Innovation consultant — Luke Somerville Ford
Luke's time on an IT graduate scheme, coupled with his Bachelors degree in forensic science and Masters in computer science from the University of Kent, landed him a position in the innovation team at Jisc
How did you get your job?
While I was finishing my Masters degree, I found the Jisc IT graduate scheme on Google. I joined the graduate scheme for two years, rotating through Jisc working in the data analytics, AI, innovation, and product teams. I loved working in innovation, and so at the end of the scheme I applied for a full-time role in the team.
What's a typical working day like?
It's my job to develop the next generation of Jisc products that will solve customer needs, sometimes looking at problems three to five years in the future.
I'm responsible for one of our cloud products in development, so I'll talk with customers to understand their thoughts, feelings, and challenges related to the cloud. I then aggregate and analyse these problems to find common themes or stand out problems. I also work closely with the product development team to create a new cloud product that addresses those customer needs.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
We get to test out a lot of new technology. It's always so much fun getting to spend a day using new virtual reality (VR) headsets, working with holograms, or seeing drones in action.
We also spend a lot of time travelling - visiting our customers, and seeing the technology other companies have - like F1 simulators and haptic suits.
What are the challenges?
Looking so far into the future can be a real challenge for developing a new product. Technology changes and evolves so rapidly, that you can invest so much time into exploring a problem, only for a solution to pop up overnight. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a great example of this, with the rate of change and growth in the technology.
Moreover, working with customer problems can be unpredictable. Rarely does a challenge remain static. Sometimes, issues escalate, requiring broader solutions. At other times, a problem may lose significance, only to be replaced by a more pressing concern.
How are your degrees relevant?
My forensics degree taught me a lot of problem-solving skills, such as how to dig deeper into a challenge, become comfortable not having an easy answer, and the importance of following processes.
My computer science degree gave me a great foundation for working in a technology organisation, helping me understand the different elements of technology, range of job roles, and how they all piece together.
How has your role developed and what are your career ambitions?
When I started I was supporting other team members in the development of new products, growing my knowledge in different areas, and being part of a team. I now lead my own product team, applying what I learnt while adding my own leadership and development styles.
My ambition is to have a more strategic focus, working less on the development of specific products, and spending more time looking at the future portfolio of products that could be created.
What advice can you give to others wanting to get into this job?
- Keep up with trends - staying informed is crucial, whether it's about innovative tools that can boost your productivity or the latest tech developments, both triumphs and failures.
- Strong communication skills - it's important to get used to being in a team, whether that's group projects, sports, hobbies, or work. I work with a constant mix of new diverse people, all with different levels of expertise, so the ability to communicate clearly is crucial.
- Growing your technical knowledge - take advantage of learning resources, offered by companies like AWS, Google and Azure, to improve your skills and knowledge.
Find out more
- Explore the salary details of an IT consultant.
- Discover what you can do with a computer science degree.
- See what the information technology sector has to offer.