We will update this statement on a twice-yearly basis to share our progress. If you would like to discuss DEI at Futureheads please contact team@wearefutureheads.co.uk. (Updated Jan 2024)

<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>We aim to be brave. We won&rsquo;t get it right all the time, but we believe it&apos;s better to say and do something rather than nothing, and to learn from our mistakes.</strong></div>

 <p>                     <strong>                       But we’re now striving to be better and to drive positive                       change. We firmly believe that everyone is welcome at                       Futureheads, and we aim to demonstrate that in everything                       we do.                     </strong>                   </p>                   We’re committed to creating a culture that reflects the                   make-up of society, we believe diversity promotes innovation,                   growth and equality. We are committed to being intentionally                   inclusive by understanding who we have in our culture and how                   we can best add equity to each individual, and contribute                   towards their professional development. We are actively                   helping our clients do the same. We celebrate the difference                   and rich experience that diversity brings, and we commit to                   ensuring that everyone we interact with, both within and                   outside our business, is valued, respected, and treated                   equally, regardless of their background, identity or                   circumstances. We aim to understand every individual’s                   capabilities, and to give them what they need to succeed to                   their fullest potential.

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Futureheads in Numbers

We are working with a rapidly growing LegalTech start up who are looking for a <strong>Senior AI Engineer</strong> <br>to join them on their journey.<br><br><br>Their platform combines expert human lawyers with cutting-edge AI technology to deliver affordable <br>and expert legal help. Backed by top investors, we’re rapidly growing, with major international <br>expansion on the horizon.<br><br><br> <strong>Mission:</strong> Leverage AI to democratise access to legal services for everyone!<br><br><br> <strong>The tech stack:</strong><br><ul><li>Python, LangChain, LlamaIndex, LangGraph</li><li>OpenAI, Gemini or similar</li><li>AWS, Google Cloud, GitHub Actions</li><li>PostgreSQL, OpenSearch, Redis</li><li>DBT, BigQuery</li></ul>As an AI Engineer, you’ll be tackling complex, abstract problems with the latest AI models and tools, <br>collaborating with a talented team to drive innovation across the full data and engineering stack. <br>You’ll play a key role in researching and experimenting with new approaches, models, and data <br>strategies to advance their AI-powered legal solutions. <br><br><br> You'll also work closely with the engineering team to ensure their R&D efforts are production-ready <br>and scalable. Your work will help evolve their AI products, ensuring they grow rapidly and safely <br>using the best development and testing practices. Additionally, you'll help shape the future of the <br>team through technical leadership and hiring.<br><br><br> <strong>What's on offer:</strong><br><ul><li>Salary: Circa £120k, depending on relevant experience</li><li>Fully remote from the UK</li><li>34 days annual leave</li><li>Equity</li><li>Social events and annual meet ups</li></ul><br> You must have UK RTW and we can not offer sponsorship on this occasion.<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Senior AI Engineer

