Why working at sunday as an engineer hits different
How is it to work at sunday as an engineer? Like, really? We decided to ask our tech team directly. They don’t often get to share their stories, yet they are at the core of all we do and are behind all our services and products. Thank you to Ellène Dijoux (Software Engineer), Sébastien Ferre (Staff Engineer), Emilie Delsol (Software Engineer) and Clément Poissonnier (Software Engineer) for sharing their stories with us.
Engineering Restaurant Operations
Speed Through a Quality-First Approach
At sunday, we enable restaurant guests to pay within seconds. Operating in the critical domain of payments, particularly in the fast-paced restaurant industry, speed is paramount. Our technology powers live restaurant operations and ordering. As our CTO Arnaud Lemaire emphasizes: “Our business model and client expectations demand short cycle times and the ability to ship fast without breaking things.” Our tech team is committed to delivering fast, repeatedly and at scale.
We’ve embraced an agile model to accelerate production, facilitate continuous learning and iterative improvement. Did you know that the agile method was initially invented by software developers? Agility allows us to build quality foundations of software in anticipation of future changes. That’s the route we’ve taken to develop all our tech at sunday, through an extreme programming (XP) methodology and software craft. Most of our tech philosophy lies with our CTO, Arnaud Lemaire, who shared more about this sunday journey here.
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
We put quality at the core of everything we do, explains Clément. We think about the product’s future. And to go well, a project needs to be conceived well from the start.
Tech with a Tangible Impact
We’re a mission-driven company by humans for humans. “Save time for what matters” percolates into everything we do. The vision by sunday cofounders is shared throughout the company and is very present in our tech team’s workday. The tech team interacts with our cofounder Victor Lugger at least once a month and he frequently shares updates and vision insights directly or through engineering managers. Emilie shares that these discussions are very motivating, “Every time I speak with him, I feel boosted. I appreciate that he shares what he’s currently thinking about.”
Many of our developers are very involved in their interest communities in and outside of work. Ellène was a key figure in Java communities and she cofounded Duchess France to promote women in IT. She supported this initiative for no less than 10 years!
Each engineer can see the impact of their work by using the final product. Ellène was very enthusiastic about the Hybrid project, especially because she was at the restaurant for the first live test. “It worked, and that was pure joy. My best moment at sunday.” Clément appreciates the direct impact his work has on users, and working on something that his relatives can easily understand and use. “I like working for people to have a great time!” Anyone can use sunday products, and many engineers have used them before joining the team, like Sébastien.
Clément enjoys being in contact with restaurants: he supported a shift and an onboarding. When a restaurant close to his house had a configuration issue, he didn’t hesitate to go pay a visit in person to help troubleshoot. He enjoys collaborating with clients directly and joining industry events such as the Food Hotel Tech trade show in Paris.
Collaboration at the Core of Quality
A Voice for Everyone
Our tech team’s approach at sunday believes in collaboration to enhance quality. We’re a big but tight-knit team where everyone has some great things to share.
I enjoy that everyone’s voice is respected at sunday, shares Emilie.
“We can say what we think. This is rare in the industry.”
And Clément adds: “Everyone has the freedom to make decisions. We don’t need to ask for permission to revise our deliverables for the sake of quality. And each team organizes as it wants.” Our engineers appreciate this self-organization and all the subcultures it fosters.
Clément also appreciates the room for error. “Any mistake by my team can have a huge impact since we are responsible for external-facing features. However, I never felt any distrust nor encountered anyone trying to place blame or responsibility on a team member. This positive work environment offers great psychological safety.”
Collaborative Learning
At sunday, we value tech beyond day-to-day product work. We hold open forums for one afternoon each month: on that day, anyone can create an agenda depending on what they want to learn or share with others. An internal advice forum is also held bi-weekly to discuss technical questions. That’s one aspect that Ellène appreciates the most: “I love information and knowledge sharing at sunday. Before joining the company, I used to be very involved in these topics in online communities. I am happy to have found that same collaborative spirit at sunday.”
Full-remote Office, the Human Way
While sunday embraced a full-remote tech team structure, we use synchronous time schedules. Every day, team members join the virtual office on Gather, a tool that allows you to move around rooms and strike up conversations with people you encounter. “Just like in real life,” shares Clément. “We are synchronous but we do adapt to everyone’s lives and family priorities.”
Emilie appreciated being hired by sunday while pregnant. She could adapt her work hours to her daughter’s kindergarten schedule and hasn’t felt lonely a single day despite having never met her team in person. “I’m glad to have had this great career opportunity while still being able to care for my child.”
Ellène concludes:
I’ve never been surrounded by people so open and generous with their time. Our work atmosphere is nice, I’ve only met great people here.
Opportunities for growth
Learn from the Best
sunday’s full-remote policy and commitment to great work allow us to work with the best talent there is, wherever they are. “The full-remote policy allows us to work with people from all walks of life,” shares Clément, “Excellent talent isn’t necessarily based in big cities anymore.”
Working alongside people who are better than me helped me grow alongside the company, recalls Sébastien.
Ellène also shared learning on constantly at sunday. “At sunday, I have the opportunity to work with senior developers and people who are amongst the best at what they do.”
sunday supports senior engineers who wish to stay close to code. Ellène joined sunday when she was looking to reconnect with software development after some years managing teams.
Diversity of Challenges
A common thread of all our interviews for this article is that no day is similar at sunday. And there are so many interests you can explore if you wish to. Ellène and Emilie have done almost everything at sunday. “We used to say that 1 month at sunday was equivalent to 1 year in any other company,” recalls Clément. Sébastien enjoys this versatility of rhythms: “Some days are 100% coding, others are 0%. It also depends on where the company is at.”
sunday engineers can decide to work on what they’re most interested in. Ellène is currently working on exciting app upgrades for a major restaurant group. Emilie expressly asked to join sunday’s guest app team to discover the native aspect of working on iOS and Android apps, something she had never done before.
At sunday, you can choose to move around or stay on the same project for years. The decision is up to you!
Opportunities for growth
Operational Responsibility
At sunday, engineers see the direct impact of what they build. Every line of code has a visible effect on real-world restaurant operations. In the payments and hospitality industries, metrics are immediate and concrete: transaction speed, system performance, uptime, and customer satisfaction. There’s no ambiguity. When a feature works well, it shows instantly in the numbers.
Our engineers are fully responsible for their work in production. This end-to-end ownership from development to deployment and beyond fosters a strong sense of accountability and pride. It also keeps the team sharp, motivated, and deeply connected to the user experience.
Human Tech for Restaurants
At sunday we strive to put the human experience at the core and center of the restaurant experience, for staff and diners alike. That’s why our tech team is highly dedicated to developing the best technology for humans, by humans.
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