TOPIC:
What do we think about our workplace?
ZenGroup is aiming to hire IT professionals to work at our head office in Osaka, so we interviewed three key members of our IT team, who support the technical development behind all of internal and external services.
If you’re interested in building a IT career in Japan, read on to learn more about their daily responsibilities, team culture, and professional experiences. Their stories may help you decide whether ZenGroup is the right place for your next career step.
Can you describe your role and duties?
Vitaliy: I work as the chief technology officer for ZenGroup. In short, my role is to combine technical vision with practical implementation for our online services. I am responsible for solution architecture, technology selection, development quality, system stability, and team growth. I help our team of software engineers find the best approaches, solve more complex technical challenges, and ensure that the IT solutions we have in place support ZenGroup and improve business operations.
Daniyal: I have been working at ZenGroup for 4 years as a Full-Stack Software Developer. There are primarily three different areas of web development that I am in charge of.
End-to-End Feature Development: Designing, building, and deploying new features across both frontend and backend architectures to meet project requirements.
Full-Stack Maintenance & Optimization: Diagnosing, troubleshooting, and resolving complex bugs across multiple existing codebases, ensuring optimal performance, stability, and seamless user experiences.
Technical Consulting & Knowledge Sharing: Analyzing existing systems to explain complex architectural behaviors and workflows to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, bridging the gap between design and functionality.
Sergiy: I have been working on ZenGroup’s IT team for over a decade. I am a full-stack web developer, primarily working with the .NET Framework and C#. My main responsibilities include developing, maintaining, and improving the company’s web applications and internal systems. I also handle troubleshooting tasks, such as identifying and fixing bugs, optimizing performance, and enhancing existing functionality to ensure our services continue to operate smoothly and efficiently.
What is the atmosphere of your team like?
Daniyal: I’d say the atmosphere within the IT team is built on a foundation of trust, professionalism, and respect for individual time and focus. As a fully remote team, our day-to-day communication is streamlined and structured around our active tasks. The way we handle our work eliminates unnecessary distractions, so we can all focus and maximize productivity. Despite working remotely, I never feel isolated. Whenever I encounter a complex challenge or a gap in project-specific context, I know I can rely on my team for guidance.
Sergiy: The atmosphere at ZenGroup has been fantastic throughout the past decade. The IT team maintains a friendly yet professional approach to work, creating an environment where collaboration comes naturally.One of the things I appreciate most is the open communication among team members. There is always someone willing to help when challenges arise, making it easier to solve problems and overcome work-related obstacles together.
Vitaliy: At the moment, our team is relatively small, and we have built strong, friendly relationships with one another. Communication is open and efficient, and everyone has a clear understanding of their responsibilities and areas of expertise. Most importantly, we are flexible and able to adapt quickly to changing priorities and circumstances.
We value initiative, mutual support, and a calm, constructive approach to our work. Even when faced with a heavy workload or complex challenges, the atmosphere remains productive, supportive, and positive.
Which project or achievement are you most proud of?
Sergiy: Over the past decade, I have seen this company grow and we have added many different services. Honestly, it’s difficult to single out just one project, as each one is important in its own way. I am proud to have the opportunity to contribute to a variety of tasks, improve each service’s software, and play a part in achieving our shared goals.
Daniyal: My proudest achievement is my work on the ZenOne project. I was responsible for building this project from the ground up, following the initial specifications to establish the foundation and executing the vast majority of the subsequent code implementations and commits. Seeing the project operate successfully today and witnessing the growing number of active sellers (partners) who integrate and rely on our ZenLink service daily is incredibly rewarding. Knowing that my execution and development work built a product that delivers such tangible value is a major source of professional inspiration for me.
In addition to ZenOne, I am also highly proud of my contributions to the ZenPlus project. While the service already existed before I joined, I took ownership of optimizing and adding numerous feature improvements. I also resolved some critical bugs, improving the website’s overall performance.
Vitaliy: It is difficult to choose just one project, because over time there have been many interesting tasks related to AI, automation, and algorithmic programming. Among recent examples, I would highlight Project 42—a product classification system. It helps automate many processes, reduce manual work, and make data processing faster and more accurate.
