If you would like to discuss DEI at Futureheads please contact <a href="mailto:team@wearefutureheads.co.uk">team@wearefutureheads.co.uk</a>

<div style="text-align: center;">We aim to be brave. We won’t get it right all the time, but we believe it's better to say and do something rather than nothing, and to learn from our mistakes.</div>

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. 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

M365 Modern Workplace & Security Engineer Hampshire (Winchester, Guildford & Petersfield) £40,000–£45,000 (flexible for strong candidates) Full-time | Permanent | On-site We’re working with a growing Microsoft-focused consultancy that delivers secure, well-governed Microsoft 365 environments to professional services organisations across the South of England. This role sits at the intersection of Modern Workplace engineering and Microsoft cloud security, ideal for someone strong in identity, endpoint security and tenant governance who also enjoys client-facing responsibility. This is a fully on-site position split across: <ul><li>1 day per week in Winchester</li><li>1 day per week in Guildford</li><li>Remaining days based in the Petersfield office</li></ul>The Role This position combines embedded client engagement with structured Microsoft 365 security and platform delivery. You’ll act as a trusted Microsoft 365 specialist, helping clients improve security posture, governance, collaboration structure and overall tenant health. Alongside stakeholder-facing work, you’ll contribute to internal delivery projects focused on identity, endpoint management and security optimisation. Core responsibilities include: <ul><li>Administration and optimisation of Microsoft 365 environments</li><li>Entra ID (Azure AD) identity management and role governance</li><li>Designing and implementing Conditional Access policies</li><li>Microsoft Intune configuration (device enrolment, compliance, application deployment)</li><li>Microsoft Defender deployment and endpoint security improvements</li><li>Supporting Zero Trust-aligned configurations (MFA, least privilege access, access control)</li><li>Improving Teams and SharePoint governance and lifecycle management</li><li>Assisting with tenant reviews, remediation work and security enhancements</li><li>Working within structured, ISO-aligned operational processes</li></ul>Required Experience<ul><li>Strong hands-on Microsoft 365 administration experience</li><li>Practical Entra ID / Azure AD knowledge</li><li>Experience configuring Conditional Access policies</li><li>Microsoft Intune experience (compliance policies, endpoint configuration, app deployment)</li><li>Exposure to Microsoft Defender (Endpoint and/or Identity)</li><li>Solid understanding of security best practices within M365 (MFA, Zero Trust principles, RBAC)</li><li>Experience supporting Windows endpoints</li><li>Comfortable engaging with non-technical stakeholders</li></ul>Desirable<ul><li>Microsoft certifications (MD-102, MS-102, SC-300 or similar)</li><li>Experience in ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials-aligned environments</li><li>MSP or consultancy background</li><li>Familiarity with Power Platform or automation</li><li>Awareness of Microsoft Copilot / AI governance considerations</li></ul>About You<ul><li>Security-conscious and detail-oriented</li><li>Professional and confident when working directly with clients</li><li>Comfortable balancing hands-on engineering with advisory conversations</li><li>Interested in improving long-term tenant governance rather than purely reactive support</li></ul> 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.

M365 Infrastructure Security Engineer

Staff API Trading Engineer Location: London (preferred) or Remote EU. Salary: Competitive (market-aligned by location, strong total comp) We’re partnering with a leading trading firm to hire a Senior API Trading Engineer to own and build out their API trading capability from the ground up. This is a high‑impact hire with a clear path to becoming a team lead. You’ll report directly to the Head of Engineering (who reports to the CTO) and work closely with teams handling OTC, credit and loans, ensuring the API trading stack meets – and exceeds – top‑tier competitor standards. What you’ll do Design, build and evolve high‑performance public trading APIs (REST, WebSocket, FIX is a big plus) Own API documentation: clear, developer‑friendly specifications and guides Collaborate with trading, engineering and OTC teams to align API features with business needs Drive reliability, performance and security of low‑latency trading integrations Influence future team structure; potentially hire and lead an API trading team What we’re looking for Must‑haves Proven experience working on public APIs at an exchange or trading company (non‑crypto is fine) Strong background with OpenAPI (FastAPI or similar may be acceptable if the rest is strong) Hands‑on experience with WebSocket and REST APIs; FIX is a major plus Experience with Rust or another low‑latency language (e.g. C/C ) – you must be comfortable enough for a Rust take‑home exercise Solid understanding of security and authentication for APIs Good communication skills and comfort working cross‑functionally Typescript exposure is a plus Nice‑to‑haves Experience in crypto or traditional finance trading platforms Worked on an algo / matching engine at a trading firm Strong security affinity beyond the basics Location & Work Setup London 3x p/w Salary is £130-160,000 plus bonus.  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.