We are seeking a visionary Technology & Product Lead to join one of the most exciting marketing businesses aound. You will be involved in driving the development and execution of cutting-edge, data-driven solutions as well as playing a pivotal role in shaping AI-powered insights platforms and scalable, revenue-generating products across industries such as FMCG, financial services, healthcare, and retail.<br><br><br><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong><br><ul><li><strong>Product Strategy & Innovation:</strong> Define and execute a vision for scalable, market-ready products that drive business value.</li><li><strong>Client-Facing Leadership:</strong> Partner with senior stakeholders to pitch, deliver, and integrate products into broader marketing and business strategies.</li><li><strong>Hands-on Technical Execution:</strong> Oversee and contribute to the development of machine learning models, data pipelines, and analytics platforms.</li><li><strong>Stakeholder Engagement:</strong> Work closely with internal teams and external clients to identify opportunities and align technological capabilities with business needs.</li><li><strong>Data Ecosystem Optimization:</strong> Leverage modern cloud-based infrastructures to enhance efficiency, scalability, and integrity in data storage and analytics.</li><li><strong>Team Leadership:</strong> Mentor and guide a data science team, fostering a culture of collaboration, learning, and innovation.</li></ul><br>This role combines strategy, stakeholder engagement, and hands-on development. You will influence senior leadership, manage a high-performing data science team, and ensure the effective integration of data-driven solutions into business strategies.<br><br><br><strong>What You Bring</strong><br><ul><li>Proven experience in leading data and tech-driven product innovation.</li><li>Strong expertise in machine learning, Python development, and data engineering.</li><li>Ability to translate complex data challenges into commercially viable solutions.</li><li>Experience engaging with senior leadership and clients to define strategy and deliver impactful products.</li><li>Knowledge of cloud-based data infrastructure (e.g., Microsoft Fabric or equivalent).</li><li>Hands-on approach—comfortable switching between high-level strategy and technical execution.</li></ul><br><br>If you're passionate about leveraging data, leading innovation, and making an impact, we’d love to hear from you.<br><br>*** You must have UK RTW, as there is no sponsorship available for this position<br /><br /><em><em>We encourage applicants from all backgrounds, so if there is anything we can do to make our recruitment processes better for you and to allow you to show your best self, let us know. We also understand that some people require extra time to complete assessments, require alternative application methods and can also benefit from having interview questions or a guide to the type of questions pre-interview. We are open to any suggestions or requests that you may have and are always looking for creative ways to assess talent. Our commitment to you is that you should always feel safe and secure when you’re working with us. Futureheads is a B Corp™ accredited digital recruitment agency based in London. We specialise in recruiting permanent, contract and freelance digital and tech professionals in creative, data, design, digital marketing, engineering, product, project and programme management, UX and service design jobs.</em></em>

Data Science Lead

<p>Robert is the Group Human Resources Director at Reward Gateway, an employee engagement platform. The business has over 1,800 clients using products to attract, engage and retain the best employees.</p>

<p>He is the lucky custodian of the People &amp; Experience teams at Reward Gateway. He is responsible for all of their people worldwide across these numerous teams and departments, including Employee Engagement, Learning &amp; Development, Reward &amp; Benefits, Diversity &amp; Inclusion, Office Experience, People Ops, Internal Communications and Recruitment. Basically anything and everything people related.</p>
<p>Robert spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/tag/ffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here.</a></p>
<h2>Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</h2>
<p>COVID-19&rsquo;s impact on businesses is immense, but it has also put a spotlight on just how important employee engagement is, especially in unprecedented situations. Many businesses who have offices around the world are feeling more connected than ever before because of the encouraged use of video calls and conferences.</p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve also seen a rise in internal communications. According to a poll we conducted that looked at year-over-year increases for the months of March and April across our 1,800 clients and 5 million users, there was a 96% increase in internal communication blog post frequency and a 560% increase in internal communication blog post views.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s also been a time where leaders needed to show compassion which is crucial when going through a crisis. We launched and delivered a work from home support package where employees received a budget to purchase items like desk chairs and laptop stands to make remote work easier. This was received very well and saw a huge take-up by our people.</p>
<h2>How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</h2>
<p>Operationally we have fine-tuned our processes to be more remote, and we&rsquo;re always reviewing this on a regular basis to ensure we&rsquo;re supporting our employees the best way we can. With that being said, we&rsquo;re taking real value into the feedback being given by our colleagues.</p>
<p>We have been putting out frequent pulse surveys specific to the current environment as we want to know how and what our people need to be most effective whilst working remotely. Taking full grasp and understanding of the needs of our employees is our main priority.</p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve also had to make some adaptations due to the current circumstances, and this meant that recruitment for some roles has been paused. However, this has given us an opportunity to look at the talent we currently have and focus more on the health and wellbeing of our team.</p>
<h2>What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment process?</h2>
<p>Setting expectations early is key, as well as providing transparency on our core values and processes. We want to ensure we&rsquo;re recruiting people who align with our core values, and it&rsquo;s equally important that we&rsquo;re the right fit for the person we&rsquo;re speaking to on the other end.</p>
<p>Organisation and communication is also important as you work out the timings and logistics of the interview process. As we&rsquo;ve shifted to a remote workforce, we&rsquo;ve made it clear on what our expectations are, so both parties can come prepared. It&rsquo;s also important to keep the interviewee engaged without overwhelming them.</p>
<p>Lastly, make sure you have approval for an offer as you move a candidate through each stage of the recruitment process to make sure you maximise your time efficiency. This step is important to ensure your capabilities are being used where needed.</p>
<h2>Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</h2>
<p>I think we&rsquo;re seeing many discussions arise on flexible work, specifically around whether organizations should put a more formal work from home process in place as offices begin to reopen.</p>
<p>At Reward Gateway, the rise of internal communications has inspired us to keep this going whether in lockdown or not. For many businesses, that may mean the need for more communication and collaboration tools to be formally brought into the workplace.</p>
<h2>What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at the moment?</h2>
<p>My advice would be to support your colleagues, be transparent, honest and most importantly, show compassion during this time. Don&rsquo;t keep anyone in the dark; include everyone in decision-making and give them the opportunity to share as much as they can.</p>
<p>We have also seen a significant increase in our peer-to-peer employee recognition solution across our company and our clients. It shows that employees are supporting each other and want to say thank you. It has made a big impact for us by connecting our people and I encourage organisations to make it easy for their people to do the same.</p>
<p>Lead from the front and be accessible, accountable and approachable. Your employees will need you now more than ever and it&rsquo;s important to show you are available should they have any questions.</p>

