Edgar Wang

I believe those who develop video games are among the smartest in the world and from a young age I aspired to become one of them. After selecting Information Technology as my college major, that aspiration came true – I built my own game in my first year at university. After a series of career twists and turns, I joined HSBC as a graduate software engineer in the Technology Centre in China in 2007.

A holistic approach to growth

In my career with HSBC, I’ve grown from a fresh graduate to a Principal Engineer, leading teams and actively exploring new technologies that can benefit the bank.

I recall when concepts such as APIs, cloud, and microservices were still new to the banking industry, I had the opportunity to contribute to a project to pioneer a full business capability deployment to the public cloud. My role involved refactoring the thousands of lines of code into cloud-native microservices. As a team, we successfully launched the first public cloud AWS EKS Cluster in production at HSBC.

“Apart from the opportunities to work on exciting projects, there are many resources to support my growth as an engineer”

Beyond technical skills, I have received opportunities to build on my soft skills. In particular, I joined the Enterprise Engineer Programme, where I improved my communication skills and networking abilities. Not only did the programme support my professional growth, but also my personal growth – the skills I gained motivated me to learn how to swim and obtain a driving licence.

Overall, I’ve been lucky to have worked with visionary leaders and contributed to projects that helped drive digital transformation at the bank.

Collective experiences make for stronger teams

I’m a firm believer in empowering others and encouraging teams to grow together.

To share my experience and learnings, I established an engineering community, created learning courses and pathways, and documented common practices for all engineers in HSBC. These initiatives have united teams across the bank and helped drive a culture of utilising engineering-based solutions.

I have also benefitted from learning from the experiences of others. As my career progressed, there was a time when I suffered from imposter syndrome. I wanted to work harder and longer hours to keep myself busy and prove I deserved my position. Luckily, my manager noticed this and shared his experience with me – providing guidance and practical support on reserving more time for thinking; and to prioritise spending time with my family. This was incredibly encouraging and helped motivate me to face new challenges.

If you are passionate about technology like me, HSBC is a great place to be. With many opportunities to work on different projects and a diverse culture, HSBC is a people-first organisation that promotes professional growth and prioritises work-life balance.

Learn more about working in Technology at HSBC.