Staff Back End Developer

Technical Operations Lead About the Company Our client is building a next-generation global financial institution focused on digital assets. Designed from first principles, the organisation prioritises market integrity, operational efficiency, and scalable infrastructure in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. Its core capabilities span institutional liquidity provision, advanced trading solutions, OTC execution, and comprehensive treasury management services. The company operates with a disciplined, systems-oriented mindset to deliver resilient, high-performance platforms across all business lines. The Role As Technical Operations Lead, you will drive operational execution across Engineering, Infrastructure, IT, and Cybersecurity functions. This is a delivery-focused role centred on execution, coordination, and operational excellence. You will translate ambiguous requirements into structured plans, align cross-functional stakeholders, manage vendors and procurement workflows, and ensure complex integration initiatives are delivered on time and to a high quality standard. While the role requires technical fluency, the primary mandate is ownership, execution discipline, and cross-organisational coordination. Key Responsibilities Program Delivery & Execution<ul><li>Lead critical engineering, infrastructure, IT, and security initiatives from concept through delivery</li><li>Translate strategic objectives into defined scopes, milestones, and actionable workstreams</li><li>Facilitate project rituals (kickoffs, status reviews, risk tracking, retrospectives)</li><li>Maintain clear reporting across timelines, dependencies, risks, and required decisions</li></ul>Requirements Gathering & Cross-Team Alignment<ul><li>Partner with Product, Trading, Research, Finance, Compliance, and Operations teams to gather requirements</li><li>Convert business requirements into technical deliverables with defined ownership and acceptance criteria</li><li>Manage cross-team and vendor dependencies proactively</li></ul>Vendor Management & Procurement<ul><li>Coordinate vendor selection processes (requirements definition, RFPs, demos, evaluation frameworks)</li><li>Oversee procurement workflows (quotes, approvals, renewals, contracts)</li><li>Manage vendor delivery including timelines, SLAs, escalation paths, and performance tracking</li></ul>Cross-Organisation Integrations<ul><li>Lead integration projects spanning systems, teams, and environments</li><li>Ensure interoperability requirements are documented and validated</li><li>Drive system cutovers and migrations with structured communication and rollback planning</li></ul>Operational Excellence<ul><li>Implement lightweight processes for intake, prioritisation, and execution</li><li>Maintain a clear “single source of truth” for plans, decisions, and delivery metrics</li><li>Identify recurring operational friction points and improve through automation, standardisation, and robust documentation</li></ul>Required Competencies Must-Have<ul><li>Strong ownership mindset with high agency and end-to-end accountability</li><li>Demonstrated ability to execute in ambiguous, fast-paced environments</li><li>Experience delivering under time-sensitive conditions while managing trade-offs effectively</li><li>Strong programme/project execution capability (planning, dependency management, prioritisation)</li><li>Clear and concise communication, including escalation and stakeholder alignment</li><li>Experience with vendor sourcing, evaluation, and contract coordination</li><li>Comfortable partnering with engineering and security teams on technical trade-offs</li></ul>Technical Baseline (Supportive, Not Core) Working familiarity with: <ul><li>Basic scripting or automation (e.g., Bash, Python)</li><li>Observability and monitoring tools (e.g., Grafana or equivalent)</li><li>Work tracking systems (e.g., Jira or similar)</li><li>Documentation platforms (e.g., Confluence, Notion, Markdown)</li></ul>Ability to ask structured technical questions, validate acceptance criteria, and identify delivery risks. Preferred Experience<ul><li>Experience operating in regulated or compliance-heavy environments (e.g., SOC 2, DORA, ISO 27001)</li><li>Exposure to infrastructure initiatives (Kubernetes, networking, IAM, cloud or hybrid environments)</li><li>Familiarity with incident management, change management, and operational support models</li></ul> 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.