Futureheads Five Stories: Robert Hicks

<p>When you are starting out it can be hard to navigate the office landscape, so here are a few tips that have served me well over the years.</p>

<p>Having worked in the recruitment industry for over 20 years, I have seen some examples of good behaviour, and some examples of not so good behaviour that has impacted someone's career. When you are starting out it can be hard to navigate the office landscape, so here are a few tips that have served me well over the years:&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Do dress appropriately</strong>. It's important to make a good first impression, this may mean a suit but also may mean smart casual depending on your industry and company. If you are unsure, always err on the side of caution and go smarter!&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Do be on time</strong>. Employers want people that are well prepped and ready to go from your start time, not just falling in the door. This also applies for meetings, both internal and external &ndash; create the right impression from the start.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Do be respectful of others</strong>. You need to be polite, courteous and don&rsquo;t fall into the trap of engaging in gossip or negative talk in the office.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Do communicate effectively</strong>. Make sure you are clear and concise in your written and verbal communications, and actively listening when others are speaking.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Do work collaboratively</strong>. Office work often involves teamwork, and it's important to be able to work well with others.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don&rsquo;t be needlessly noisy</strong>. This includes speaking loudly on the phone, playing music without headphones, and generally making excessive noise that might distract others.</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don't be a clock-watcher</strong>. Constantly checking the time or counting down the minutes until the end of the workday will not give the impression that you're fully committed to your job.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don't be negative</strong>. Complaining or being negative can bring down the morale of the office, and it's important to maintain a positive attitude.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don&rsquo;t neglect your company kit</strong>. This includes office equipment, supplies, and facilities. For example, if you are going out after work then you need to leave your laptop in a locker in the office.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Don&rsquo;t maintain a messy desk policy</strong> &ndash; think of the environment and don&rsquo;t print unless you need to. Also, a clear and organised desk is a good insight into your personal mind. Too much clutter can get in the way and even be a distraction.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's important to remember that office culture can vary from company to company, so always be mindful of the specific norms and expectations of the office you're working in.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It's also worth mentioning that office culture includes some unspoken rules and values, for instance 'response time' for email, meeting culture, and who is allowed to access certain information. It's important to learn and understand these things within your first week or so, so don't be afraid of asking questions or clarify.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Office Etiquette - 10 Dos and Don'ts

<p>Rajeeb Dey MBE is the founder and CEO of Learnerbly, a professional development platform supporting employees to achieve their goals by connecting them to the best development experiences and enabling businesses to engage, develop and retain talent.</p>

