Why did you decide to move into the cyber sector?

I was looking for an industry where I felt my contributions would have a positive impact on society and where I would have the freedom to learn skills that would be important now – and also in 5, 10, 20 years as technology evolves.

Why did you decide to join Raytheon UK?

I was hunting out a company that not only looked to be successful but also supported its workers in a meaningful way. In my interview at Raytheon, I was overwhelmed by the supportive nature of the engineers I spoke with. I got the sense that they cared deeply about their colleagues and were willing as a company, and as individuals, to help you to learn, develop and grow while you work.

Since joining the company, I truly get the sense that the mental health and wellbeing of employees is the highest priority. The mantra they have spread since day one is to look out for each other and stay strong as a team. It is a spirit you can’t help but get behind

What do you enjoy the most about your role at Raytheon?

What I enjoy most about the role is the freedom to take Fridays as training days periodically. Raytheon seems to passionately understand the benefit that both contributing to a project and getting time for self-improvement and research can bring to day to day working.

Why is your role so important in today’s world?

As we venture further into the digital age, helping to develop products that support society and keep us safe will be vital. Being able to work on those tasks and draw upon the diverse range of experiences and cultures Raytheon employees have, helps to ensure the products we work on now best suit the needs of tomorrow.

Why do you think the UK is facing a STEM skills shortage?

The children in our schools now are the scientists, academics, and developers of our future. We sometimes forget that what motivates adults, when choosing a career, does not necessarily drive children when they are picking subjects to learn. A failure to make a subject entertaining and exciting is a sure-fire way to discourage children from sticking with it. That understanding is why Raytheon launched its Quadcopter Challenge to give students hands on experience of STEM – to make it interesting to students.

What do you think Raytheon is doing particularly well to help close the STEM skills shortage?

Having seen first-hand the work that colleagues put into delivering Raytheon’s STEM events, I believe Raytheon is hitting the nail on the head when it comes to bringing the subjects to life.

They are aiming their events at the broadest, most diverse audience possible in a fun way, to hopefully spark an interest that will guide children into STEM subjects and careers in the future.

Are you inspired by Conor’s story? Find out more on how you can join Raytheon UK’s cyber team and apply today

Why did you decide to move out of academia and into a cyber career at Raytheon?

I saw a post on social media advertising the ‘Women in Cyber Academy.’ It sounded like a fantastic opportunity, so I got in touch with the organisers and was eventually invited to an engagement day to meet with potential employers.

Raytheon went on to sponsor the entire first cohort of the ‘Women in Cyber Academy’ and following a very intensive 12-week course, I started work at Raytheon UK in September 2019.

Why do you think the UK is facing a lack of diversity in STEM sectors, including cyber?

Despite much debate about inclusion and diversity in STEM fields over the years, the numbers of women and other minorities working in these fields, particularly in senior/leadership positions, remains relatively low. The lack of visible role models can make people feel that they would not ‘fit in’ and puts them off following careers in those areas. The lack of people with STEM backgrounds making critical decisions in government is also a factor.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?

Personally, as someone early in their career as a software engineer, I would say that most things seem like a challenge! Nothing feels particularly routine, and that is great as I like a challenge and enjoy continually learning new things. Generally, keeping up with the latest technologies and standards of best practice in the tech industry is a challenge for all as the industry is constantly evolving.

Can you describe some of the proudest moments in your role?

On the ‘Women in Cyber Academy’ course, we spent some time learning about some aspects of Amazon Web Services, which I enjoyed. I am happy to work as part of Raytheon’s Cloud Capability team and further develop my skills in this area. I am very proud that I recently achieved AWS Developer Associate status.

What makes Raytheon an excellent place for work?

Raytheon invests in training for their staff and provide many opportunities to focus on professional development. Since joining the company, I have gained two industry recognised qualifications: BCS Agile Foundation Certificate and AWS Developer Associate.

The Cyber and Intelligence sector at Raytheon has many employees that predominantly work on customer sites with people from several other companies rather than at the base office, and they try hard to make sure that we all still feel part of the Raytheon team. Supportive colleagues have really helped make the career transition easier as well.

Why is your role so important in today’s world?

On a personal level, cyber security is so vital in today’s world as so much personal information is gathered and stored about us, everything from banking information to health data. We need to know that this information is being stored securely. Technology is constantly changing, bringing new vulnerabilities along with it, and we need to be constantly vigilant against cyber-attacks.

As a software engineer, why did the cyber sector appeal to you the most?

Cyber allows a developer to work at the forefront of technology. You get to work with many different technologies. It is an industry where the work that you do will save lives.

What do you particularly enjoy about your role at Raytheon?

The thing I enjoy most about my role is the variety of technologies I get to work with. Currently we are using Kubernetes, Java, JavaScript, Python, Elasticsearch, Jenkins, Terraform, Swagger and a bunch of other lesser known tools.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?

The biggest challenge that we face is ensuring that everything we do fits with the tightest levels of security. This means that we must lock down tools that in other workplaces may have a freer reign with regards to network access - and the network access these tools require is rarely noted down. With the emergence of cloud platforms being the predominant form of deployment, securing networks to an IP range becomes incredibly tricky.

Can you describe one of the proudest moments in your role?

At Raytheon, in the cyber and intelligence unit, we tend to work in agile scrum teams following two weeks sprints. My proudest moment was when my team pulled out all the stops to deliver a project with fluid, agile requirements but a fixed waterfall deadline.

Why is your role so important in today’s world?

The work that we do really does save lives. The amount of time that people spend on the internet has naturally led to the number of cyber threats increasing. The work we do at Raytheon is intended to help defend against these malicious attackers.

What advice would you give to others looking to move into the cyber sector?

I would say give it a try. It is an incredibly exciting industry with plenty of opportunities to learn new things. If you’re new to the sector and want to learn about programming languages, pick one at first to learn –I would recommend Java – and I would also have a play around with a cloud-based platform as well, probably AWS to start with.

Why did you decide to take up a career in software engineering?

I have always enjoyed creative problem-solving and found myself at home in technical subjects in sixth form and university. I also wanted my career to make a difference, to protect or help people if I could. Cyber threats have become an increasing problem over the years as society has grown more reliant on the internet. The prevalence of these threats is now widely reported across the international media and lapses in security have proven very costly for many countries and businesses. When it came to a point in my life where I wanted to find a new career, Cyber seemed the perfect fit.

Describe your day to day activity, and what you particularly enjoy about your role at Raytheon?

I spend a fair amount of time day-to-day communicating and coordinating with the team, as well as continuing my technical work. I enjoy the autonomy I am given at Raytheon to manage myself and the team. My colleagues help me to do my job and there is always something to learn from them, whatever their grade, and I try to give back what I can in return. The working environment is positive and driven by like-minded people who want us to succeed at what we do.

Why is your role so important in today’s world?

It’s about bringing security to the online world. If we cannot rely on these systems, how can we ever think to do our banking on them or type our credit card details into them? But it’s more than that. A company’s reputation can be brought to its knees overnight by a successful cyber-attack. And governments worldwide are finding new opportunities to influence the lives of their citizens – for both better and worse – and even influence the affairs of other countries too. Cyber is the new frontier of our time, a world that is changing rapidly and is not fully understood. The scope to influence it for the better right now is massive.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?

I find that there is always a learning curve with everything that I do. If I can do the job, there is always a way to do it better. If I cannot, then I’ve some studying to do. I like this side of Raytheon because it reflects my own attitude to my work. Mine is not a job you can cruise through at your leisure and expect to excel at. You must dig in and keep learning.

Since you started your role, have there been any achievements you’ve been particularly proud of?

One that springs to mind is being part of a team that went from a blank canvas to producing a demonstrable, working piece of software within three months. For the industry that we’re in, this was a great success story. I know that this software is being used now and that I contributed to it.

What advice would you give to others software engineers looking to move into the cyber sector?

Never stop developing your knowledge. There are a lot of things you can do in your own time to gain skills and understanding in the world of digital technologies. Create your own infrastructure in AWS or Azure – a lot of it is free – and learn how to lock it down so that hackers cannot exploit it. Go to conferences, share your knowledge. Practice your skills with your own projects and learn how to write good code so that other people can understand it and work with it. It’s a team game!

Why did you decide to take up a career in cyber?

From a young age, I’ve always had a fascination with computers and taking things apart. My interest grew from there, and I went on to building websites and forms. Knowing there was a world of cyber and exciting technologies out there - I just had to jump on board.

Why did you decide to join Raytheon UK?

In my previous job I spent most of time building online forms which wasn’t really that exciting. So when I saw a job post for Raytheon and saw all the cool stuff we do I had to apply for it. I’ve never looked back since!

You are currently working across two roles: as a scrum master and a software engineer. What do you like most about your work?

I also really enjoy writing complex code and using technology I’ve never used before. It’s always something different every day, whether it’s using a new piece of tech or doing a showcase in front of all the teams, my daily work at Raytheon is always exciting..

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?

One of the biggest challenges is keeping up to date with technology and new vulnerabilities. As technology keeps evolving so do hackers! Making sure you are always one step ahead can be exhausting at times, but the amount of knowledge you gain is amazing!

What makes Raytheon an excellent place for work?

By far, Raytheon is one of the best places I’ve worked at. I have made some amazing friends in the time I’ve been working here and hope to make more. The work and knowledge that I’ve gained whilst working here - I don’t think you’d be able to gain anywhere else in UK.

What advice would you give to others looking to join the cyber sector?

My advice is to be open to learning and to have fun. The key is to always be slightly out of your comfort zone. If your use to coding in .NET C#, try learning Python! You will benefit massively from pushing yourself into new areas. Get good at Googling! All jokes aside, being good at asking the right question is a massive benefit. It also takes me on to my last piece of advice which is never be afraid of asking questions. One of my mottos is that “No question is a stupid question.” Asking questions – and listening to the answers - helps your understanding and it also helps the person answering the question to know how best to frame their information. Also, don’t underestimate how important ethics and integrity are in cyber. We all have fun at Raytheon but behaving responsibly and with integrity is critical to our work.

