Jenius

TL;DR

Led the development and maintenance of features for the Jenius app, driving successful deployments and ensuring alignment with business requirements.
Oversaw the transition from native to React Native and implemented a microservice architecture, optimizing system performance and scalability.
Streamlined deployment tooling and workflow, enhancing efficiency and enabling faster delivery of software updates.

Things I used

iOS Native, Android Native, React, React Native
Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Kafka
Kubernetes, Docker, GitlabCI
Kibana

What is Jenius?

Jenius is a digital bank in Indonesia, the first one of its kind, launched in 2016.

It was built by BTPN, a traditional bank in Indonesia. It was built to cater to the younger generation, so everything is done within the app, and only in the app. It was a big disruption against banking industry in Indonesia when it was launched, and it still is.

🏄🏽‍♂️ My experience

Early days

I joined Jenius in 2015, when it was still stealthing. I was hired as Frontend Engineer, building feature for the apps, using native technologies (iOS, Android, Angular). I also doing the backend work using Java Spring.

Transition to Backend

Some time after the launch, we know for sure that we need to do a major rewrite of the apps and the backend, the development speed was painful. We were short on backend developers, so when my managements offered me to work on backend, I immediately took it. I was part of the team that built the second version of the system on both ends.

Rewrites and Rewrites

So we moved from native to React Native, and from Java Spring to Node.js. We also moved from monolith to microservices. It was a big transition, and it was a big success. After the change, we can deliver features faster, and we can scale the system easily.

It was a great experience. I learned a lot about how to build a system that can handle a lot of traffic, and how to build a system that can be easily maintained. I also learned how to work with cross-functional teams (PO, FE, UI/UX, etc), and how to work with a lot of stakeholders (VP, Senior Managements, etc).