Technical Operations Lead

Software Engineer | Award-Winning ClimateTech | Up to £75,000 p/a 💻 Software Engineer - Java/Kotlin 💚 Critical ClimateTech Infrastructure 🏆 Best Workplaces™ multi-year award 📍 Central London - 2 days per week 💰 Up to £75,000 p/a bonus We’re partnered with a fast-growing ClimateTech business building mission-critical software at the heart of the energy transition. Join a small, high-impact engineering team solving complex, real-world problems where your work directly affects system reliability, revenue, and customer experience. The work is hands-on, product-led, and far removed from feature-factory engineering. The Role As a Software Engineer, you’ll work primarily on backend systems that power high-availability, transaction-heavy services. You’ll take real ownership of core functionality, contributing across design, build, and continuous improvement. You’ll be involved in initiatives such as: <ul><li>Improving system reliability and success rates across critical user journeys</li><li>Building pricing and configuration logic that responds to real-world demand patterns</li><li>Developing and scaling automated payment and transactional workflows</li><li>Working closely with product and data teams to turn insight into shipped features</li></ul> Despite the backend emphasis, there’s scope to get involved across the stack if that interests you. What You’ll Bring <ul><li>Commercial experience building backend systems, ideally using Java/Kotlin but other languages considered</li><li>A solid understanding of building scalable, resilient services in production</li><li>Comfort working in smaller teams, wearing multiple hats, and operating outside rigid role boundaries</li><li>A product-minded approach - you care about why you’re building something, not just how</li><li>Strong fundamentals and a willingness to learn and evolve with the tech stack</li><li>Clear communication and a collaborative, low-ego working style</li></ul> Experience with cloud platforms (AWS), modern frameworks, and infrastructure-as-code is beneficial, but mindset and ownership matter most. What’s on Offer <ul><li>Salary in the region of £65,000–£75,000, depending on experience</li><li>Strong holiday, pension and discretionary bonuses</li><li>Real ownership and influence over systems that matter</li><li>A flexible hybrid working setup with a central London office (2 days per week)</li><li>A values-led, inclusive engineering culture focused on long-term quality</li><li>Strong learning and development support</li><li>The opportunity to work on software with tangible environmental impact</li></ul> If you’re a Software Engineer ready to make a crucial impact at this pivotal stage of the energy transition, apply today to join a high-growth, mission-driven team. Software Engineer | Award-Winning ClimateTech | Up to £75,000 p/a 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.

Software Engineer | Award-Winning ClimateTech | Up to £75,000 p/a

Futureheads have partnered with a health and fitness start up who have release a dietary managment and coaching application, leveraging AI and bespoke personal coaching to help customers hit their health and fitness goals. They are in a position where they are already in profit and have some interesting updates on the horizon.  Their Front end and mobile application are in a good place but they need someone to come in and own, build the backend architecture, set up API calls and ensure it's scalable due to the forecasted growth. You'll also Work with LLMs and AI tools to support coach productivity and personalised user experiences. They are ideally looking for someone who has worked within an early stage start up for three years and has contributed to a product scaling. The stack is TypeScript, Node, CGP, GraphQL and on the Front end it's React and React Native. The role is fully remote in the UK. Salary is £85-120k dependent upon experience. No sponsorship is available for this role.  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.

