Next Generation Technology Fellowship (PhD)

Capco; London; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000

Job description

Next Generation Technology Fellowship (PhD)

Joining Capco means joining an organisation that is committed to an inclusive working environment where you’re encouraged to #BeYourselfAtWork. We celebrate individuality and recognize that diversity and inclusion, in all forms, is critical to success. It’s important to us that we recruit and develop as diverse a range of talent as we can and we believe that everyone brings something different to the table – so we’d love to know what makes you different. Such differences may mean we need to make changes to our process to allow you the best possible platform to succeed, and we are happy to cater to any reasonable adjustments you may require. You will find the section to let us know of these at the bottom of your application form or you can mention it directly to your recruiter at any stage and they will be happy to help.

ABOUT CAPCO

Capco is a global technology and business consultancy, focused on the financial services sector. We are passionate about helping our clients succeed in an ever-changing industry.

We are/have:

• Experts in Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Insurance, Wealth & Asset Management and Energy.
• Deep knowledge in financial services offering, including e.g. Finance, Risk and Compliance, Financial Crime, Core Banking etc.
• Committed to growing our business and hiring the best talent to help us get there.
• A growing Cloud community of professionals from architecture to advisory to delivery, founded on real delivery expertise
• Focused on maintaining our nimble, agile and entrepreneurial culture

Role Description

We’re looking for talented and hardworking recent or upcoming PhD graduates to join our fellowship programme, now entering its 8th year. Our aim is to fast-track technically gifted candidates in their careers to become subject matter experts in financial services consulting.

As a fellow, you will enjoy the opportunity to work on our clients’ most interesting and challenging technology and business initiatives. You will gain invaluable experience and insights while working alongside project teams comprised of former fellows, and colleagues from a wide variety of other background.

What kind of work will I do?

Consultants work on a very wide variety of challenges, sometimes involving ground-breaking projects that are new to the industry and are therefore very hard to specify ahead of time. Previous fellows have worked on projects as diverse as modelling the finances of commodity exchanges and retail banks, building new FinTech's and apps for high street banks, and prototyping proof of concepts for loan contract exchanges using blockchain technology.

As a fellow, your role will involve bridging the gap between business strategy and the implementation of technical solutions. This could include any of the following responsibilities:

• Conducting primary and secondary research to evaluate new market propositions, aligning them with market trends and customer preferences
• Performing detailed business analysis to identify existing issues and new opportunities
• Determining business requirements while collaborating with client stakeholders
• Identifying new technologies, tools or vendors through in-depth analyses and technical benchmarking exercises
• Running client workshops to strategize new solutions while providing insight into market dynamics
• Developing coded solutions such as prototypes or proof-of-concepts
• Designing and documenting innovative technical solutions including system architectures (i.e., new applications, services, system components, and integrations)
• Reorganising businesses to improve how they delivery and maintain new technology
• Developing business cases to help clients evolve their strategy and secure funding
• Working on proposals to win new project work or clients

There is a range of different projects you can be involved in, and to some extent, it will be up to you to shape your career path. Projects may include:

• Market analysis and proposition design
• Technology strategy
• Piloting of next-gen technologies
• Cloud adoption, migration or related software development improvements
• Cybersecurity hardening
• Large-scale programme delivery
• Designing, building and launching new FinTech's and ventures
• Green technology
• And much more

So why me?

Having a PhD can be more applicable to consulting than you may think. The skills you take for granted like developing expertise in challenging subject matter, presenting complex ideas to large audiences, finding creative solutions independently or in small project-focussed teams, and engaging in discussions with senior researchers, set you up for a successful career in consulting. Our former fellows have had long, successful careers as consultants, and are now even in the leadership team at Capco.

Skills & Experience

Whilst professional experience is valuable, it is paramount that you share our belief in innovation that puts our clients ahead in a tough market. From day one, your key skill will be to perceive new and better ways of doing things to give our clients an edge.

Here’s what we expect from our fellows:

• Intellectual curiosity and a willingness to learn
• An ability to present complex ideas in simple ways for a variety of audiences
• A passion for problem-solving, innovation, and adaptability in working styles
• Strong teamworking, but not being shy about showing leadership

Academic requirements:

• A doctorate (e.g., PhD, EngD) preferably, but not necessarily, in a STEM subject
• An undergraduate degree of at least 2:1, or equivalent

Desirable but not mandatory:

• Some knowledge of technologies being used in financial services (e.g., cloud computing, artificial intelligence and GenAI, chatbots, machine learning, and blockchain)
• Awareness of recent financial services trends (e.g., the emergence of mobile banking and digital challenger banks, inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, environmental and societal sustainability, the move to a cashless society, bitcoin, and new lending products such as BNPL)
• Coding experience, particularly in model building, prototyping, machine learning, data-crunching, or software development
• Experience working with developers and business stakeholders
• Any practical business experience (e.g., internships, running a small business, or managing funding for a club or society)

The majority of our clients are based within a short distance from our offices; however, 100% travel to client site may be required.

Why Join Capco?

You will work on engaging projects with some of the largest banks in the world, on projects that will transform the financial services industry.

We offer:

• A work culture focused on innovation and creating lasting value for our clients and employees
• Ongoing learning opportunities to help you acquire new skills or deepen existing expertise
• A flat, non-hierarchical structure that will enable you to work with senior partners and directly with clients
• A diverse, inclusive, meritocratic culture
• A range of personal benefits, including private healthcare and 25 days holiday (excluding bank holidays)
• Networks for parents and carers
• Enhanced and competitive family-friendly benefits, including maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave, and paid leave for sickness, pregnancy loss, fertility treatment, menopause, and bereavement