What might surprise people about working in the IT team?
Vitaliy: Many people imagine the work of an IT team as constantly creating something new and highly innovative. In reality, a significant part of the work is quite routine: maintaining systems, optimization, checks, and fixing small issues. But it is often within this routine that the most interesting challenges appear—especially when you need to investigate a complex bug and literally become a technical detective
Sergiy: It is difficult to point to one specific thing that would surprise an experienced developer. In my view, working in an IT team involves much more than writing code. It also includes analyzing requirements, communicating with stakeholders, maintaining systems, and finding the best solutions to complex challenges.
Daniyal: People are often surprised to learn that software development is much more about investigative detective work than it is about non-stop coding. There is a common misconception that developers spend 100% of their time writing brand-new features from scratch.
In reality, a massive portion of our day is spent analyzing existing codebases, reading documentation, and tracing complex system behaviors to track down a single, elusive bug. It requires an immense amount of patience and critical thinking; you might spend hours diagnosing a problem just to resolve it perfectly with two precise lines of code. It’s less about continuous typing and much more about deep, methodical problem-solving.
How does your team collaborate with other departments?
Sergiy: When we work with other departments, the communication is generally handled by Vitaliy, our CTO. He coordinates tasks, but when additional questions or problems arise or clarification is needed, we can jump in and communicate directly with internal stakeholders to help out when necessary.
Daniyal: Asana is our central hub for structuring projects and collaborating. When we work on projects that require input from other teams in ZenGroup, we communicate directly within the relevant tasks to ask for clarifications, share updates, and document technical requirements.
We try to keep a text-based approach to create a permanent, searchable record. In the case any details are forgotten, we can easily revisit that task and refresh our memory. For urgent situations, we shift to real-time communication via Slack. Direct messaging allows us to quickly check and resolve immediate issues without disrupting the documented workflow in Asana.
Vitaliy: Collaboration with other departments within ZenGroup is a key part of my role as CTO. I regularly communicate with team leaders and stakeholders across the company to understand business needs, prioritize technical initiatives, and ensure projects are aligned with company goals.
We primarily use Asana to manage requests, track progress, and maintain transparency, while Slack is used for faster discussions when needed. My responsibility is to help bridge the gap between technical and business teams, making sure requirements are clearly understood and that our developers have the information they need to deliver effective solutions.
Any advice for those considering to join your team?
Vitaliy: To our potential new colleagues, I encourage you not to be afraid to ask questions. It’s perfectly okay not to know everything right away.
In any complex system, it’s important to gradually build your understanding of the context, learn how processes work, understand why certain decisions were made, and recognize any limitations that may still exist.
I also want to emphasize the importance of paying attention to details, taking ownership of your work, and remembering that effective communication within the team is just as important as writing high-quality code.
Sergiy: To any new member joining our IT team, my biggest piece of advice is: don’t be afraid to ask questions. No one is expected to understand everything from day one, especially in an environment with so many interconnected systems and processes.
ZenGroup offers a wide range of services and functionality, which makes the work both exciting and challenging. Rather than trying to learn everything at once, focus on making steady progress. Take the time to understand the context behind your tasks, analyze problems carefully, and learn step by step. Most importantly, stay connected with your teammates. Open communication, curiosity, and a willingness to learn will help you grow much faster than trying to figure everything out on your own.
Daniyal: My biggest advice is to be patient with yourself and trust the process. When you first dive into our codebases, it can feel incredibly overwhelming.
Our IT team works with a highly complex architecture rather than a simple, all-in-one monolith, which means projects rarely launch without errors on day one, and understanding how all the moving pieces connect takes time. It is completely normal to feel a bit intimidated at first—everyone does.
When you hit those early roadblocks, remember that you are not alone. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask your us for help; we have a highly supportive team that is always ready to guide you. Be patient, stay confident in your skills, and keep pushing forward. Once you successfully execute your first few tasks, you’ll quickly realize that nothing here is impossible and you’ll find your rhythm!