Founding Backend Engineer

Urgent Contract | Senior QA Automation Engineer | Up to £300/day (Outside) <ul><li>Senior QA Automation Engineer</li><li>Own QA at an award-winning BioTech company</li><li>Modern QA Automation tools/frameworks (Cypress, Playwright, Selenium etc)</li></ul>I’m working with an award-winning BioTech company with over two decades of success. Their scientifically backed, leading high street product has transformed thousands of lives and they are constantly evolving with an ever-growing customer base and successful e-commerce and subscription model. To support this evolution, we are looking for a Senior QA Automation Engineer on a 6-month contractual basis. You’ll have proficiency in test automation, modern QA tools and familiarity with key testing frameworks such as Cypress, Playwright, Selenium etc. You will have considerable responsibility and autonomy in the role, taking over the QA process from the embedded digital product team. Ideally, you would also have experience with subscription/e-commerce platforms, although this isn’t a hard requirement. If you’re an immediately available Senior QA Automation Engineer, get in touch via message, or email james.adamson@wearefutureheads.co.uk 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.

QA Engineer

Matthew Bagwell is a fully qualified and practicing Advanced Oxygen Advantage&reg; Breathwork instructor, coaching across elite sports to people in need of specific support addressing physical and psychological conditions including depression and anxiety. He is also an endurance athlete, currently focused on ultra-distance running events.
Matt teaches people all over the world how to use their breath to improve physical and mental resilience, induce deep relaxation, overcome challenges including pandemic anxiety and unlock creative energy. His work is grounded in pragmatic scientific research and personal experience. As he says himself, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not woo woo, it&rsquo;s all science.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

1. What trends have you seen in peoples mental health over 2020?
The headline is increased anxiety. My classes have grown and grown as well as requests for one-to-one tuition &ndash; very often, it&rsquo;s relieving stress that is foremost in their minds. Sadly, I have also had more conversations with people developing early signs of both depression and fatalistic thinking. While this should come as no surprise &ndash; we are all under extraordinary circumstances &ndash; we need to pay attention to long-term wellbeing in LD2.
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2. What are the most important and emerging skills to work in the new normal?
From my perspective, it&rsquo;s about maintaining a balance and not developing new, less positive habits. We don&rsquo;t need to move to work or around the office. We can sit for hours and oftentimes, will be on our computers for hours longer than we would have been pre-pandemic. So we have to develop new healthy habits; take a regular screen break, don&rsquo;t eat and work, see the horizon every day, start work on time (not earlier) and end on time (not later) and spend time on exercise. The new skill here? Obsess about your wellbeing.
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3.&nbsp;If you could change one thing in peoples behaviour, in the new normal, to benefit their health and keep them on track professionally &ndash; what would it be?
To breathe consciously, inhaling and exhaling through the nose only, for ten minutes a day. People can join my free classes on @lovetolearnto to learn how to do this to optimise how they breathe. Changing breathing can help manage anxiety, improve sleep and positively affect how we think.
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4. What has been your biggest key learning and how will this prepare you for the future?
That I had taken personal contact with loved ones and travel for granted. As soon as I can do either (in a way that&rsquo;s sustainable for the planet), I&rsquo;m hugging everyone, everywhere!
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5. What has been the biggest surprise to you?
Great question. For me, just how resilient nature is. With Lockdown One, I was able to closely observe it and celebrate it &lsquo;bouncing back&rsquo;. I think so many people said the same thing, bird song, insects, boundless blackberries, clear skies. There&rsquo;s something to remember and take forward in this. I really hope we do.

