Location: UK: Edinburgh
Opportunity: 6-month returnship (part of the Returners to Financial Services Scotland Cross-Company Programme)
Start Date: Late March 2022
Apply by: 23 January 2022 (extended)
You might presume investment management is dry and dusty, poring over balance sheets and other such financial hocus pocus. Think again. Baillie Gifford’s purpose is to deploy its clients’ money to generate tangible long-term returns for the individuals, institutions and pension funds that put their trust in them. Put simply, they provide some of the most exciting and disruptive growth companies in the world with the capital and support they need to transform lives. And you can be part of it.
Baillie Gifford is delighted to partner with Women Returners on the Returners to Financial Services Scotland Cross-Company Returner Programme. They are looking for candidates returning from a career break to join their Information Systems team.
About the Programme
The programme is designed to encourage and support a return to work for experienced candidates through a six-month paid returnship starting in March 2022. They are seeking experienced professional women who have taken a career break of 18 months or more. You may have taken time out to look after children or elderly/sick relatives, for relocation, for a personal health issue or for other reasons. You may have been working on a small-scale basis to fit around your other commitments or have not done any paid work for a number of years.
As this programme is funded by the Scottish Government Women Returners Fund, it is only open for women to apply.
You must have the right to work in the UK to apply to this programme.
What can you expect from Baillie Gifford?
- The programme offers a professionally paid placement from March to September 2022. Positions are at a professional level with a range of roles available
- The 6-month placement will provide you with the skills, knowledge and experience to apply for a permanent role at the end of the programme
- You will receive internal mentoring and a buddy, together with coaching support from Women Returners to help you to transition successfully back into the workplace. As coaching support will be delivered centrally, you will benefit from a large supportive peer network of like-minded people across the organisations
- They offer their staff a blend of home and office working. They are open to candidates living further afield, however, they are looking for some attendance to their Edinburgh office so you can meet and collaborate with your colleagues, as well as embrace the unique culture that Baillie Gifford has to offer
- Baillie Gifford is a people first business, and welcomes conversation with those seeking flexible working arrangements.
Opportunities on the Programme
Information Systems works with every part of the firm to leverage technology and solutions. The IS department delivers the applications and platforms in a secure, resilient and performant manner to all of its users globally. The department has three areas of specialisation, Infrastructure, Application Delivery and Architecture & App Platforms.
Business Analyst
Baillie Gifford is looking for a Business Analyst to join the Application Development team, focusing on the development and implementation of both bespoke and 3rd party applications, as well as change for business areas and the many systems they use. The analysis team works across several projects, programmes, and delivery streams and provides analysis expertise within an agile environment. They play a key role in of the delivery of bespoke applications, enhancements, and business process optimisation to support the business in providing a great service for their clients.
Candidates for this role should have:
- A sound understanding of the role of a Business Analyst within change and application development
- Experience in building and maintaining strong working relationships with clients, customers, or stakeholders
- Previous working experience within an analytical role
Project Manager
The Application Development team is looking for an experienced Project Manager who can take end to end ownership of project delivery, whilst ensuring that high quality solutions are implemented in line with business requirements and expectations. They are looking for:
- Strong leadership skills with the ability to lead and manage projects
- Strong methodology knowledge, with the ability to utilise a number of methodologies to deliver projects on time
- Realistic planning capabilities to apply project logic and pragmatism to project plans
- Resource planning, forecasting and estimation of effort required from others to meet your project objectives
- An appreciation of both the IT and business side of projects
Software Developer
Supporting a wide range of systems from UX focused applications to back-end integrations with industry-leading vendors, they are looking for a developer who is adaptable and keen to be part of a forward-thinking agile team. Working across the full-project lifecycle you will analyse, develop and deliver code to production with the support of experienced colleagues. They would like a developer who is keen to experience variety in their work; full-stack development is available, and they work closely with business analysts and testers to facilitate business-driven development.
The Baillie Gifford culture for learning underpins all of this and they will provide a range of mentoring, shadowing and on the job training on everything from their development practices and tech stack through to engaging with stakeholders.
