This week we hear from Kev – he’s our Principal Solution Architect. As we continue to recruit tech talent to join the team, Kev shares his career journey that led him to Hastings Direct one year ago and why the opportunity stood our compared to other roles he considered.
Technology is important. It touches on every area of our daily lives – at work, in the car or at home. From doing your online shop to paying in a cheque, to social interactions or catching up on the news. With every new day comes advances in this fast-paced industry which spans a number of disciplines, including audio, video, web, mobile, modelling and artificial intelligence to name but a few. It’s this variety and speed of change that captured my imagination and started my career in the exciting world of digital technology.
An interest sparked early on
My first introduction to computing was at the local secondary school using a BBC-built computer to read weather station information. It was this introduction which sparked my interest and firmly established the idea that I wanted to pursue a career in technology.
After leaving university where I studied Computer Engineering, I held several contract positions around the country as an Analyst/Programmer, designing and building bespoke software in a variety of business sectors, which I found both exciting and challenging. Following this I joined Barclays Bank, starting off as a senior software engineer, with promotions to team leader and then to a service delivery manager managing a team of software and infrastructure engineers. Finally I transitioned into solution architecture. During this time, I was fortunate to lead several exciting project deliveries such as document imaging, data capture utilising OCR & MICR recognition, workflow, AI and data archiving with Blu-ray technologies. Following 17 years with the bank, I made the conscious move into a freelance solution/technical architecture position, enabling me to gain in depth experience and knowledge in new technologies specialising in mobile & Microsoft Azure Cloud technologies.
A desire to make a difference
Seeking a new challenge at the beginning of 2021, I began to look for a role which would see me being able to make a real difference to the business utilising the newest mobile and cloud technologies. After considering several positions that I was offered from a variety of companies, the role of Principal Solution Architect at Hastings Direct stood out for several reasons:
- The HD ethos of utilising the latest technologies in providing exceptional customer experiences.
- Working in a team which supports and looks out for each other.
- Positive feedback from colleagues I had previously worked with at Barclays who were now at HD.
- HD being voted the UK’s 29th most inclusive company.
- The HD vision of being the best and biggest digital insurance provider in the UK.
Since joining Hastings in May 2021, I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in several interesting and challenging projects – from mobile applications servicing our customers which utilise the latest digital technologies, to core platform enhancements providing tools to our customer representatives in support of the call centre business processes.
I’m fortunate to be part of this exciting and fast-paced journey that Hastings Direct is on – the adoption of the latest Azure cloud technologies to provide best in class servicing to our customers… there’s never a dull moment. I would recommend others joining Hastings, as I did!
Join us
If, like Kev, you’d like to continue your tech career in a dynamic company that has a vision to be the best and biggest digital insurance provider, find out about available opportunities including our Solution Architect role.