<p>Rajeeb is a graduate of the University of Oxford and was appointed as the world&rsquo;s youngest Young Global Leader (at 26) by the World Economic Forum in 2012. Following university, he went on to found Enternships, a portal connecting students and graduates to roles in over 7,000 start-ups and fast-growing businesses for which he was named the &ldquo;02 X Young Entrepreneur of the Year&rdquo; and became the youngest recipient of the Queen&rsquo;s Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2013.</p>
<p>Rajeeb is also the Co-Founder of StartUp Britain, a national entrepreneurship campaign launched by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2011 and served as Trustee of UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs for over 10 years.</p>
<p>He was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen&rsquo;s 90th Birthday Honours List in June 2016 for services to Entrepreneurship and recognised as one of the 1,000 Most Influential People in London by The Evening Standard.</p>
<p>Rajeeb spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/tag/ffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here.</a></p>
<h2>1. Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</h2>
<p>Internally, we had to do what many others have had to do, and that was transitioning to full-remote. We&rsquo;re a tech company and already have team members who are remote 100% of the time. The structures were in place already; we just had to expand them to the whole team. Where COVID-19 has really had an impact is externally.</p>
<p>L&amp;D is the only work-related activity that furloughed employees are allowed to engage in, so we created a free version of the Learnerbly platform featuring our curated content. We want to help organisations support their furloughed employees, and this just felt like the right way and the best way we could do that.</p>
<h2>2. How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</h2>
<p>We&rsquo;re spending more time actively communicating with each other, and we try to be as transparent as possible in that communication. To deliver clarity through video calls and messaging, our new primary mediums of communication, we need to make conscientious efforts and have structures in place. One way we do that is by having conversations on public slack channels rather than private messages.</p>
<p>With hiring, our process has become virtual. Our in-house hiring practices were already clear and structured, making the switch relatively easy and streamlined for what questions we ask, why we ask them, and what makes a good answer.</p>
<h2>3. What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote onboarding and/or recruitment process?</h2>
<p>Offer clarity, provide structure, implement social time and make them feel welcome.</p>
<p>Before you do anything, say what you&rsquo;re going to do, whether it&rsquo;s in the form of a &lsquo;first-day agenda&rsquo; email or a stand-up call you should openly communicate as a first step. We also value our&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://linkscan.io/scan/ux/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubm90aW9uLnNvL2xlYXJuZXJibHkvTGVhcm5lcmJseS1zLUVtcGxveWVlLUd1aWRlLTNhMDk2NGVlNjNhYTQ5MGE4NjA2ZmI3YmViZTQyNzIy/570E29765F79BDB328441905F6A34E923AD8D1C00F89236C361BFB8EF16AD7E8?c=1&amp;i=1&amp;docs=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Employee Handbook</a>&nbsp;which is visible to anyone and clearly communicates to prospective applicants and hires our culture and values whether we&rsquo;re onboarding them virtually or traditionally.</p>
<p>Provide structure. Written guides, agendas, and action points drive productivity and keep everyone in the know for what they&rsquo;re supposed to be doing and when they should be doing it.</p>
<p>Implement social time to compensate for what is missing in a virtual work environment. Organise virtual coffees for people and encourage non-work related conversations over video and messaging channels.</p>
<p>In general, with virtual onboardings, it means making an extra effort to ensure new joiners feel welcome. I schedule check-ups with them to get feedback, and we try to continue our onboarding rituals which include taking people out to lunch on their first day. Now we ask people to get food delivered and expense it, as well as the team signing and sending virtual welcome cards rather than giving a physical one.</p>
<p>We&rsquo;ve long had Empathy Guides that each new joiner fills out to help people get a better insight into their colleagues, how they work and what their interests are, but these guides have become even more important given that we haven&rsquo;t met many of the people who have joined the business over the last two months.</p>
<h2>4. Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</h2>
<p>We&rsquo;re working surprisingly well given the circumstances. We know this is not a regular WFH situation because there are threats to physical and mental-health impacting all of us but that doesn&rsquo;t mean we aren&rsquo;t seeing sustained productivity and employee engagement. Our Officevibe employee engagement score is at an 8.9/10 &mdash; putting us in the top 10% of Officevibe companies. These results in a time of crisis do prompt us to think about our office of the future and reflect on how we will work going forward. We&rsquo;re listening to our team and surveying their attitudes towards returning to physical office space and whether a permanent office for all will even be the best way forward or not. We&rsquo;ll go ahead with what we think is best for everyone.</p>
<h2>5. What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at the moment?</h2>
<p>This too, shall pass. If you&rsquo;re making decisions that are good for your people, then the stability of your business should follow. Make sure you over-communicate during these times as people can feel uncertain and anxious.</p>
<p>The more transparent and compassionate you can be during these difficult times, the more your colleagues will respect and appreciate you fostering a happy and engaging environment. If you can be anything, be kind to yourself and to others as the way you respond as a leader during this challenging period will be a defining moment for how your colleagues perceive you and your employer brand in future.</p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Rajeeb Dey

