Vice President of Technology Strategy, Funding Circle

Funding Circles aim is simple and clear, help businesses win. Everything done is in the pursuit of this and in the right way. Openness and collaboration are openly championed to get the best out of everyone and help us all pull towards one goal.

Funding Circle has helped me grow both personally and professionally. By working hard opportunities have presented themselves to progress and my managers have helped me take advantage of these at every stage. My voice has been heard at every level

Everything we do is aimed at helping SMEs access the funding they need to succeed. In the sales team we get to speak to business owners everyday, understand what they want to achieve and assist them in doing so which is hugely rewarding both professionally and personally.

Everyone in the company is very open and willing to share. We regularly have cross-team learning sessions, can request ad hoc shadowing/introduction meetings; within teams we have regular opportunities for training and learning, mentorship schemes; company-wide panel events, external speakers. We also have a Money 2 Do More programme, that gives each employee £300 to spend on learning and development. This can be topped up with our £200 wellbeing allowance, to spend on any development areas we wish.

There is a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusion at Funding Circle, with a dedicated team organising educational and social events to promote learning and inclusion. You can tell from day 1 that this is an important aspect of the FC culture. We celebrate different DEI groups every month, with regular panel events, talks, learning programmes and socials. We also have ambassadors for each of these DEI groups, who are super vocal in getting more involvement from across the company. Even as an introvert that hasn't been active in these groups, I was asked to get involved to share more of my diversity background with the company, in one of our cultural heritage month shout-outs.

We've moved to a hybrid way of working at FC. We have lots of employee benefits, from lunch budgets (Just Eat), to retail discounts, gym/health benefits, our L&D allowance, our wellbeing allowance (£200 to spend on anything that improves our wellbeing: massages, books, entertainment, gym clothes, gym classes etc.). There's also emphasis on parental leave, we have a work from abroad policy... the list goes on. Everyone is very kind and understanding, whatever your personal situation is.

The direction FundingCircle is moving in with becoming more focused about the customer interactions coupled with having SLOs driving decision making is the right way to be thinking. It will help increase reliability and customer experience. I can also see other products actively being developed and released at FundingCircle there's a sense of change for the right reasons. And in addition to this I can see efforts Tech Leadership is taking to pay down technical debt.

Funding Circle is a rapid environment of ideas, growth and technical excellence. There's a lot of smart individuals and collectively smart/switched on teams. In the past three months I've seen new product launches and many new hires into engineering and other teams in the company. I'm given a lot of autonomy with the right level of guidance and direction.

At Funding Circle there are dozens of engineering teams working on site, remotely and off shore across the world in different timezones all committed and working towards a common goal. People are respectful and care passionately about their work!

We move fast & have high expectations so we are constantly iterating and making things happen quickly. I love working here because everyone I work with wants to make sure quality isn't deprioritised which is a genuine challenge everyone is working towards

Been here 5 years and have learnt so much from so many people across the business - no one is too busy to help you tackle a problem or share what they are working on

Our values have remianed stable for many years but also evolve as the company has grown & adapted to the challenges for the last few years. Covid really saw Circlers 'stand together' in a new way, as SO many people adapted their roles, often outside their JD to make it happen for small businesses

Funding Circle are incredibly thoughtful to parents. As a new parent myself when I first joined FC, it was really important to find a company that is family friendly. We have our Parents at FC group which has so many initiatives. Whether its regular coffee mornings so we can share ideas and build relationships with fellow parents. Fun activities throughout the year to include our mini-circlers like the teddybear picnic during the summer holiday or paint your parent competitions. And Parent practice courses with guest speakers so that we're always keeping our development as parents at the forefront! FC also provide care leave days separate from your annual leave so you don't have to worry about taking time off work when your unwell kiddos need you the most.

Funding Circle offer hybrid working which means I'm able to work from home 3 days a week. I get to spend more quality time with my family in the evenings. I'm also able to leave the office early to pick-up my child from daycare which I'm very grateful for!

Well-being is a huge focus at Funding Circle. We have access to Spill through Slack which provides mental health support whenever you need it, whether that's through video call or over the phone. Each circler also has a personal annual budget to spend on all things well-being! This year I've spent mine on new rock-climbing shoes and a cheeky pair of Airpods!