What do you think Raytheon is doing particularly well to help close the STEM skills shortage?

I think Raytheon UK is doing a superb job at being a part of the STEM community. A few of my colleagues are STEM ambassador and go to schools in the local area and alongside the pupils who are taking part in challenges like building Quadcopters. Raytheon UK also has an undergraduate programme which helps students go straight from university into full time employment. By working alongside some of the best engineers the UK has to offer, we are closing that skill shortage by training the next generations up.

After completing your masters, why did you decide to take up a career in cyber?

When I looked at my career options, I realised that the skills I wanted to learn and the skills I’d already gained were closely aligned with cyber. The fact that cyber can have a real-world impact is something that made me want to get involved, and the growth of the industry is something I wanted to be a part of.

Describe your day to day activity, and what you particularly enjoy about your role at Raytheon?

On a typical day, I’ll pick up an available ticket in the sprint to work on my own, or pair program with someone else on my team. I’m new to the industry, so especially if the ticket needs technologies or libraries I haven’t used before, I find pair programming and learning from someone more experienced than me to be very useful. My team has an agile standup every morning, after which I’ll either continue working on the ticket or have more meetings with my team, the graduate scheme cohort, or the mental health ambassador team. I completed my mental health first aid training at the end of last year.

What’s been your proudest moment in your role so far?

My team recently had a project go live, which had been in progress since before I joined Raytheon. Since going live, the project has received so much positive feedback, which makes me really happy to be part of the team. The team worked really hard to get everything working, so it’s encouraging to know that it all paid off.

What makes Raytheon an excellent place for work?

I think the emphasis on making concrete progress towards personal development goals is really useful, and I have a wide support network around me to help me achieve these goals. My team is also great - everyone is really experienced and it’s really encouraging to have such an intelligent group of people to learn from every day.

Why is your role so important in today’s world?

As the world becomes more digital and more of us rely on digital services to do everyday tasks, the need will grow for people to be protected online. It’s important for people to know they can trust the services they use.

Why do you think the UK is facing a STEM skills shortage? Have you come across any initiatives in your role that are helping close this gap?

As far as I’m aware, more specific STEM subjects like computer science aren’t taught extensively in schools yet - I think it’s important to generate interest from a young age by including these skills in the curriculum. Our partnership with the Women in Cyber Academy will bring some really great long-term benefits - making the industry more inclusive is really important. I also think our STEM program is great at getting young people more involved in STEM.

Why did you move from the investment sector into cyber security?

The main reason why I took up a career in cyber and engineering was because I wanted a challenge. I had gained a Master’s degree in mathematics, but had no interest in becoming an accountant or working in finance like a lot of my friends at the time. I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and, above all, find a job that was going to interest me and challenge me – software engineering does just that.

I was particularly interested in cyber because, from the research I had done, it sounded exciting. The idea of using the latest technologies to solve critical problems was very interesting.

Why did you decide to join Raytheon UK?

I was referred by a previous colleague that I worked with at one of our competitors. He told me about the work ethic, the range of work and the great training opportunities and I was sold. At the time I was moving from being a software engineer at an investments company, back to cyber. I made the move back to cyber as I quickly learned that the work is way more interesting, there are more challenges and there are more opportunities in bigger engineering organisations.

Describe your day to day activity, and what you particularly enjoy about your role at Raytheon?

My day to day activity involves catching up with emails/messages, leading our daily stand-up, working on my own project tasks, helping others on the project with their tasks, having project meetings and collaboration sessions, and other management responsibilities.

As well as the interesting and challenging work, I enjoy the mix of doing my own development work but also helping others from both a project point of view, but also as a manager. I enjoy taking time away from my own work to help others and check in with them.

Why do you enjoy working at Raytheon?

The people, the work and the opportunities make Raytheon an excellent place to work. There are a lot of very skilled engineers here who are very inspiring and great to learn from. As an organisation, Raytheon UK really values its people and commits a lot of time and money to ensuring each individual is supported and has the training opportunities they need to develop.

Why do you think the UK is facing a STEM skills shortage?

Up until about 5 years ago I think there was a lack of awareness of STEM related jobs in schools. Roles as engineers were not really spoken about in school, and children (even primary school children) were not made aware of these opportunities. I think this has improved a lot recently so hopefully the shortage will improve in the future.

I think the most important thing in getting anyone of all ages engaged in STEM is showing them the opportunities that are available. Often people don’t choose a certain career path simply because they are not aware of it and the work has never been demonstrated to them.

What advice would you give to others looking to change careers and move in to the cyber sector?

Go for it! It is an extremely interesting and challenging career choice. Every day is different with new challenges and there are great opportunities to learn and use some exciting technologies. My main advice would be to keep your tech skills up to scratch, make sure you have a good grasp of the fundamentals and show interest in engineering by completing your own side projects or learning in your spare time. As a software engineer, a good understanding of programming principles and being proficient in at least one programming language will really help you get started in this industry.