One of our aims at Manchester Digital is to help end inequality and increase diversity in the technology and digital sector. Digital Her exists to address these issues, by inspiring and encouraging more women across Greater Manchester to consider careers in technology and digital.
Edge Testing, established in 2007, has grown fast to become the UK’s largest independent software testing company and is home to a talented and diverse workforce which includes some of the UK’s premier testing thought leaders and experts.
We wanted to shine a spotlight on some of the exceptional female talent working at Edge Testing, so caught up with Managing Director Sharon Hamilton and Operations Director Kirsten Logue.
Sharon Hamilton
Managing Director of Eurofins Digital Testing UK
How did you get into your current role?
I was promoted from within the company. I have come up through the ranks of the company from a middle management level.
What do you love about working in digital and tech?
I love working with bright and enthusiastic colleagues, where we can deliver world class services to provide solutions to our customers challenges. No day is the same and each day brings the ability to learn something new or have my views challenged.
What's been your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far?
Managing the company through a global pandemic – I would like to think that we did this by communicating with colleagues and customers frequently, with integrity - putting the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues first. We were also able to provide job security, whilst minimising the impact to the financials as a result of the pandemic.
What do you love about working for Eurofins Digital Testing (Edge/Commissum) and how have they supported your career in digital and tech so far?
The best support I can receive is the space to perform a role and not be bound by time/hours/location and this has been demonstrated throughout my 10 years at the company. This has meant that I have been able to raise my children whilst having a great job. I have shown flexibility and adapted but this has been matched by the company. I also believe that my gender has never been an issue in what role I can do for the company. The company has also allowed be to have great mentors/role models who I can learn from.
Kirsten Logue
Operations Director of Edge Testing
How did you get into your current role?
I got the opportunity in my 20’s to take on a junior development role for a publishing company, this was my first steps into the technical world.
I loved the challenge of learning new things and everything that the technical world had to offer, the variety, learning new things and the challenges it brought my mind.
I then had a number of other roles within the publishing company such as Business Analyst and Test Lead Co-ordinator, every role I had involved testing and it was the testing side of my roles that I loved and was passionate about.
This led me to working for Edge Testing and getting my first fully concentrated role in testing for a pure play testing organisation. From there I quickly learned and grasped the business side of things with the support of a great mentor Sharon Hamilton.
When I started working for Edge, I moved very quickly up the career ladder and performed a number of roles from Business Development Manager to Service Delivery Manager to Regional Manager and then into my current role today as Operation Director for Eurofins Digital Testing Systems UK.
What do you love about working in digital and tech?
The variety, always something new to learn and digest, and understanding and working out how we use new things in this space to benefit our business or our own services.
What's been your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far?
Getting to where I am today in my current role.
What do you love about working for Eurofins Digital Testing (Edge/Commissum) and how have they supported your career in digital and tech so far?
I love the passion and the commitment that Eurofins Digital Testing have for quality at every level. They have supported me giving me access to jobs that have allowed me to learn and further promote myself into my current position today as Operations Director for EDT UK Systems.
Their commitment to equality means that I get to work for an organisation who are diverse, who values me, which in turns brings my loyalty, my commitment and my passion for what I do back into the organisation.
To find out more about Edge Testing, click here.
