I am part of the team responsible for the global delivery of Willis Towers Watson’s cloud programme. This involves everything from working with segments to help them deliver their plans, to tracking all deliverables, financials, risks, etc. and bringing together the right people to help drive our ambitious agenda forward.

A key challenge is getting people to see the new opportunities that are available to us as an organisation with new cloud technologies. I’ve learned that by taking the time to talk to and educate people, they will see that we are willing to evolve as an organisation and take on new ideas.

Bringing the first apprentice into IT and watching him grow in the role and become part of the team was awesome.
I also am very proud to be part of Willis Towers Watson’s work to transform IT through Inclusion and Diversity (I&D). It’s important to reach out internally and externally to find and encourage candidates through our own personal networks and LinkedIn in order to cultivate a large pool of diverse talent to bring to IT.
More and more people want to work in an organisation that cares about its employees and empowers you to bring your whole self into the office. I enjoy being part of this I&D initiative, which is creating a groundswell – it’s that important and we’re beginning to make inroads. I’m grateful to be supported by senior-level allies. We need to create change together – otherwise it won’t happen.

The people are the best aspect of working at Willis Towers Watson. This is the best team I’ve ever been part of – professionals at the top of their game who are great fun to work with. Our team is progressive, we take a good look at ourselves and how we need to transform, especially from a diversity viewpoint. We truly walk the I&D talk – this is very important in the tech field.

The scope of the work we do surprised me the most. We are so much more than a consultancy and insurance business. We are involved in so many markets globally and every day I learn something new about the business
Due to our company’s position and reputation I am fortunate to be dealing with state-of-the-art technologies, and work closely with suppliers where we get to provide input into the roadmaps for their tools. Also, I haven’t met anyone who isn’t genuinely nice here.

My advice would be to apply, even if you are not able to meet the job requirements 100%. Even if you feel you don’t check every box on the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. Give us the opportunity to have a conversation with you. If you’re not right for the current role, we may want to invite you back to apply for a different role.
When we bring people on board, we want to make sure they’ll be happy here. It only takes one person to throw a team off, so we look for people who fit with our core values. As an example, our team embraces positive disruption as opposed to confrontational challenge – it’s okay to say, I don’t agree – we want to learn from each other, understand what’s working, what’s not and what can be improved.

In July 2017, I was hired as a senior SharePoint developer. In this role, I am responsible for solving IT issues within our company related to our team collaboration tool (TCT). TCT is a shared server that functions as a repository of data to be shared among all employees so that information pertaining to a large number of complex internal and client projects can be stored and managed effectively. I also work with supporting applications and generate customized/ad hoc reports to satisfy internal requests. We are constantly monitoring the growth of our TCT sites, and have recently started work on moving the company’s systems to the cloud in conjunction with the SharePoint Online and Azure platforms.

Some challenges for us in working with TCT is ensuring users’ work is properly stored and protected. I always provide alternative solutions/workarounds for problems so our employees can keep working on their day-to-day jobs if they have an issue. Moving our systems to the cloud brings many nuances to the role — as everything we do is evolving to keep up with the latest advances. Though challenging, moving forward is interesting and I am always learning something.

The culture is very balanced between personal and professional life. The ability to work from home is a benefit, as it saves time on commuting and increases productivity.

Every day is a challenge, which I really like and enjoy. These challenges keep me motivated and foster innovation.

I’ve always enjoyed working on the technical side and have embraced the associated challenges. I look forward to one day becoming a SharePoint architect in the same area.

It’s a great company that provides great benefits. Go for it! If you know you want a career in IT, this is a great time to work on some amazing projects that will challenge you and provide training you can only get on the job.