I've been her 3months now and I couldn't ask for a better company to work for. Great manager, team, perks and they care about their employees wellbeing, personal and professional growth.

Flexi working, 2 lunch meals a week, gym, have personal and training money to spend on wellbeing and training courses. Frequent socials to bonds with other teams, volunteer days and a lot more than i can list!

My manager is very supportive! He cares about my career development and what's going on in my life outside work and ensure we have work life balance.

Funding Circle is the place to be if you want to work with nice colleagues and have great career progression opportunities. There are so many unique initiatives and schemes aimed at supporting you through your career.

The colleagues at Funding Circle are lovely to work with. Everyone is so helpful and friendly and Its a lovely work environment where you aren't intimidated to speak to anyone

I love the diversity of Funding Circle. I feel like I belong and people of all races, sexes , gender , neurodiversities and nationalities can be found.

My managers are incredibly supportive. Whenever there is a challenge to face, they give me the tools required to attack it with full confidence. They made the onboarding process super smooth and have continued supporting me to the best of their ability throughout my time at funding circle.

The work we do on a day-to-day basis actually benefits people. From securing funding for business to take on new projects to providing short term cash injections to pay wages, everything we do here is with one common goal in mind. To get small business' the funding they need to win!

From weekly meetings with the Global leadership team to internal and external workshops, the opportunities to learn are endless. Funding Circle also provides a budget to spend on career development in a way we personally see beneficial which is great!

There's a steady focus on employee wellbeing, both in the office and remote. From great health-based benefits to ongoing events/initiative each month to find balance, engage and understand others better, and further your career. Ergonomics assessment, live online yoga and managers who listen are some examples.

There's a fairly clear path for career progression within the company. My manager had a chat with me early on about goals I wish to achieve and any particular path I'd like to follow. We have regular check-ins to share feedback both ways and to provide guidance on achieving these goals.

Other than the smarts of the people on the teams (all of whom are more than happy to chat and help out), the learning resources are absolutely great, as is the fact that time is outright allocated for personal learning every Friday.

Working with micro-services means that you always have a new part of the tech you can work on / learn from. My colleagues are very supportive and really help me to overcome obstacles.

Everyone I have met at the company has a strong work ethic but also are always open to supporting me achieve my goals. There are different groups within the company which hold events promoting diversity within the business.

There are many very useful employee benefits. Such as healthcare, dentistry care and justeat lunches twice a week. The people team is constantly looking into new potential partnerships and getting employee feedback to inform their decisions.

The culture at Funding Circle is one of the best bits about working here. The people here are supportive, friendly and are all about making the company a great place to work.

When working in the tech department, the requirement is 4 times a month in the office, but you can decide what days. And I don't work with anyone that actually goes in that often. There isn't any manager here who will chase you to be at your desk every second of the day, everyone is friendly and understanding that life gets in the way sometimes!

The perks here are great, you can buy annual leave, get private medical insurance, shopping discounts etc. There is also a money to do more scheme where you get extra money to spend on wellness including gym memberships and your learning development.

From day 1 really supportive team that is peers, management and senior management Great benefits that are really tailored to what people need/want Flexibility in working patterns The communications and openness of the leadership team is great to see

There are weekly gatherings where all staff can attend and the senior leadership team give open and honest updates on all areas of the business and also will take questions and provide answers there and then

Great flexible working policy, hybrid working works well, there are opportunities for compressed hours too. There can be informal flexible arrangements agreed with your manager and there is no negative stigma to flexible working or part time working - great diversity

Large range of employee benefits to cover all aspects of your life from mental health to financial wellbeing. Managers and leadership team encourage the culture of wellbeing and work life balance

The number one thing people say about Funding Circle is how the people are so amazing. I feel honoured to work with such kind and intelligent people, i've always felt like I have a great professional support network at Funding Circle. We also have great socials!

Our leadership team encourage career development through investing in our L&D budget. My manager actively looks at ways to help me grow in my role and also helped me find a mentor.

I've worked in two teams at Funding Circle and have met some amazing people who have become great friends outside work too! It makes harder days at work that much easier when you you can have fun with those around you.

My manager made onboarding a new person their number one priority when someone left our team to ensure that I wasn't burnt out. We also had regular check ins about prioritisation to see what was essential and what could wait until we had a new team member - I never felt like things were unmanageable.

