Evonne Li

When I came back from overseas to Guangzhou and joined HSBC in 2016, I didn’t expect myself to stay so long with the bank. I remember telling my headhunter that I wanted to be a developer and work in a nice office with a high ceiling. HSBC offers much more than that – our diversity, an empowerment culture, and opportunities for career growth are the key reasons I am still enjoying my work here every day.

Thriving in a diverse and inclusive culture

One of the things that impressed me the most when I first joined was the number of female developers in the office. Having worked in other IT companies, where there was not a lot of diversity in the workplace, I could feel a difference at HSBC.

We value diversity and everyone’s opinion is respected here.

“There is a strong sense of community among women in tech at HSBC and we build each other up.”

For example, one of my teammates, Sophia, started a Women Forum in the Guangzhou office to connect female engineers. It received a lot of enthusiasm and has expanded to other global locations across the bank with the support of senior management. I’ve joined some of the sessions to share my experience and tips for career growth.

Innovating through experiments

Ideas often come to life through experimentation and iteration. Our flat and innovative culture enables us to experiment. If we have a good idea, we are encouraged to experiment with proof of concept. If it doesn’t work, it’s okay to fail fast.

One of the projects that I’ve been working on, AI Markets (opens in new window), is an example of this. It wasn’t a multi-year planning type of project. The team started with two developers working closely with the business – the product owner of AI Markets now – to develop a few features to test out the idea. It’s grown into a mature project and a product used by customers across various markets.

The collaboration between engineering and business teams is very important to building successful products. While we support hybrid working, I do value in-person interaction. I like having coffee chats with different stakeholders when I go on business trips to our Hong Kong and London offices to find out what’s happening in their world, their challenges and pain points. I often discover synergies and new ideas this way.

A nurturing environment for growth

Internal mobility is highly encouraged at HSBC. I have moved roles every few years since joining. This has helped me gain knowledge in different technologies, systems and businesses. My managers have always been very supportive. I can have open conversations with them and get their advice on which internal opportunities suit me.

There are also a lot of resources to support our career growth. I’ve taken part in many training programmes and have the opportunity to meet technologists from other teams and locations. One that I’ve enjoyed the most is a leadership training programme called Fusion, which has helped me see things differently and approach problems from a new perspective. Most recently, I joined the Principal Engineer Accelerator Programme and it was a valuable experience being mentored by other Principal and Distinguished Engineers at HSBC.

Learn more about working in Engineering at HSBC.