Bill is Head of Technology at Nye. When he's not at work he does stuff like this:
But we wanted to know more about what Bill does when he is at work, so we had a little chat with him...
If you think the work Bill does sounds interesting, perhaps you might like to work with him? We're currently hiring developers in Edinburgh,
check out our open roles here!
Hi Bill 👋 can you tell us a bit about your role at Nye?
I’m a technologist at Nye. I have a super varied role with the company - a mix of managing the needs of the technologists and developers of the company, cyber-security, IT compliance and some development and architecture work!
Why did you choose to come and work at Nye?
I had been looking for a move to a small company - ideally a start-up - for some months, the project in my previous job was coming to an end and I knew my role was going to change when it did. I wanted a fresh challenge that would allow me to take all of the good cultural, process and technology learnings that’d I’d been building, and apply them in a fresh setting.
When I heard what Nye Health’s vision, both company and product-wise was, taking the decision to make - what at the time seemed like a potentially risky move to start-up - quickly became a no brainer and just something that I had to do.
Well, we're very glad you did make the move🕺! Can you tell us a little bit more about your life before Nye?
I’ve always been more of a science and logic type person over a creative. That being said, I did a lot of art at school and still enjoy building and crafting things at home. Software requires highly logical thinking, problem solving and maths but you can be truly creative and express yourself as well. If you can conceive of it - it can be done!
I studied mechanical engineering at university and very quickly realised that the discipline was transitioning onto computers. I completed a PhD after my degree to get further into the world of discrete numerical modelling and I still have a real passion for multi-physics simulation. I’m often blow away by films and computer games, just for the level of the special effects.
In the first half of my career, before joining Nye, I carried my engineering through a variety of jobs at start-ups and SME’s as a numerical modeller and software developer. I then spent five years at a larger company doing a more traditional systems engineering role, where I got involved in a lot of business transformation and culture improvements.
What do you enjoy most about your job at Nye?
The thing that I enjoy the most at Nye is definitely the culture.
The empowerment and flexibility to do the job and take the company in the best possible direction. The people at the company really turbo charge this - very, open-minded and can do attitudes. It’s a tremendously positive environment to work in.
Of course, it goes without saying that getting to work with the latest technologies and witness the progress we’ve made is tremendously exciting and satisfying. We have some pretty amazing, class-leading solutions implemented in parts of our technology stack. Not bad for a company that’s just starting out!
Not bad at all - go us! But it's not all shiny, new, class-leading technology solutions...can you tell us how you've developed professionally during your time at Nye?
As you might expect, in a young company, my 18-months tenure at Nye has been one of the most productive periods of professional development I’ve had. I’ve learned a lot about bringing web applications to production on cloud infrastructure and how to scale them, for sure. I’ve also pushed the other dimensions of a job much further than I’ve previously had an opportunity to.
I think that working in a healthcare setting rather than engineering technology has given me a huge opportunity to work and collaborate with a number of people a variety of backgrounds’ that I’ve not worked with before. This has really helped me change and broaden my perspective on a number of aspects of ‘getting the job done’. I’m a much more rounded, happier individual for it. I hope my colleagues feel the same too sometimes!
What are you most excited about in your future at Nye?
More of the same - bigger, better, more happy users, more happy colleagues!
I’m also really looking forward to building the Nye name outside of healthcare professionals and sharing our ideas with citizens.
When I think of some of the impact we’ve potentially made to people’s lives during the current pandemic, with the Nye Phone, it’s pretty humbling.
We are living through a pandemic, it is a tough time for a lot of people, what message would you like the world to hear?
It’s been undeniably tough for everyone. I recognise that I’m in a very fortunate position compared to most, but even then, without the support of my family and work colleagues I wouldn’t have faired so well. I realise that those less fortunate need more support than ever. I’m determined that Nye can help people, support them just a little, to remove just one frustration or anxiety they have over their health. I really think everyone deserves to live a happier, healthier life.
If a potential applicant was reading this interview what one other message would you want to leave them with?
Just lick the stamp and send it! We don’t have any time to waste 😀
Thank you Bill!
Keep being a wonderful technology wizard! 💖
P.s. we're not the only ones interested in learning more about Bill, Twilio also profiled Bill - you can read the full article here