<p>Sandy Manuel is the co-founder of baytree.co, whose mission is to help create a better model of impact and disrupt venture with real ROI. He&rsquo;s taught and led teams within innovation over a 20 year period, creating new innovation frameworks based on the patterns of successful businesses from the last century.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What&rsquo;s the story of your career so far?</h2>
<p>Well I&rsquo;m self-taught and it&rsquo;s been quite a journey. I did pretty badly at school, and found myself at 22 working in a credit control department which wasn&rsquo;t exactly inspiring or fulfilling, so I quit. I had always been fascinated by innovation from a young age and spent the next decade studying the patterns and lessons from those businesses that had succeeded over the last 100 years. This led to managing innovation and business design teams, where I advised the likes of adidas, Burberry, Barclays, Swiss Banks and more. If you look beyond the jargon in our industry, most innovation efforts are effectively just throwing darts at a board (&ldquo;MVP&rdquo; is a good example) so this work led me to create new types of innovation frameworks to better the current ROI on innovation. All this then culminated in me launching baytree.co, where our mission is to help create a better model of impact and disrupt venture with real ROI. We also advocate for half of all innovation funding to go to female-led businesses.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What&rsquo;s the most important lesson you&rsquo;ve learnt over the course of your career?</h2>
<p>When it comes to innovation, it&rsquo;s all about probabilities and improving the odds in your favour. I learned that to discover new revenue streams, we needed an objective framework to make decisions that have the greatest probability of commercial success. This is why I created the &ldquo;Confidence Model&rdquo; based on the patterns of successful businesses from the last century. For too long we&rsquo;ve been enamoured with the &lsquo;innovator&rsquo;, the strong personality in the boardroom banging the table declaring &ldquo;this is the future&rdquo;. We&rsquo;re not Steve Jobs, so whilst you may get lucky once in your career, subjectivity is not a strategy. Any innovation framework you use should be based on real human needs which are timeless, not the latest tech fad of the week. It&rsquo;s better to say no to ideas, and be more focussed on two or three concepts that have a greater probability of success since they&rsquo;re based on real needs not technology, rather than spreading your finite resources on twenty different ideas. Crucially, this leads to greater transparency in decision-making, reduces bias and inspires your teams.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>How can organisations ensure they thrive, rather than simply survive, as they attempt to return to a &lsquo;new&rsquo; normal over the next few months?</h2>
<p>Very simply, look after your staff. I don&rsquo;t mean asking how everyone is, that&rsquo;s a given, but actually looking at their welfare and wellbeing in this moment. Culture trumps process, and it&rsquo;s this which helps organisations thrive, not a new process we now need to design for today&rsquo;s &lsquo;new normal&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s recognising that we do our best work when we feel happy, confident in ourselves and have a sense that what we do contributes to the wider goal. Today, that&rsquo;s hard &ndash; we all know friends and colleagues working longer hours, trying to adapt, manage childcare, loneliness and more, so genuinely looking to see how we can support our team wellbeing will lead to an organisation that can grow rather than simply trying to survive.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>You&rsquo;ve talked previously about the need for companies to be &lsquo;purpose driven&rsquo; &ndash; what do you mean by this, and why do you consider it so important?</h2>
<p>We need to move from the current mode of survival to becoming a source of employment which means discovering new service models to enable growth. To quote Mike Kruzeniski, &ldquo;you won&rsquo;t discover the future on a spreadsheet&rdquo;, or in other words, the future isn&rsquo;t in ROI. For example, would ROI have led to the invention of electricity, creation of the car, determining the potential of the Web or &rsquo;the next big thing&rsquo;? No. I&rsquo;m pretty sure the iPhone and microwave weren&rsquo;t validated through a PowerPoint presentation. There will also be a war for talent as more individuals become available, and put simply, companies need to ask themselves why these individuals would want to join their team above any other. Being purpose-driven is the answer. ROI isn&rsquo;t a good sales pitch to prospective employees. To be driven by a &ldquo;Return on Purpose&rdquo; as opposed to ROI is what gives us the commercial and intellectual headspace to go from creating the car to creating that next big thing, because we want to have impact in this world. It ensures market relevance, staff retention and growth, and in a world where everything feels unstable, having purpose in what we do is a very welcome anchor.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>What&rsquo;s going to be the biggest challenge in your particular industry over the next 12 months?</h2>
<p>Budget cut and growing job losses. We all agree we need mechanisms for job creation and that&rsquo;s best achieved through creating new service models. Equally, we all know creating new types of service models is incredibly hard, even in a growing economy. Across the world, from Governments to the community outside our window, they are all looking to experts within innovation for new models of growth and impact. Those of us responsible for innovation, whether as a funder or executor, are needed by our industry to meet this call to action.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Futureheads Five Stories – Sandy Manuel

