Portfolio.

Aleph Insights, established in 2014, is a London-based data science and analytical consultancy at the forefront of leveraging emerging technologies, evidence-based methodologies, and data science to inform strategic decision-making across government, industry, defence, security, intelligence, insurance, and international affairs. Specialising in developing analytical, data-driven, and AI-based solutions.

The role

Data Scientist for upcoming Government projects.

The requirement

Aleph, a growing company in data science and AI, required additional capacity in their data science division. They sought an individual with strong technical expertise, experience in an SME environment, an entrepreneurial mindset, and robust technical skills. This person needed access to high-level research, the ability to work independently, and be eligible for SC clearance.

The process

While Aleph had previously engaged recruiters, they chose to collaborate exclusively with InfoSec People to better understand their specific requirements. They aimed for a more targeted recruitment process after facing challenges with a previous campaign that generated over 500 applicants but lacked specialisation and efficiency.

Due to previous challenges within the campaign, it was paramount to have a proper partnership where InfoSec People’s recruiters worked alongside Aleph to be the main point of call for negotiating timeframes, interviews, handling queries and communicate in detail with the candidate so that Aleph had time to focus on upcoming projects.

The outcome

The successful search outcome empowers Aleph to explore future projects in their business plan that might have otherwise been difficult to discover within their time constraints.

Aleph are continuing to expand and move to a model where they can recruit independently of individual contracts. They want to continue on their upward trajectory to be able to keep the ball rolling as they grow at a steady rate.

Founded in 2008, Amethyst Risk are a cyber security consultancy who work with four main vendors (the MoD, government, enterprise and SME). As a cyber specialist, Amethyst pride themselves on providing the best customer journey when it comes to accreditation.

The role(s)

Cyber Security Consultants

The requirement

Due to massive growth, their ongoing success depended on attracting the right talent to the business to keep up with project demands. Amethyst Risk have a long standing relationship with InfoSec People, built on a specialist understanding of the Consultancy sector across Defence and Public Sector. Amethyst Risk partnered with InfoSec People to complete these hires as an SME in the space.

The process

They came to InfoSec People as a cyber security specialist in our field, and worked with them on the specific criteria they wanted InfoSec People to qualify suitable candidates against.

For example, because Amethyst’s biggest client is within the Defence sector, InfoSec People focused their search on Senior Security Consultants who had recently left the MoD, and had gone on to work for a commercial consultancy.

The outcome

Amethyst took a proactive approach to building the partnership with InfoSec. Understanding the critical role of recruitment in its growth and expansion, Amethyst engaged in extensive discussions with InfoSec’s representatives. These discussions focused on familiarising InfoSec People with Amethyst’s organisational culture, mission, and specific talent requirements.

With a strong foundation of mutual understanding, Amethyst and InfoSec collaborated on a comprehensive approach to talent acquisition. Amethyst provided InfoSec with detailed insights into its unique challenges, skill sets needed for different roles, and long-term goals. This enabled InfoSec to tailor their recruitment strategies to align with Amethyst’s objectives. From this Amethyst have expanded their permanent consultancy and will continue to grow the team using InfoSec People as their Recruitment Partner.

Advent IM is the UK’s leading independent information security, physical security consultancy and training provider.

The role(s)

Lead Security Engineer

The requirement

Advent IM faced a challenge when one of their clients, a major Defence supplier, required a highly specialised Lead Security Engineer for a critical project. The client required a candidate with specific expertise in MoD and intricate knowledge of the project’s subject matter.

The process

Advent IM turned to InfoSec People for assistance and guidance, and together they quickly identified a candidate who perfectly matched the client’s needs. The candidate was new to contracting, and Advent IM worked closely with InfoSec People to provide support throughout the process. They utilised digital tools for document signing, which saved time and made the process smoother and more manageable for everyone involved.

Thanks to this successful collaboration, Advent IM was able to make an informed decision and make an immediate offer to the candidate. The new hire had a significant impact on the project, helping improve morale and the quality of output, which in turn had a positive effect on the delivery of the wider program. The client was impressed, and Advent IM’s reputation received an enormous boost.

The outcome

The outcome of this successful project is a testament to the power of collaboration, expertise, and teamwork. Advent IM and InfoSec People proved to be the perfect partners, delivering an exceptional outcome for their client, and cementing their position as industry leaders in their respective fields.

InPhySec security are managed security service provider based out of New Zealand who have expanded into the UK. They offer a specialised security service that will fit their clients needs.

The role(s)

Multiple SOC Analysts ranging in levels

The requirement

Having thrived in their homeland, InPhySec saw the opportunity to expand their managed security service operations. They chose to come to the UK, and more specifically to be South-West based. The reasons behind this were two-fold: they knew there would be a possibility to be able to employ a “follow the sun” method with their SOC, which would mean that they would no longer need their analysts to work 24×7 in New Zealand. Looking after the wellbeing of their staff is of major importance to them, so this was a big step towards the work life balance increasing. They also saw the UK as a good opportunity to be able to expand into Europe and grow their business further. They would be able to employ ‘follow the sun’ for customers in both hemispheres.

InPhySec had few contacts here in the UK and did not know exactly what the UK market looked like and what to expect. They needed help going out to market and how to attract the right people as well as what employment contracts and benefits packages looked like in the UK. Getting the right people into post was of utmost importance, as well as announcing themselves here in the UK. How could they make the right hires in a part of the world they were unsure about?