There are many employee led groups such as Neurodiversity @ Funding Circle and Lets Talk About Race which hold regular events and meet ups. They are extremely inclusive and I have felt welcome every time I have attended these!

When I joined Funding Circle as a junior developer last year, my manager helped me come up with the development plan. This gave me a clear idea of how to progress and what is expected of me. Since joining I have already been promoted and given a raise twice.

Funding Circle loves initiatives and is always there to support you. There is a culture of recognition, and hard work never goes unnoticed, be it during monthly value nominations, team reviews or one-to-ones!

Learning Friday Afternoon is awesome! And we're given a budget for it! In addition to self-guided learning, there are many awesome colleagues that are willing to share their knowledge!

Everyone on my team is great - super supportive and helpful, no matter what issues you're having. We get on really well as a team and have a good time together outside of work too (but not too often - we all have other lives!)

We get subsidised Just-Eat lunch twice a week in the office, which is a really well-loved perk. We get shares up to £3600 and a bonus scheme of 15%. Also get £200 well-being allowance every year, health insurance, dental insurance, free breakfast, free barista tea and coffee, salary sacrifice car scheme, critical illness cover and life insurance.

We can work pretty flexibly, nobody is on your back about being in the office as long as your work is getting done. We also get £200 wellbeing allowance a year that we can spend on whatever we like.

We have weekly meetings where we can share and give opinions on how things in the team or processes we do could be improved or fixed! And we all work together to implement them!

We have a strong focus on diversity and learning about people from all different backgrounds. We share stories from our own home countries and welcome people from all over the world!

We are given a wellbeing budget to spend on whatever we want. I used mine on new athletic wear and trainers. as well as new books and online courses to help my career progression!

The workload is manageable. There won't be much challenging works that force you to finish in short timeframe and you have opportunities to play around various methodology.

I have two kids and they allow me to works hybrid. I can block out the time that I need to pick up and drop off children which no one would find you in that period. Also, you are welcome to take off to take care children

People are coming from various background and culture. Background does not affect your work. Your performance on works is more important than where you come from

I have real autonomy like never before - and it sounds over the top, but it really has changed my life. I can organise my days the way I best see fit, which means my wellbeing has improved. Equally, I'm offered support when needed on the bigger picture.

A big package that rivals some huge tech companies. FC include a yearly grant that you can spend on your wellness and professional development.

My manager goes above and beyond making sure I have everything I need. Things started in the weekly one-to-one's only talking about work, but ended up being able to help me outside of that too.

As Funding Circle is scaling there are lots of opportunities for career progression. It is an supportive environment with management actively encouraging employees to take on further responsibility and grow within the company.

The social and economic impact of what Funding Circle can offer through the loans we originate for small businesses is in the forefront of discussion all the time! FC really focuses on the greater good through supporting SMEs

Management here are very supportive! They care about career goals and how they can help you achieve these. Ongoing support on a day to day basis for deliverables has been great too. There is a lot of importance around flexible working and supporting a good work / life balance.

I've worked at Funding Circle for over a year now & have been throughly enjoying my time! It's a great place to work, with a great mission & values. There is a great flexible working policy, great benefits, lovely people!

Funding Circle's mission is really inspiring, 99% of businesses in the UK are small businesses, so to provide funding in this area, impacts so many peoples lives. I love seeing how many more people we've been able to help each year

My team are really hard working, constantly dealing with high volumes but performing at a high level. Its great to be part of a team that works hard!

I have been with FC for 1 year and have been looking after recruitment for both our Platform and Data Engineering teams. Working on Data and Platform were new experiences for me and I was given time and support to learn on the job effectively. We also have a career development portal full of opportunities to join workshops, seminars and learning modules + access to Linkedin Learning and an annual budget for additional courses etc

I just love the culture its a very much "Work hard [insert word what works for you] hard culture imo! Eg A lot of socialising going on without the pressure to join if you have other priorities and definitely a great place for mental being. Nobody pulling you into a meeting room if your 7 minutes late or asking you to take holiday if you needed to leave early one day. Very mature, very relaxed and they treat you well if you put the work in! Remote wise we are able to work the majority of the week from home

The flexible working means I get a lot of time with my kids and remote working means I dont waste 3hrs travelling a day. FC loves kids too, a lot of family events and we have a "parents at FC" slack channel which encourages parents to connect as like a support network