Joining us for the latest edition of MD Culture Club is Informed Solutions.
We spoke to three of their team members to find out what working at Informed Solutions is like!
Talent lead - Max Ottavianelli, Recruitment Manager
Can you tell us a little bit about the company, before describing the culture at the organisation?
We’re a successful, scaling, international digital solution provider that has been in business for 30 years, helping organisations transform their performance through better use of technology and data. Headquartered in Altrincham, we also have offices in London, Edinburgh, and Sydney.
Our clients are globally recognised public and private sector brands operating in a variety of sectors including Healthcare, Sustainable Environment and Land Asset Management, Policing, Transport, and Digital Democracy.
The multi-Queen’s Award for Innovation winning data and AI-powered solutions we develop help make the world a safer, greener, healthier, more inclusive, and smarter place, representing the tech-for-good values and commitment that underpins everything we do.
Our ethos revolves around collaboration, teamwork, and professional development. Everyone’s learning and development is significant at Informed, and we help our people to achieve their long-term goals through tailored career frameworks, a robust coaching programme and relevant industry recognised certifications and qualifications.
In our latest Great Place to Work® survey results our people gave us a 96% Trust Index rating, placing us in the top tier of companies globally. This is a testament to our sustained efforts in building and promoting a positive, inclusive, and diverse workplace culture that embraces our people as the greatest assets to the business.
How does the company go above and beyond to attract and retain tech talent?
Our success and that of our clients relies on adding great talent to our teams. As we continue to scale, we’re consistently looking for people that have the skills, experience, and determination to make a real and positive difference through the design and delivery of platforms and solutions that power #tech4good services that have a real impact on people’s lives, as well as supporting career paths tailored to professional aspirations, elevating development and expertise to the next level.
As a tech agnostic consultancy, our people are able to build and deliver cutting edge solutions using the best-of-breed technologies, offering exposure to a huge array of tools. We also have highly empowered Communities of Practice across all our technical disciplines, which are a great place to pose and solve challenges, discuss new techniques, and share learnings from projects or industry events.
We also offer highly competitive remuneration packages, including comprehensive rewards and benefits centred on health, wellbeing, development, and personal growth as we continue to scale our investment in our people.
What does the future look like for the company and its employees?
We’re incredibly excited about the future, as our business continues to scale responsibly and sustainably to support its strategic growth plans in the UK and in new international markets and territories including Malaysia and Australia. As demand for our services grows, we are expanding our Altrincham HQ, paving the way for over 50 new employees.
We are fully committed to investing in the growth of all new colleagues and we have a number of open roles at the moment that you can find on our website. There has never been a better time to map your career aspirations onto our growth journey.
The new starter - Greg Headley, Senior Data Scientist
Can you describe your role at the company?
I am a member of the Project Services team, working as a Senior Data Scientist. My primary role is to deliver value for our clients through the development and deployment of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) models. These models might include analysis and understanding of legal documents, recommendation engines for case management, topic clustering, and analysis of millions of incident reports, and many more besides.
Another key part of my role, especially as somebody entering the business with several years of industry experience, is supporting colleagues on their own career journeys. I provide insight and expertise in the world of data science and try to encourage a few more people into our world! For those early in their careers, I offer guidance and support on subjects like model development, client interaction and project delivery. I have also been known to coach a colleague or two offsite at the climbing wall!
What was it about the organisation that attracted you to the role?
More than the exciting and diverse projects, the competitive compensation and benefits, or the great location, I was most attracted by the culture at Informed Solutions. I was delighted when I started to find that the culture is not just words, it is embodied by every single person.
This organisation is not just committed to delivering great value to our clients. There is also a deep commitment to excellence across every layer of the business. This translates to colleagues you can depend on, whether it be support on a challenging project or understanding when I was moving house. The sense of community, collaboration and camaraderie creates a great platform and atmosphere for success.
Can you describe the onboarding process you’ve experienced?
My onboarding process was thorough, well-designed, and curated uniquely to me, meaning in my early weeks I was introduced to every layer of the business. This taught me about the various functions within the organisation and how I can support and be supported by them.
I was quickly introduced to some colleagues through collaboration on my early projects. I came to know other team members through the friendly attitude found in our shared spaces and the variety of opportunities on the firm’s social calendar. Combining all these pieces together meant I quickly felt right at home at Informed; a place where I’m empowered to take my career to the next level and beyond.
The long-term employee - Lizzie Stutchbury, Managing Consultant
Can you describe your role at the company?
My role at Informed is Managing Consultant, which covers a number of different bases. I head one of our internal squads, which means leading and guiding our teams from project brief to execution, working closely with our solution leads, specialists, and delivery managers from across the business to ensure our approach is always collaborative. Ultimately, I enable and ensure our clients achieve the outcomes they want when they partner with us.
I’m also part of the leadership team, and our Delivery Management discipline, ensuring that we are continually developing our practice, whether its incorporating new industry standards or driving innovation.
Finally, I’m a line manager and coach for a number of colleagues. Throughout my time at Informed I’ve had great role models and mentors to support my development, and it’s really rewarding that I now have the opportunity to pass on the benefit of some of my experience and key learnings to the next generation.
You’ve been at the company for a number of years, can you tell me what has kept you at the company for so long?
Over 10 years! I originally joined Informed as a Graduate in 2012, fresh from a MSc in Geographic Information Science (GIS) at the University of Manchester.
There are so many reasons why Informed has been an amazing place to start and continue to develop my career, with one of the main ones being - cliché alert – our people! Teamwork and collaboration are a really important part of our culture, you get to work closely with people who are passionate about creating solutions and achieving the best outcomes. I can’t overstate that enough. Everyone’s opinion and voice are heard, and everyone is approachable, and happy to support each other.
Also, I love solving problems! Sudokus, jigsaw puzzles, you name it, I love it, and at Informed I’m able to work with great clients who have genuinely complex and interesting problems to help solve. I’ve had the opportunity to work in a wide range of sectors, from healthcare and the environment to energy and land management, across both public and private sectors. I’ve also been lucky enough to travel across the UK and abroad to help forge new relationships and pursue solutions!
The support I’ve received from colleagues has also been crucial. I’ve had the opportunity to experience roles across our different disciplines and continue to work with people from right across the business, which has enabled me to identify my strengths and develop them throughout my career. This has led to wider industry recognition, including one of my proudest moments when I was elected to the national Association of Geographic Information (AGI) Council as member and Director.
What would you say to a person considering joining the company?
Informed offers a nurturing and dynamic environment for all, whether you are taking the first steps in your career or joining as an experienced hire. You get to work as part of cohesive, innovative, and ambitious teams, solving real-world problems by using logic and reason, all underpinned by developing and using cutting-edge digital technologies. It’s incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.
I invite anyone interested in digital transformation and consultancy to get to know us and ‘become Informed!’
To learn more about why we work at Informed and our live opportunities go to: https://www.informed.com/careers/why-informed/