<p>Matt Pilgrim is an experienced channel and alliances director and is Partner Development Director for the UK business of global digital experience platform provider Episerver. Matt took five minutes to share his thoughts about the impact of Covid-19 to Episerver and the changes they are making as a result.</p>

<p>Matt has perviously held leadership positions at companies including Microsoft, Sitecore, Tealium and now Episerver, and has experience of designing, implementing and managing channel and alliances businesses globally. Episerver are a global software company providing a customer centric digital experience platform. They provide content driven commerce with personalisation and analytics built in, all delivered in a cloud environment.</p>
<p>Matt spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.wearefutureheads.com/tag/ffs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business.</span></li>
</ol>
<p>I think we have a similar story to tell as many businesses at this time. We are a partner-driven business meaning we rely on a network of agencies and system integrators to help us position, sell and implement our solution. Covid-19 has seen a lot of digital projects we were working on being be put on hold while they work through the next few months.</p>
<p>From an operational standpoint, it has been a relatively smooth transition to lockdown working. Episerver has a strong framework in place to support employees and we are a distributed business so remote working was already a key element of our business.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</span></li>
</ol>
<p>There have been a number of changes operationally, mostly centering around morale and employee welfare. The business has gone to great lengths to ensure there are lots of virtual touchpoints for employees. We have creatively moved almost our entire social calendar for employees to online events and introduced specific content to help with working at home such as cookery classes, skills talks, home schooling advice most of which have been supported by the business but run voluntarily by staff. We even ran a red carpet event where people dressed in tuxedo and cocktail dresses, nominating their favourite lockdown movie. We have also increased the frequency of regional and company all hands meetings, this has helped with a feeling of inclusivity around key decisions the business is making.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<ol>
<li><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25);">Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</span></li>
</ol>
<p>We are definitely taking a different view on how we operate and there will be long-standing changes. We have tried to improve our communications both internally and externally to clients and partners. We are trying to be more considerate than ever of the challenges facing our partners &ndash; trying to notice the pressures that they face that we may not necessarily be exposed to, and I think we are a better business for it.</p>
<p>Episerver has demonstrated this ability to listen by releasing a number of initiatives designed to help our Partners and customers during this time, all under the Covid-19 &lsquo;come back stronger&rsquo; response. We have made all our online training courses for developers and business users of the Episerver platform free until the end of June, we have a content diagnostics tool as part of the platform that we have made available for free to equip resource-stretched content teams with fast, actionable and real-time intelligence on how well content is meeting the needs of visitors. Plus, we have also developed a version of our digital experience platform designed for frontline industries. It&rsquo;s a way for us to work with our partners to provide a website for the companies that need it most right now with really attractive commercial terms but more importantly a quick time to market. We have customers that have built a full website or commerce experience in under two weeks! Full details of our come back stronger response can be found at:&nbsp;<a style="color: rgb(255, 0, 25); background-color: transparent;" href="https://www.episerver.com/trust-center/covid-19-come-back-stronger/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.episerver.com/trust-center/covid-19-come-back-stronger/</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Futureheads Five Stories: Matt Pilgrim

<p>Jonathan is the Chief of Staff at Lightful, a technology company for social good, who support charities through consultancy, social media products and a unique online learning programme.</p>

