Conversations with Cloud Engineers - International Women in Engineering Day
At the core of DVLA’s journey of digital transformation is our Engineering profession,
delivering essential services to the public to keep millions moving, driving innovation and
shaping customer experience every day.
2021 figures indicate that only 16.5% of engineers in the UK are women, illustrating a
significant gender gap that persists in the engineering field. As of May 2024, women
represent 29% of DVLA’s IT function, with 24% in the digital and data roles, and 21% in
senior roles.
DVLA are strong advocates for access to digital careers for all, including historically
underrepresented groups. As an organisation, we continue to strive for increased
inclusivity and female representation in STEM careers, from our STEM Ambassador
Programme and Digital Voices advocacy group to our robust recruitment and retention
strategy and Centre of Digital Excellence (CoDE) development programmes.
As we endeavour to dispel myths and break down barriers for women in digital, we’re
proud to share the first-hand experiences of DVLA’s women in engineering and hope to
inspire others to pursue engineering careers. We recently sat down with Kirsten Phillips,
Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, and Jenny Scrine, Trainee Cloud Engineer to hear all
about their journey into Cloud Engineering.
Tell us about your journey into Cloud Engineering, and what inspired you to
pursue this career path?
Kirsten:
I’m Kirsten, a Cloud Infrastructure Engineer and I’ve been working for DVLA since 2014.
I began working in the Contact Centre as a telephony advisor and in 2016 I moved to the
Multi-channel team where I assisted customers via webchat, email and social media. In
2018 I applied for an opportunity to work within the Customer Channel Management
team (CCMT) within the contact centre to develop a chat bot for the gov.uk website. In
2020 I began my current role, which involves building and maintaining DVLA’s cloud
infrastructure on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. Working in IT
wasn’t something I always wanted to pursue although my role within CCMT gave me my
first exposure to cloud-based software and experience in developing an IT service. The
work itself involved a lot of problem solving, trial and error and analysis, which was
something I really enjoyed. In 2020 I applied for DVLA’s Cloud Academy, a 24-month
development programme to become a Trainee Infrastructure Cloud Engineer. The
programme was tailored for people like me with little to no experience in IT but who
wanted to work in the field.
Jenny:
Hello! My name is Jenny, and I am part of the Digital Academy learning to be a Junior
Cloud Engineer. I was previously a teacher for over 15 years, however I had a yearning
to change career for quite some time. I always had an interest in computing and the
future of cloud technology but financial restraints of leaving a job always held me back.
Fortunately, during my job searching, the vacancy for the digital academy became
available, which was the perfect opportunity to learn and gain experience for my new
career path.
Can you tell us about your favourite project that you’re really proud to have
worked on?
Kirsten:
Working in IT and Cloud specifically, things are forever evolving, and you are constantly
learning. It’s quite hard to accept and get your head around the fact that you’re never
going to know everything about this field. When I started in the Cloud team our leading
cloud provider was AWS. Over the past year or so, we have been using Microsoft Azure
a lot more to design, develop and implement cloud solutions. Whilst I have worked on
many projects within Azure, I think the proudest thing for me was being able to adapt my
relatively new skills to using a new service unfamiliar to myself.
I’ve developed my confidence during this time and I’m now a coach for the new Cloud
students. In October, we launched a new Digital Academy. We had five students join us
in Cloud, and they have now all joined our cloud squads. I was involved in the
programme from the beginning, providing feedback on my own experiences, creating
and delivering training materials and I’m continuing to coach and mentor the two new
students working on my squad.
Jenny:
Being part of the digital academy, there are always opportunities to explore and
experiment within AWS, whether that being in the console or completing labs. A project I
particularly enjoyed was when as a team, we were given a real-world scenario where a
travel company that was already using cloud technology needed to cut costs. We were
given time to research into the best ways to do this and present our findings and
budgets to the cloud team. Nerve wracking, but a great learning experience!
Have you faced any challenges as a woman working in a male-dominated field?
Kirsten:
Personally, I have never faced any challenges working within Cloud or Information
Technology Services (ITS) at DVLA. I feel that everyone is treated equally and
respectfully.
Jenny:
This is a question that I have been asked before! The cloud department have been very
welcoming and supportive to me as a trainee, and not treated me differently to my male
counterparts at all! We all get along well as a team and have created good friendships
regardless of gender.
Do you have any role models or mentors that you look up to?
Kirsten:
Sarah Hayward, one of the senior engineers on my squad. I feel she has played a
pivotal part in my development since I started working in Cloud. She has been a
fantastic coach to myself and others, she is extremely approachable, knowledgeable
and humble and I’ve really enjoyed having someone like her to work alongside.
Jenny:
My squad have been amazing! They continually give their time and efforts to help us
progress and succeed, whether that’s observing us complete tickets or by providing
bespoke training to fit our developmental needs within cloud. Without their guidance, I
wouldn't have the growing confidence I have within this area.
What advice would you give to women aspiring to a career in Cloud Engineering?
Kirsten:
Don’t be intimidated and let self-doubt or fear get in your way. If you are passionate
about something or have an opportunity to do something you are interested in, go for it.
It can be a scary thought to work in an industry where you may be the only woman in the
room or the only woman working on a project, but take the chance. The more that do,
the more difference we can make.
Jenny:
