keith, a Software Development Manager at Helcim.
“What has surprised me the most is how much I’ve enjoyed embracing the pace: leaning into the momentum, finding focus in the flow, and taking pride in what we’re able to achieve together as a team.”
Our engineering team is built on shared beliefs, technical grit, and the kind of culture that brings out the best in people. If you’re ready to lead, learn, and build with impact, we’d love to hear from you.
We’re actively hiring Senior Software Engineers and Engineering Managers — roles that are key to scaling both our technology and our culture.
Learn more about these opportunities at helcim.com/careers.
Cheryl Hooper is the Manager of People and Culture at Helcim.
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