<p>He&rsquo;s spent 15 years working in tech for good, first for over a decade at JustGiving where he managed their Crowdfunding product from an idea to raising &pound;100m in five years, and more recently as an independent consultant supporting a range of small and large tech-for-good startups and charities with strategy, growth, product management and business model validation.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jonathan spoke to Futureheads as part of our FFS series, a regular interview series where business and industry leaders share their insights and personal experience. Other articles in the series can be found here.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>1. Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</p>
<p>The most obvious impact, as with many others, is that we&rsquo;re now a fully remote company. We decided to move to working from home a week before the lockdown started, so we&rsquo;re now in week 7 and the team has adjusted really well &ndash; we have always encouraged flexible working, and so most people were used to working remote work some of the time already.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We&rsquo;re also fortunate that our main clients have also managed the transition to remote work and we&rsquo;ve been able to continue delivering excellent work for them.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The charity sector has been hit very hard &ndash; with huge declines in income and huge increases in demand for services &ndash; so we&rsquo;ve adapted to support it in multiple different ways. We&rsquo;ve had to cancel some in-person events, but we have always run regular webinars for charities and so we have increased the frequency of them, and covered more topics like top tips for getting better at online meetings and free digital tools for charities.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>2. How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</p>
<p>We have two &lsquo;all-hands&rsquo; meetings a week now. One was a regular operational meetup to share important information which has moved online. But we also added a new &lsquo;WFH update&rsquo; at the end of every week for a chance to share any more news, and where different team members share two things they&rsquo;re grateful for and one thing they&rsquo;d wish to see.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a great way to foster a sense of connection when we&rsquo;re all apart, as is showcasing each team&rsquo;s work from the sprint. We are also sharing tips on a very active and engaged #work-from-home slack channel.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>As for hiring, we&rsquo;re having more video interviews with different team members to make sure everybody gets honest and good insights. We&rsquo;re also making COVID-19 topic we cover &ndash; both in terms of its impact on us and our partners, but also as a way to ask how people deal with stressful situations, how they are coping and how they respond to constraints by being creative or solving problems.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>3. What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment</p>
<p>process?</p>
<p>For recruitment, we&rsquo;ve tried to increase communication and transparency. Both internally and externally. In terms of onboarding, we&rsquo;ve made use of various online tools (zoom, slack, HR software) to make the process smoother, but are also erring on the side of over-communicating to help people start well.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>We&rsquo;re trying to set really clear expectations for the first few weeks, months and probation in general. As well as that, we&rsquo;re getting more of the team involved in onboarding and connecting with new joiners.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>4. Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</p>
<p>Yes, in terms of how important it is for us to fulfil our vision: we believe those doing the greatest good deserve the best technology. For example, we run a 12-month programme to support charities in building resilience in digital engagement, and we&rsquo;re adapting that to include topics related to COVID-19 and the lockdown. We&rsquo;re committed more than ever to delivering support to our charity partners at a time when the need is even greater.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>5. What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at</p>
<p>the moment?</p>
<p>To start, here are eight tips for managing remote teams from our wonderful HR team. We&rsquo;re also working hard on checking in on the team&rsquo;s wellbeing and mental health &ndash; everyone has a &lsquo;WFH buddy&rsquo; outside of their immediate team who they&rsquo;re encouraged to talk to, and we&rsquo;ve done regular surveys to see if anyone needs anything &ndash; be that equipment or a chat.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In addition, we&rsquo;re making a lot of effort to build and maintain a virtual company culture through virtual coffees, WFH tips and regular Friday showcases of the work different teams across the company are doing. We&rsquo;ve had really good feedback about the variety of things we&rsquo;re doing, so it&rsquo;s also really important to listen and adapt &ndash; what was appropriate in weeks 1-2 of lockdown may not be relevant from weeks 6 or 7.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>All in all, it&rsquo;s a delicate balancing act between trying to deliver excellent value to customers as best you can in difficult circumstances, whilst listening and responding to the needs of your team. This needs regular attention and commitment to get right.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>

Futureheads Five Stories: Jonathan Waddingham

The complexities of AI and Machine learning, as well as the focus on data integrity, means hiring professionals with compliance, system integration and advanced analytics skills can be challenging. Our team is on hand to help with your Data recruitment needs.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>The complexities of AI and Machine learning, as well as the focus on data integrity, means hiring professionals with compliance, system integration and advanced analytics skills can be challenging. Our team is on hand to help with your Data recruitment needs.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Data Engineering</li>
      <li>Data Science</li>
      <li>​Data Analytics</li>
      <li>Business Intelligence</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Data

