I’d spent more than ten years building my career before joining Informed, so when I started thinking about what came next, I wasn’t looking to start again. I enjoyed what I was doing, I’d progressed into leadership and learnt a huge amount over the years, but I’d reached a point where I wanted a different kind of challenge. I wanted to broaden the range of technical problems I was solving, spend more time working directly with clients again and continue developing as a leader.

I also wanted the work itself to matter. As an engineer, you spend your career solving complex technical problems, but I wanted to know that what I was helping to build had a purpose beyond a single organisation. One of the things that attracted me to Informed was the opportunity to work on technology that delivers genuine societal value. Alongside that, I was looking for somewhere collaborative, somewhere I could continue learning, and somewhere I could genuinely see myself building a successful and fulfilling career. After spending more than a decade with my previous employer, finding a business where I could see the same long-term opportunity was important to me.

Looking back after my first year, those were exactly the things I found.

Hear more about my journey in the video below:

Finding the right challenge

Coming from a product background, I’d spent years becoming deeply familiar with the same technologies solving the same kinds of challenges. That gives you a huge amount of expertise, but it also means your focus naturally becomes quite narrow. What appealed to me about consulting was the opportunity to broaden my knowledge and capabilities. Different clients, technologies and technical challenges mean every engagement is different, so you’re constantly learning and every day really does look different from the last.

Before joining, I did wonder how quickly I’d settle back into working directly with clients. Earlier in my career that had been a big part of my role, but after several years leading development teams I wasn’t sure how quickly those skills would come back. Within a couple of months, I was leading technical delivery across two different client engagements, helping establish ways of working and working closely with clients from the outset. It reminded me quite quickly that those skills hadn’t disappeared; I’d just not been using them in the same way for a while.

What made that transition easier was the level of trust and support provided by colleagues. I was expected to bring the experience I’d built over the previous decade, but I was equally surrounded by people who were generous with their own knowledge and always willing to help. That balance meant I could take ownership while still learning from the people around me, and I think that’s one of the reasons I’ve settled into consulting so quickly.

Seeing the impact of the work

The variety of the work was one of the reasons I joined Informed, but over the past year it’s probably the impact that’s stayed with me most.

One project that always comes to mind is our work with The Crown Estate, helping develop technology that identifies suitable locations for offshore wind farms around the UK’s coastline. It’s exactly the kind of engineering challenge I enjoy, bringing together geospatial processing, environmental constraints and sophisticated modelling to solve problems that don’t have straightforward answers.

The engineering is truly fascinating, but what makes the project genuinely rewarding is seeing what that work contributes to. Every time renewable energy generation is in the news, there’s a direct line between the work we’re doing and the wider impact it has. As software engineers, we often build systems that quietly sit in the background, and you never really see where they end up. Here, you can see the difference the work is making, and that changes how you think about what you’re delivering.

For me, that’s what Tech for Good means in practice. It’s still about solving complex technical problems, but there’s an added sense of purpose because you can see the wider benefit those solutions create.

The difference culture makes

The projects brought me to Informed, but looking back over my first year it’s probably the culture that has had the biggest influence on my experience.

We often talk about having a flat hierarchy, and that’s something I’ve experienced from day one. Whether you’re working alongside graduates, experienced engineers or Technical Directors, everyone is approachable and everyone has something to contribute. You learn from people with years of experience behind them, but you also pick things up from people who bring fresh ideas and different perspectives. It doesn’t really matter where those ideas come from; if they’re good ideas, people listen.

I’ve seen that myself through the work we’ve been doing around AI-assisted development across the business. It gave me the opportunity to bring experience from previous roles, work with colleagues from different disciplines and contribute to something beyond my own client engagements. It also introduced me to people across the business that I probably wouldn’t have worked with otherwise, which is one of the things I’ve really enjoyed.

I don’t think you ever reach the point where you’ve learnt everything here. The variety of projects, the people you work with and the different perspectives you’re exposed to mean there’s always something new to pick up. At this stage of my career, that’s something I value much more than I probably did ten years ago.

Looking ahead

When I was considering my next move, I was looking for somewhere that would continue to challenge me professionally without losing the parts of engineering I’d always enjoyed most. I wanted interesting technical problems, more time working with clients and an environment where I could keep learning while working on projects that genuinely made a difference.

A year on, that’s been my experience. I’ve worked on technically demanding programmes, contributed beyond project delivery, spent more time with clients again and learnt something new on every engagement. Looking back, that’s probably what I’ve valued most. The variety that first attracted me to consulting is still there, but so is the sense that I’m continuing to develop alongside people who challenge and support me every day.