When you’re building your career, the decision of where to work rarely comes down to one thing. You want the stability and scale of a company that’s going somewhere, one with real infrastructure, global customers, and a product that matters. You also want to feel the energy of doing genuinely interesting work: the autonomy to make decisions, the speed to ship, and the sense that what you build actually moves the needle.
For the engineers on our Bulgaria team, that combination is the reality of the job. Here’s what they have to say about why they chose Smartsheet, and what keeps them here.
You move fast. Really fast.
One of the first things candidates ask is how quickly things actually get done at a company of our size. Our Bulgaria team had a consistent answer: fast.
“Usually in many big companies, things move very slowly. Here, if you write a great piece of code on Tuesday, it can be working for users by Thursday. I didn’t expect a large company to operate with this kind of speed and energy.” — Kaloyan Gangov, Software Engineer II
That pace isn’t just a product of good tooling, it’s by design. Engineers here are trusted to make real decisions without layers of approval slowing them down.
“I expected it to be sprint after sprint, just shipping features. But, there’s genuine room to step back, question an approach, propose a better solution, and have that conversation taken seriously. Nobody is just executing tickets. — Dimitar Gradev, Senior Software Engineer I
“I expected more gates and approvals — instead, people are trusted to make real decisions and drive things forward. You can go from a doc to a decision to a shipped feature faster than most places would even finish the review process.” — Kalin Kanev, Senior Director, Engineering
Real ownership
Ownership is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot in job descriptions. On the Bulgaria team, it means something specific: you are trusted with the full lifecycle of your work, from architecture to production.
“I’m not just writing code, I’m really trying to own the outcome of the entire project. This means I spend my time adding new tools, optimizing features to make them faster, and writing clear documentation so everything works perfectly for our users.” — Kaloyan Gangov, Software Engineer II
For newer engineers, that level of ownership comes quickly. Vasil Vasilev joined recently and was already taking full responsibility for shipping MCP tools to production within weeks.
“I needed to take full ownership of the entire development cycle and had to do extensive testing of the tools before saying they were ready for prod. There is something exciting in knowing that people finally have access to the work you have done.” — Vasil Vasilev, Software Engineer II
Work at the cutting edge of AI
One of the most consistent themes across the Bulgaria team is the nature of the work itself. Engineers here aren’t maintaining legacy systems — they’re building in one of the fastest-moving spaces in tech.
The team was deeply involved in building and launching the Smartsheet MCP connector for Claude by Anthropic, which launched in March 2026. It lets customers interact with their live Smartsheet data directly through AI conversation, querying status, updating tasks, and creating assets — without ever touching the UI.
“My current project is an innovation in a space that is evolving quickly and has so much potential. What I love about it is how crucial it can be for the whole product and company. I feel that my work matters a lot.” — Valentin Varbanov, Senior Software Engineer I
For engineers who want to stay ahead of the newest technology and ideas, the Bulgaria team is in the right place at the right time.
“We’re genuinely at an inflection point — the kind where the decisions you make and the work you ship actually shape the direction of a product category. Being part of something at this stage, with this much momentum, is exactly where you want to be.” — Kalin Kanev, Senior Director, Engineering
Scope that challenges you to grow
The breadth of work available to engineers here is something that consistently catches new joiners off guard, in the best way.
“As a software engineer here, you cover everything — cloud infrastructure, operations, security, development, observability, client escalations, helping customers get the most from our product. That breadth is exactly why I joined Smartsheet, and it’s the first company I’ve worked at where that wide range of expertise is not just welcomed but used daily.” — Georg-Nikola Pavlov, Senior Software Engineer I
That challenge extends to stepping outside your primary domain when the work calls for it. Dobri Kostadinov, a mobile developer by trade, found himself leading a full CI/CD infrastructure refactor, getting hands-on with Terraform, Terragrunt, and AWS from scratch.
“What I loved most wasn’t just tackling the hurdles of cloud infrastructure and winning, but the fact that I was building something that directly improved my entire team’s daily workflow. It broadened my technical horizons and allowed me to deliver tangible value beyond mobile development.” — Dobri Kostadinov, Senior Software Engineer II
The team also supports that growth structurally, with access to Enterprise Udemy, defined personal learning goals, and a culture where engineers are encouraged to push past what they already know.
A team that cares
Even with a flexible working model, the Bulgaria team still makes time to meet up in person to work and play.
“We have a great balance of working hard and actually enjoying our time together. Whether we are solving a difficult technical problem or just catching up, the atmosphere is always supportive and friendly.” — Kaloyan Gangov, Software Engineer II
That connection extends beyond video calls. The team meets regularly in Sofia for post-release celebrations, team lunches, and co-working days on Vitosha mountain. They’ve also come together globally for EMEA onsites that have become a highlight for many team members.
“A very memorable experience for me was our on-site in London. We had the time to explore the city in the evenings. We often finished the day on the hotel’s rooftop terrace, chatting til midnight. My best work travel by far.” — Raycho Kostadinov, Software Engineer II
And when things get hard — a production issue, a tight deadline, a complex problem with no obvious answer — the team’s response says a lot about the culture.
“Without anyone being asked, the team just rallied. People stayed on, picked up pieces that weren’t even theirs to carry, and kept the mood light even when the pressure was real. We got through it, and afterward nobody made it a big deal. It was jus t… what we do.” — Dimitar Gradev, Senior Software Engineer I
“When we were deploying changes to production, we found that we had some issues with one of the features I was working on. I was stressed, but the team handled it really well — no blame, no egos, just a bunch of people trying to solve a problem as quickly as possible.” — Vasil Vasilev, Software Engineer II
Of course, celebrating wins is also a big part of their culture.
“We share achievements across the team and company-wide, which fosters a genuine culture of celebrating success and drawing inspiration from each other’s work. Recognition isn’t limited to big launches — smaller wins and clever solutions are highlighted too.” — Georg-Nikola Pavlov, Senior Software Engineer I
Built for engineers who want impactful work
The Bulgaria team has figured out something that’s genuinely rare: the infrastructure, global scale, and career runway of an established company, combined with the speed, ownership, and frontier work that engineers spend their careers trying to obtain.
If you’re an engineer looking for work that matters, a team that trusts you, and technology that’s truly cutting edge — look no further.
Explore open roles on the Bulgaria team.