Making the world a safer place through cyber security

Since I joined Quorum Cyber as Head of Development almost two years ago, I can honestly say that the achievements I’m most proud of in my whole career to date are those that I’ve made here. And I’ve probably grown as a professional more here than anywhere else I’ve worked. (You can read about my ‘serendipitous’ start on Quorum Cyber’s website.)

Now Head of Engineering, I’m proud that I’ve built IT and Engineering teams from scratch, whilst also continuing to grow the Development team. I’m proud of all the lessons I’ve put into place, lessons from previous roles I’ve had and lessons I’ve learnt here.

It’s been an interesting and challenging time as I’ve had to think about the impact my teams’ actions have on other areas of the business. I’ve had to thoroughly understand the business and what we need to do to help it grow, and also consider the commercial impact that my teams can have.

Vision and ambition to make the world a safer place

Looking back to the summer of 2020, I remember talking to Founder & CEO Federico Charosky. His vision and ambition for the company really struck a chord with me. I’ve always been interested in cyber security, so I was grateful that a contact recommended I apply for the role of Head of Development here. And I was fortunate enough to land an interview.

I really believed in the company’s mission and liked what they were doing and how they were doing it. And I was confident I could come in and help make a difference.

Growing with purpose

Now I’m Head of Engineering, which covers IT, Security Engineering and Development. It’s certainly been a challenging and rewarding role, which was just what I wanted. Quorum Cyber is a very dynamic place to work, itself part of a rapidly expanding and changing industry. So it was an excellent time to join the company – and it’s still a great time to become part of the team. We’re a company with real purpose.

We were growing when I joined and we continue to expand today, to serve our customers around the world. To meet demand, we’re recruiting talented people, from graduate apprentices to leaders with decades of experience.

Freedom to make decisions and make a difference

I really enjoy working with different teams here. Having the freedom to make decisions and implement changes to drive forward, as a thriving company, has been really refreshing. I like being able to look at all the different options and see which ones would be the best fit for the team and also for the direction the company’s taking.

I was initially brought into Quorum Cyber to grow our customer platform – Clarity We have made some great strides and we are incredibly proud of our single-pane view of the services we provide for our customers. However, the focus over the next 12 months is to grow that platform to be the best experience for our customers possible. We aim to provide everything a customer will need to see what the services are delivering, self-service as much as possible and work with our customers to see what they really want / need from the platform.

So I’m certainly not constrained within in my role, basically it’s within my power to make things better. Not every organisation gives people the opportunity to make such an impact. And, importantly for me – and I’m sure many others in cyber security as well – it’s nice to feel like I’m doing something to help other people and make the world a slightly better place.

Advice for potential cyber security professionals

It’s true that cyber security is an industry that will keep evolving for the foreseeable future. If anyone’s considering their career options and wondering if it’s the place for them, then I would honestly say just do it! Don’t think that you can’t. There’s no reason why anybody can’t convert from their current position and career over to this one.

It’s growing so quickly and there are so many different facets. It’s a super-interesting industry! There’s lots that you can learn, and you’ll have loads of experience and knowledge that you can bring in from other industries that will help drive things forward and make things happen. So if you’re interested in anything to do with cyber security then why not just go for it?

Why now is the best time to enter the industry

The industry’s growing so fast that it’s still a really great time to enter, no matter how much experience or expertise you have. Today, there are so many more opportunities than ever before because it’s become a broader field. People in every industry are worrying about cyber security so much more than they ever have, so it’s more prevalent in people’s minds. Now is the perfect time to enter because so many companies are going through big phases of growth and they all need to be secure in this hostile digital environment we’re experiencing.

You’ll feel like you’re making a difference by doing something good rather than just coming into work, doing your job and getting paid at the end. Everything we do is for the customer and everything we do is to try and make everyone feel safer and more protected.

Leading in cyber security

Quorum Cyber encourages everyone to keep learning and keep gaining new skills and qualifications. With this is mind, I have returned to the “Empowering Women to Lead Cyber Security” spring programme earlier this week. This is an exciting new initiative run in partnership with ScotlandIS, the Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate and the Scottish Digital Academy.

I’ll tell you more about what I’ve learnt from participating in this programme in a couple of weeks’ time.

In the meantime, why not take a look at our careers’ website, Help Fight Bullies, to see which roles we currently have open and for details of our new Graduate Programme?