Futureheads Five Stories – Matthew Bagwell

There are a huge number of reasons anyone could consider a career change at any given time, but particularly in a downturn this idea could prove more tempting. Here are the things to consider:

Get prepared &ndash;&nbsp;many jobs sound interesting in theory, but when you understand what they actually involve day-to-day you may be less convinced. Likewise you might start exploring something in more detail and find yourself drawn in, which suggests it could be a good avenue for the longer term. You can&rsquo;t guarantee a career change will instantly be right, but you can be proactive in your research and converse with people in the space to ensure you are making an informed decision that suits you.&nbsp;Understand your experience &ndash;&nbsp;once you have found a new career you are interested in pursuing, you need to know what skills you have that are transferable, or you can upskill in to make you relevant. Competing in a new field means you start at a disadvantage, but it does not mean your previous experience counts for nothing. Understand what can be substituted and if there is experience you lack, what can you do to close the gap.&nbsp;Think about skills for the long-term &ndash;&nbsp;Coaching is key, regardless of whether you want to line manage or not. It will help engage colleagues, stakeholders, clients positively in tricky situations and help build personal resilience &ndash; more important than ever to think about at the moment.&nbsp;Who can help &ndash;&nbsp;some career changes are easier than others, but with any change you make, having a few shortcuts to help you on your way is always useful. Whether it is friends, former colleagues or recruiters, companies will more likely take a chance on someone they know well, even if it was in a different capacity.&nbsp;
<h2>What key skills will be most valued by employers over the next 12 months?</h2>
Comfort with ambiguity&nbsp;Software &amp; data engineering&nbsp;Analytics &amp; data science&nbsp;Qualitative research to understanding rapidly changing consumer behaviours&nbsp;
<h2>How do you assess if a company is the right cultural fit for you?</h2>
There is no point making a career change to end up back where you started. So here are the things to look out for when assessing if a company is right for you:
Do they share your values?&nbsp;Each company has its own identity and set of values which govern how they operate. A good fit is often based on these being reflected in the individuals they hire themselves so use the interview process as a chance to assess this. Think about things like the communication style used, how they support employee growth, the work environment provided and how they handle conflict. These will give you a steer on whether you would be happy there.&nbsp;Read up.&nbsp;Check for any relevant news or information you can find on the business and what it is like to work there. Whilst all good and bad reviews need to be taken with some discretion, they are normally a good indicator of the truth and could help you validate any pros or cons.&nbsp;Evaluate the full picture.&nbsp;Everyone has their own tick list to work through. This may include things like the mission, progression, salary, location and much more. For most people there are a few things which cannot be compromised on and others which you are flexible on. If you find you are in a position where you are compromising too much then take some time to evaluate whether the company and fit is right for you.

Futureheads Top Tips series: Considering a career change

Sam Cohen is the COO and co-founder of Lifted, a Care-Tech company that aims to transform later life using tech to revolutionise the care experience for families and Carers.

Sam is a graduate of the London School of Economics with 10+ years&rsquo; experience building scale-up businesses. His career began in Equity Research but he soon followed his passion for tech by joining Wonga and RateSetter to launch new markets &amp; products. His next role was at Yopa, joining the founding team as Operations Director, where he played a central role in supporting the business scale from 40-450 after raising &pound;75m in Series A-D funding.
Sam 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>
<h2>1. Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</h2>
The logistical challenges overall have been manifold, moving our management of the business and the field online simultaneously. However, everyone has been incredible and more than met the challenge. Family members of clients on Furlough have seen a slight reduction in demand for Hourly care however Live-in inquiries have increased.
<h2>2. How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</h2>
Given our carers go into clients homes we have had to be incredibly diligent in ensuring they have the correct PPE at all times. To ensure this, I have set up a mini-distribution centre at home, posting out PPE parcels daily. Sourcing PPE has become a critical project managed by the Operations team.
In terms of hiring new carers, we have ramped up phone and zoom screening and held 2 training sessions in lockdown, onboarding a dozen carers digitally. We can also conduct risk assessments remotely for certain clients.
We have also had 4 new starters in &lsquo;Remote HQ&rsquo;. For them to understand our culture / lore quicker, we have put together a &lsquo;Lifted Potted History&rsquo; doc with salient moments (pictures, screenshots of archaic s/sheets etc) that captures some of the journey to date.
<h2>3. What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment process?</h2>
Don&rsquo;t rush and where possible, ask a subject matter expert outside of the organisation to objectively assess the candidates against their protocols. That helps remove any unconscious biases hiring managers have toward their preferred candidates.
<h2>4. Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</h2>
Yes. It has accelerated the need to digitise certain face to face interactions that were previously thought essential. Whilst the act of giving care must remain physical, lots of the upfront work to onboard a client can be done more efficiently remotely.
The process of building rapport and empathy is slightly trickier online, especially when meeting older clients not used to talking to screens. However, through active listening and patience all parties can come away feeling understood and comfortable with aligned expectations.
We are also on the lookout for volunteers with care experience who are minded to make a difference in these turbulent times. Being able to onboard volunteers, therefore, is another tweak to how we will recruit going forward.
<h2>5. What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at the moment?</h2>
Where possible, continue to add top tier talent into the organisation to elevate overall standards. We need to all continue moving forwards as preserving cash is not a strategic goal for early-stage growth companies in itself. Be sensible, hire only when necessary, but really get behind moving things forward in new and creative ways. The time is now!
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Futureheads Five Stories: Sam Cohen

