Leaping into experience

Novitasari has been flying high – from upskilling her technical skills as an engineer at Grab to paragliding in Bali. 

I’m part of the engineering hub at Grab and I work as a Quality Assurance Engineer for Food Deliveries in Indonesia. I’m part of the team that makes sure the end-user has the best experience possible when they order food on the Grab app. 

That’s one of the reasons I became an engineer – technology is now so ingrained in our lives, right down to the little things. It’s something that we all relate to and I want to be part of that. So when it came to finding the right place to grow my engineering career, Grab was definitely my first choice. I think it’s always had a real edge when it comes to technology, so I believe it is the best place to improve my technical skills. And it has – I’ve been able to get experience doing manual tasks, in automation, and with some very technical subject matters. When I first joined Grab in 2021, I was nervous because I know how high the standard of engineering is here – but I quickly learned that there is no need to be nervous. Everyone is supportive – whenever I need help, they’re willing to jump straight in and offer me a hand. And the culture is really geared towards learning – I’ve taken part in some learning and development programmes and there’s always upskilling material shared with us.

The company still has a start-up vibe for sure, but as an engineer here, in particular, I find that things run just as they should in established companies. All the processes have matured, and are designed really well so we have a clear, efficient organisation – but it’s also a very dynamic place to work. A lot of people in Indonesia use Grab, and they have growing needs and wants when it comes to the app, so we work hard to meet those needs. And that’s something I love about working here, that hunger everyone has. We don’t stop learning, we keep improving ourselves to make a positive impact on our community.

Not only that but working at Grab has allowed me to work with others in different countries and broaden my life experience too. In our team, we get to collaborate a lot with engineers from other countries like China, Singapore, and Thailand. So you’re always meeting new people and working with a diverse group. 

I love to travel and last year, I was also lucky enough to visit Bali for quite some time. It was amazing because I got to explore new activities like paragliding and surfing. I found a group that takes you out and accompanies you on the glide so you can do it even if you have no experience. We jumped off a cliff near Pandora Beach, so the views were really beautiful. It does feel incredibly scary at first but after a few minutes, it’s absolute heaven! I also tried surfing there and it was great because they taught us all the basics – I found it hard at first because it’s difficult to keep your balance but I got the hang of it eventually. 

So, working at Grab has opened me up to all these new skills – whether it’s engineering or paragliding – and helped me explore new places while still having the comfort of my job and the support of my team.