For this role, candidates should have:
- A good grasp of programming and application development fundamentals
- Web development e.g. Angular, HTML, Javascript
- Object Oriented languages e.g. .NET or Java
- Database development e.g. SQL
Infrastructure Analyst
Dependent on experience and skills, individuals will be considered for roles in both their Infrastructure area, and their Application Enablement area.
The App Enablement team is a new team that aims to help users make the most of the self-service IT solutions they have on offer. From helping users get to grips with a new feature in Word to assisting a team in building a mobile application to help streamline a cumbersome task. They are passionate about fixing real business problems and empowering people across the firm to improve the way they work. The product range is broad, from traditional Office application like Word and Excel to BI, workflow and low code development tools, all underpinned by Microsoft Sharepoint Online.
The Infrastructure area comprises all aspects of IT infrastructure that are required to run Baillie Gifford’s applications and IT services. From Infrastructure Platforms, to Sites & Networking, to the Workspace Technologies our staff use every day. The Infrastructure Platforms area is made up of 3 teams:
- Platforms: this includes Server, Storage, Virtualisation, Operating Systems, Automation etc
- Sites & Comms: this consists of Switching, Routing, Firewalls, WAN/SD-WAN, Datacentres, Cloud Networking etc
- Workspace Technologies: Primarily focussed on end-user workspace tech; such as Laptops, Mobiles, Client OS & Applications, Video Conferencing tools etc.
They are looking for previous working in a technical role. E.g. SysAdmin, IT Support, Developer.
DevOps Engineer
The DevOps team sits within the Architecture & App Platforms area of the department and is responsible for helping to accelerate the application development lifecycle to deliver business benefits faster. The DevOps team is primarily responsible for cloud, and cloud native platforms that their development teams utilise for their in-house applications, along with the associated CI/CD tooling.
They are looking for an enthusiastic security focused DevOps Engineer to join the team and work with them to establish the appropriate controls and policies to ensure applications on cloud and cloud native platforms meet their security standards. Supporting the development teams in delivering secure applications. All qualifications that demonstrate technical competence and experience will be considered.
About Baillie Gifford
Baillie Gifford is one of the UK’s leading independently-owned investment management firms. It is owned and run by 47 partners who operate as a partnership, a structure which has endured for over a century and which provides stability for clients and motivation for employees. It enables them to manage the business for the future as well as the present, with the emphasis on genuine long–term thinking rather than short-term targets.
As of 30 June 2021, their assets under management and advice were £352 billion (US $486.8 billion), a sizeable figure but one achieved by steady organic growth rather than by merger or acquisition.
They believe that:
- Their active investment management style will add material value to clients over the long run.
- They must put their clients’ interests ahead of their own.
- They should be actively engaging investors.
- Their ownership structure is a key strength.
- Their firm must be an engaging and progressive place to work.
- Their actions and behaviours should support society as a whole.
In relation to being an engaging and progressive place to work, they strive to attract and retain a diverse group of talented individuals. They do this through the creation of opportunity and challenge while providing support through internal and external groups and networks. They are committed to getting better at everything they do and remaining relevant to the evolving needs of their clients.
It takes all kinds of people to make Baillie Gifford one of the leading independent global investment management business that it is. As well as their teams of investment professionals, colleagues work across a range of support functions from information systems and HR to finance, marketing, legal, creative multimedia, client administration and more. Everyone’s role is important. And the different ideas and diverse skills that their people bring help them face their future business with confidence and conviction. Whatever your position in Baillie Gifford – and at whatever level you join them – you can expect support and scope to develop your skills and build a long-term career with the firm.
What’s more, you’ll be part of an open and co-operative culture where people matter. Where your personal and professional fulfilment matters. Where your work-life balance matters. Where your happiness matters.
How to apply to the programme
To find out more and apply, please submit your application to the programme by clicking the relevant link below:
The closing date for applications is 23 January 2022 (extended) at 23:59.
With any specific questions relating to Baillie Gifford, please email Resourcing@BaillieGifford.com
With any questions on the overall programme, please email hazel@womenreturners.com
The Women Returners Programme is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Skills Development Scotland.