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.

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.
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>
<h2>Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?</h2>
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.
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.
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.
<h2>How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</h2>
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.
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.
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.
<h2>What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment process?</h2>
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.
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.
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.
<h2>Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</h2>
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.
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.
<h2>What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at the moment?</h2>
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.
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.
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.

Futureheads Five Stories: Robert Hicks

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.

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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
1. Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business?
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
2. How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
3. What are your top tips for successfully managing a remote recruitment
process?
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
4. Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?
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.
&nbsp;
5. What advice would you give to anyone in a similar position to you at
the moment?
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;
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.
&nbsp;

Futureheads Five Stories: Jonathan Waddingham

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.

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.
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>.
<ol>
<li>Tell us about the impact that Covid-19 and the lockdown measures have had on your business.</li>
</ol>
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.
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.
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li>How have you adapted your operational and hiring practices?</li>
</ol>
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.
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li>Has this crisis made you look at your business differently or consider changes moving forwards?</li>
</ol>
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.
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>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Futureheads Five Stories: Matt Pilgrim

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">
 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>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals across:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Front-end</li>
 <li>​Back-end​</li>
 <li>​Full-stack​</li>
 <li>Native Mobile​​</li>
 <li>Cross-platform​​</li>
 <li>Technical Architecture​​</li>
 <li>Solution Architecture​​</li>
 <li>DevOps / SRE / Platform Engineering</li>
 <li>Testing & QA</li>
 <li>Engineering Managers</li>
 <li>Head of Engineering</li>
 <li>CTO</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Engineering

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">
 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>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5> 
 <ul>
 <li>Motion Graphics & Video Editing</li>
 <li>Branding</li>
 <li>Copywriting</li>
 <li>Art Direction</li>
 <li>Illustration</li>
 <li>Digital Design</li>
 <li>Marketing Design</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Creative

We partner with organisations to identify and deliver security professionals who can safeguard environments, manage risk and build resilient security strategies.

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 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 As cyber threats continue to evolve in scale and sophistication, organisations face increasing pressure to protect their systems, data and people. Securing the right cyber security talent across GRC, security operations, and cloud and application security is critical. We partner with organisations to identify and deliver security professionals who can safeguard environments, manage risk and build resilient security strategies.
 </div>
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 <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Cyber Security Analyst (Entry to Senior)</li>
 <li>SOC Analyst (Tier 1–3)</li>
 <li>GRC Analyst / Consultant</li>
 <li>Security Engineer (Cloud, Application, DevSecOps)</li>
 <li>Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker</li>
 <li>Incident Response and Threat Intelligence Analyst</li>
 <li>Security Architect</li>
 <li>Cyber Security Manager</li>
 <li>Head of Information Security / CISO</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Cybersecurity

Navigating the complexities of AI, machine learning, and data integrity presents a growing challenge for businesses, especially when it comes to hiring professionals with the right blend of compliance, system integration and advanced analytics expertise. That’s where we come in. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 Navigating the complexities of AI, machine learning, and data integrity presents a growing challenge for businesses, especially when it comes to hiring professionals with the right blend of compliance, system integration and advanced analytics expertise. That’s where we come in.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network of data professionals includes experts in:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Data Engineering</li>
 <li>Data Science</li>
 <li>​Data Analytics</li>
 <li>​Machine Learning</li>
 <li>AI Research and Development</li>
 <li>​ML Ops</li>
 <li>​Data Governance</li>
 <li>Head of Data</li>
 <li>CDO</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Data & AI

We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a fast pace. That’s why our teams are on hand to support, and always ahead of the curve.

