From Code to Orchestration: Leading Dev at UpGate, Meet Our Head of Development

At the heart of UpGate’s powerful payment orchestration platform is a team of engineers turning complexity into clarity. One of the key figures behind this transformation is Dmitrii Slastenin, Head of Development at UpGate. With deep experience in backend systems and a hands-on approach to leadership, Dmitrii shares how his team tackles scalability, integration, security, and how a good dessert can lift even the toughest day.

Dmitrii, tell us a bit about your background and your role at UpGate.

I began my journey in IT by building small websites, later participating in various projects as a Backend Developer, then as a Team Lead, and eventually took on the Head position. I’ve been with the company almost since its inception. I’m responsible for the entire development process, technical team hiring, infrastructure, PCI DSS audits, and more.

What are the biggest technical challenges in building a scalable payment orchestration platform?

As an orchestration platform, we need to integrate a wide variety of payment systems and processors. They often have unique flows, while we must provide our merchants with a unified interface to manage them, abstracting away all the integration nuances. It’s not always easy, but we’re handling it well and will continue doing so.

How does your team approach integrating new payment methods and PSPs efficiently?

We start with a quick assessment of the new payment method or PSP to ensure it supports the features we require. Then, we do a detailed analysis of the API based on documentation, checking response correctness, payment statuses, and so on. Most issues are resolved at this stage with the help of managers and the support team of the new integration.

Once this check is complete and all nuances are documented by an integration specialist, developers and QA take over. We have prepared code and test starters, as well as checklists for testing and acceptance, which ensures the process is quick and precise in most cases.

Security and compliance are critical in payments. How does UpGate approach these from a development standpoint?

We base our approach on PCI DSS requirements, which we confirm annually via external audits and regular application scans. Our security processes are designed and maintained by professional security engineers. Each task’s code is checked for known vulnerabilities before deployment to Production. Employees regularly undergo training on secure development and general security principles, including tests and drills. The security of our users and merchants, and our reputation as a reliable partner, is always a top priority.

How do you handle data privacy and transaction monitoring in a multi-market environment?

Following recommendations from payment systems and industry best practices, we’ve built a solid system that protects all data both technically and through access zone separation. Each employee and system user has only the access needed to perform their duties.

For monitoring, we use various anonymized metrics and alerts that help us identify potential issues. These are then investigated by the appropriate personnel, considering both technical and business perspectives.

Dmitrii Slastenin, Head of Development

How do you structure your team to stay agile while building something as complex as UpGate?

I’ll speak primarily about the technical department, although these principles apply across the company. We have several specialized teams that handle different focus areas. At the same time, we involve our specialists in other areas when needed to ensure versatility and broad perspective.

Currently, we have the Core team (system core), the Integration team (external integrations), and the User Facing team (everything user-interface-related). Each includes developers and QA specialists, led by team leads. We also have DevOps and Security teams that build and maintain a secure and performant infrastructure while supporting development needs. The entire architecture is overseen by our Architect, who ensures we create scalable, unified solutions for the business.

This structure allows us to develop specific areas deeply while shifting resources flexibly as needed.

On a lighter note, what’s your favorite non-tech hobby?

Reading books, swimming, and exploring new cities and countries. I also enjoy riding motorcycles. The latest book that caught my eye was Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Edwin Catmull and Amy Wallace.

Do you listen to music while working?

No, I find I’m much more productive in silence. My role also involves frequent communication with teams, product, and business departments—music would be inconvenient. I usually listen to music in the car, and it’s mostly rock.

What’s a hidden talent your team might not know?

Some of them know already, but I used to be a professional armwrestler.

And finally, what’s a guilty pleasure that always boosts your mood?

A delicious dessert, of course. Specially a honey cake :)

Want to learn more about how our tech team keeps UpGate fast, secure, and scalable? Stay tuned for more interviews with the people behind the platform.

In the meantime, you can check our past interview with our Head Of Product, Alex Max.

Book a demo if you want to know more about our product.