As a schoolgirl, Denise Hill imagined an outdoorsy job involving “jumping in streams”, and this led her to study geography at university. A career in software engineering might seem a far cry, but it’s a testament to her role at Discover Financial Services that Denise is inspired and fulfilled. “You feel part of something bigger,” she says.
Having first come across information systems at university, Denise began her career as a software engineer, moving into management with a previous employer. “It’s a little like parenting really,” she says. “You might have views about how things should be done, but you have to allow your team to try their own way, make mistakes and learn.”
Now, as a senior manager at the American digital bank and payment services company, Denise manages and works with teams at home and abroad. Today, their daily meeting has signed off in a typical way – with the Polish word of the day. “Some of our team are based in Poland, so we’re making an effort to learn the language,” she says.
She’s proud of the work culture she’s managed to create at Discover. “We’re very friendly, we’ve got each other’s back,” she says. “We are collaborative, we have fun, we pull together as a team – but we haven’t lost sight of the fact we are individuals with real lives.”
This means recognising individual working styles. Denise champions neurodiversity at work – as a mother to a son who is autistic, it’s a subject close to her heart. She has previously volunteered with the industry body Neurodiversity in Business to help improve inclusion of neurodivergent employees. “It’s about allowing people to define what they need to do the job rather than forcing everyone to do the same,” she says.
“In tech, there are many who like to work alone, heads down, but also some people crave pair programming – where you work closely with someone else,” she says. “Ultimately, software engineering is a collaborative occupation. But as a manager, it’s important to ensure everyone is treated as an individual, with different needs, schedules and so on. You aim for consistency across the team, but there has to be balance.”
Creating software is a little like building a house, Denise says. Digital architects work with stakeholders to design the project they want. “They have an idea of all the features they need and what it will look like. And it’s the engineers, the builders, who actually carry out the work. Everyone has different skills and views, and it’s here that communication between teams is really important – you don’t want to end up with the digital equivalent of a pipe or tap in the wrong place. And a manager’s job is to have these conversations and be the glue that holds everything together.”
When Denise joined Discover three years ago, she was the company’s only female manager in the UK. She now works with four other senior women – a refreshing situation within technology, as just 16% of the entire software engineering workforce are women, according to figures from Wise, an industry group that aims to improve the gender balance.
“I always try to spread the word that technology really is a great place for women,” says Denise, who previously chaired Discover’s Women in Tech group. “It’s an environment that plays to women’s strengths – we’re good at pulling people together and getting the best out of them.”
When Denise started her family – she has two children – she enjoyed the flexibility allowed by her work, and she’s careful to try to extend the same freedom to team members. Since the pandemic, her team follows a hybrid working pattern, aiming to meet in person in the Farnborough office at least twice a week.
Social get-togethers are encouraged and the company lays on opportunities to mingle and network – such as days out at Sandown Park Racecourse in Surrey and also at Discover’s headquarters in Chicago. “It’s fantastic to be able to meet your overseas colleagues in person,” says Denise. “Discover employs people all over the world, and it’s exciting to feel part of an international community.”
She encourages staff to take advantage of the benefits of working from home – “you can attend a meeting while you’re on a walk” – and to carve out time for themselves and set boundaries. “There’s an element of being grownup about it – flexibility must work both ways,” she says.
Personal development is high on her agenda for her team, and Discover encourages staff to continue to learn; Denise herself is preparing to study for a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, funded in part by the company. Initiatives such as Discover Technology Academy allow employees to access a high level in-house curriculum, which aims to elevate skills and, more widely, to build communities and maintain a culture of innovation through a programme of speakers and masterclasses.
“It’s where you can go to learn but also to show what you know to others, and display and be proud of your technology skills,” says Denise. “Discover wants to encourage employees to step up and present at conferences – the academy and the company act as a ladder to further opportunities.”
Find out more about the job opportunities and career progression offered by Discover Financial Services