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 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 We know that the world of Digital Marketing moves at a fast pace. That’s why our teams are on hand to support, and always ahead of the curve.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes professionals in:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Multidisciplinary Marketing Management</li>
 <li>Product Marketing</li>
 <li>Growth Marketing</li>
 <li>Performance Marketing</li>
 <li>CRM</li>
 <li>Social Media</li>
 <li>Marketing Ops</li>
 <li>Affiliate Marketing</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Marketing & Sales

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

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

Product

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 major skills-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 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 major skills-sets we have consistently helped businesses hire world-class Design talent.
 </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>
 
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Product Design

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 deliver better budget controls, communication and reporting as well as ways to introduce new processes, tools and technology to optimise efficiency. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 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 deliver better budget controls, communication and reporting as well as ways to introduce new processes, tools and technology to optimise efficiency.
 </div>
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 <h5>Our network includes:</h5>
 <ul>
 <li>Digital & Technical Project Managers</li>
 <li>Programme Managers</li>
 <li>Delivery Managers</li>
 <li>Business Analysts</li>
 <li>Scrum Masters</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

Projects & Delivery

From helping shape the London UX market in its early days, to running and sponsoring some of the best-known UX networking events in the UK, we're highly regarded for our breadth and depth of expertise in this space and for our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into brilliant opportunities. 

<div class="row">
 <div class="col-12 col-sm-12 col-md-6">
 From helping shape the London UX market in its early days, to running and sponsoring some of the most well-known UX networking events in the UK, we're highly regarded for our breadth and depth of expertise in this space and for our ability to match top-tier UX practitioners into brilliant opportunities.
 </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>UX & Interaction Design​</li>
 <li>​Service Design​</li>
 <li>Content Design</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
</div>

UX & Service Design

Rohan Maheswaran

As Co-MD, Rohan ensures the client experience is best-in-class and coaches customers and internal teams on building and executing successful recruitment and growth strategies.
Rohan is an industry high performer with a deep understanding of technology, and how the product life cycle and the individuals who contribute to it, impact a company&rsquo;s reach. His track record and building of genuine, trusted relationships enables him to advise on the right solutions without compromising the values.
When Rohan isn't working, he is travelling around the world &ndash; Japan, South Africa and Sri Lanka are recent faves - and enjoys exploring new foods along the way. He is also an avid sports fan (both playing and watching), and is a regular at the gym and swimming pool.&nbsp;

Joe Parry

As an end to end JavaScript recruiter working alongside start ups, scaleups and VCs, Joe brings experience in hiring full stack, front and backend developers (web/mobile) into businesses from pre-seed stage onwards. There's nothing he enjoys more than helping candidates find their ideal role, and helping clients secure their ideal hire.&nbsp;
Outside of work, Joe is a big fan of food and travel. Sardinia has been a recent highlight and he often goes to the Basque country to enjoy its culinary delights.&nbsp;

Oscar Tyack

Specialising in Cyber and Information Security, Oscar brings both sector knowledge and a people-first approach to his work. He&rsquo;s committed to doing recruitment the right way - prioritising integrity, transparency, and building lasting partnerships with clients and candidates alike. With a strong focus on understanding both the technical and human side of security, he takes pride in connecting specialists with opportunities that genuinely fit.
When he's off-duty, he&rsquo;s a proud dad to his son and enjoys spending quality time with his family, making the most of life outside of work.

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