With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>With positions across agencies, brands, start-ups and tech companies, we work with Creatives delivering new brands, campaigns and integrated experiences. From hiring freelance Creative Teams to your first in-house Copywriter, we’ve got it covered.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network include professionals in:</h5> 
    <ul>
      <li>Motion Graphics & Video Editing</li>
      <li>Branding</li>
      <li>Copywriting</li>
      <li>Art Direction</li>
      <li>Illustration</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Creative

Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK – With a comprehensive network across all majors skill-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>Part of our founding offering; since 2009 we have been part of the growth and evolution of the Design market in the UK – With a comprehensive network across all majors skill-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5> Our network includes Designers with skills in:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Digital Product (UX/UI) Design</li>
      <li>User Interface (UI) Design</li>
      <li>​Visual Design</li>
      <li>Digital Design</li>
      <li>Marketing Design</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Design

We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a quick pace. Digital Devices, Digital Platforms, Digital Media, Digital Data, And Digital Technology never stops. This is why our teams are on hand to support these changing landscapes and are always ahead of the curve.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a quick pace. Digital Devices, Digital Platforms, Digital Media, Digital Data, And Digital Technology never stops. This is why our teams are on hand to support these changing landscapes and are always ahead of the curve.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals in</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)</li>
      <li>Pay-per-Click</li>
      <li>Social Media Marketing</li>
      <li>Content Marketing</li>
      <li>Email Marketing</li>
      <li>Mobile Marketing</li>
      <li>Marketing Analytics</li>
      <li>Affiliate Marketing</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Digital Marketing

Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>Our niche is technical experts who specialise in IT and digital projects, across multiple platforms and technology stacks. Come and talk to us about all things engineering, from entry to CTO-Level.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes professionals across:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Front-end</li>
      <li>​Server-side​</li>
      <li>​Full-stack​</li>
      <li>Native Mobile​​</li>
      <li>Technical Architecture​​</li>
      <li>Solution Architecture​​</li>
      <li>Testing</li>
      <li>QA​​</li>
      <li>DevOps</li>
      <li>SRE</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Engineering

From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist network in the design and tech space. They have trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>From recruiting your first Product Owner to hiring your next experienced Product Managers, our recruiters have developed a specialist network in the design and tech space. They are trusted experts in sourcing and delivering both permanent and contract professionals in the field.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Chief Product Officers (CPO)</li>
      <li>VP's of Product Management​</li>
      <li>Directors of Product Management</li>
      <li>Product Managers​​</li>
      <li>Product Owners</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Product

With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the Digital and Tech space, we can help you find the talent to help you deliver better budget controls, communication, and reporting, to help you find ways to introduce new processes tools and technology that can support more efficient work delivery.

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>With a deep understanding of what is required from Project Managers and Programme Managers in the Digital and Tech space, we can help you find the talent to help you deliver better budget controls, communication, and reporting, to help you find ways to introduce new processes tools and technology that can support more efficient work delivery. </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>Digital Project Managers</li>
      <li>Programme Managers</li>
      <li>Engineering Project Managers</li>
      <li>Software/IT Project Managers</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

Project & Programme Management

From helping shape the London-UX market from the early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events – our reputation holds in our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into opportunities. 

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <p>From helping shape the London-UX market from the early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events – our reputation holds in our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into opportunities. </p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
    <h5>Our network includes practitioners with skills across:</h5>
    <ul>
      <li>User Research</li>
      <li>Interaction Design​</li>
      <li>​UX Design</li>
      <li>Information Architecture</li>
      <li>​Service Design​</li>
      <li>Content Design</li>
    </ul>
  </div>
</div>

UX & Service Design

Adam Boutouili

<p>Adam brings a deep specialism in Data and AI to the Futureheads team, having developed his recruitment and sector expertise since 2018. He's passionate about building strong relationships and always 'doing the right thing' - so our B Corp commitments are a great natural fit.</p>
<p>When he's not connecting Data and AI specialists, Adam has his hands full caring for two children and a Jug (that's a Pug/Jack Russell cross in case you didn't know), but he also finds time to play foootball every week and to continue learning how to code in Python.&nbsp;</p>

Sectors we cover

Data

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