The process

They made very good use of the tools that they had at their disposal. They had a member of their senior Leadership team at the time who had worked and lived in Cheltenham previously and so knew a little about the UK market and employing in the UK. They had heard by word of mouth about the cyber community in Cheltenham, which led them towards InfoSec People. One of their Managers that had a British Passport and was keen to move over here so they could then manage the SOC on this side. They have worked with InfoSec People to attract the best talent and fill (to date) 5 roles within their SOC in 6 months. This was all down to having a efficient and fast paced interview process and offering some of the best training available. They are continuing to grow here in the UK and have announced some exciting partnerships in New Zealand and they have been a pleasure for us to work with.

The company

Admiral are a leading UK based insurance company, set up in 1993. They offer a variety of products including, MultiCover, MultiCar, home insurance and travel insurance.

The role(s)

Enterprise Architect

Technology Domain Architect

Digital Domain Architect

The requirement

Infosec People were approached by Admiral Insurance to support the development and growth of their new Enterprise and Domain Architecture function. The domain architects would operate within the CTO team taking primary responsibility for the development of the current technology landscapes, target architectures and roadmaps which feed into IT Strategy and propel technology delivery with clarity on the future. They would be responsible for setting out the principles, guardrails, patterns and building blocks for use by solutions architects and delivery teams; and assuring via governance and other stakeholder management conformant to strategy and roadmaps, whilst remaining pragmatic. Working closely with the Head of Enterprise and Domain Architecture, we initially discussed the hires they would be looking to make in the following 12 months including Data, Cloud, Technology, Application and Digital Domain Architect posts.

As this was a new team within Admiral, all posts were new to the business and so we faced the challenge of identifying suitable candidates for posts with no history. With these hires playing a key strategic role in the technical direction of the company, it was critical for Admiral to hire the right candidates for these positions.

The process

In order to attract suitable candidates for these positions, we had a detailed initial vacancy briefing followed by regular steering meetings with the Head of Enterprise and Domain Architecture, to identify any internal business changes that may require a slight change in the initial specification. In these calls we relayed feedback from candidates who were not interested or unsuitable against the initial specification to align requirements with available talent, covering salary, location, skill and knowledge. This also helped us to identify pools of candidates in specific industries that would have the most relevant transferable skills.

When approaching candidates, we had an open and honest methodology, outlining from the start the client, the role, location, package, and key requirements which was met with positive feedback from all candidates, interested and suitable or otherwise. This meant candidates were equally as honest with us throughout the process. In turn we were able to manage the candidate and client throughout the process with ease which resulted in the placement of 2 of the Domain Architects. Working closely with the Internal Recruitment Officer,  InfoSec People also placed their Technology and Digital Domain Architect, being the most successful agency working on this recruitment campaign.

The company

HPD Lendscape is one of the world’s leading software providers for Asset Based Finance (ABF), providing a specialist platform that delivers ABF solutions to its users through its flagship product, Lendscape. HPD are passionate about diversity in tech and care for their employees personal and career growth.

The role(s)

Multiple Java Developers

The requirement

HPD Lendscape’s goal is to enhance choice through dynamic, intelligent risk mitigating working capital that will refine a client’s own offering while enabling them to grow their client’s business.Working with InfoSec People, HPD Lendscape were looking to hire a mixture of Java Developers ranging from mid to senior level, due to the companies consistent month on month growth and global expansion, and backfilling some leavers, all roles were urgent requirements. The primary requirements were specialist qualifications and experience with core Java skills. It was important for HPD that the candidate would be able to hit the ground running within their dynamic team.

The process

It was important for HPD Lendscape to maintain the pace and consistency in their hiring plans in a very fast-moving and competitive industry. One of our Permanent Recruitment Partners worked with HPD to understand their requirements from both a technical standpoint as well as culturally too, so far placing three candidates for the Java Developers roles, with an average time to hire of 15 days, in line with HPD’s hiring plans.

The company

Bitweave specialises in secure software, data science and analysis for the cyber security industry, helping organisations use their own data to optimise their cybersecurity operations and protect themselves from cyber threats.

The role(s)

Data Scientists & Developers

The requirement

Bitweave are growing rapidly; after successfully securing another large project, they required increasing numbers of permanent employees.

Alongside finding the right skill-set, a huge requirement for Bitweave was the correct mind-set. The most important thing was that someone had the desire to “muck in”, experimenting and trying innovative new techniques – really pushing the boundaries. Java was important, but it was all about finding the right culture fit and attitude, wanting to be involved in a sociable team. Finally, there was a requirement for DV clearance, which can limit the candidate pool somewhat!

The process

Bitweave worked with one of InfoSec Peoples Senior Recruitment Partners, on an exclusive basis, allowing them to thoroughly map the market and engage with their network, sourcing only the best candidates from both active and passive candidate pools.

Timeframes were pre-agreed for all steps of the process, including a date for shortlist presentation, interview dates organised, and time for feedback on candidates.

Bitweave were serious about finding excellent candidates and needed to do so quickly. InfoSec People advise that a good ‘time to hire’ is less than 30 days; Bitweave took 24 days from scoping the role to offer.

The company

Major Government Client

The role(s)

Analysts

The requirement

In 2017 British Telecom won a long term contract to provide on-site protective monitoring services to a major government client in Aldermaston.

The challenge for the technical account management team, led by Head of Cyber Operations Dave L, was to build and integrate a team of experienced Analysts to fit into the client’s environment. With proprietary tooling and a unique culture, Dave was finding it hard to on-board the client whilst trying to assess potential hires.

The process

We worked with Dave to develop a skills and behavioural assessment that allowed Dave to spend more time with the end client, confident that every candidate we sent him was likely to fit his requirements. Using this model, and weekly steering calls to share data and insights, Dave was able to hire a diverse team of four within six weeks, delighting the customer and ensuring a smooth transition to the new service.

With the new team in place, Dave was then able to move on to a new project. Refining the on-boarding process for clients and new hires enabled Dave to be more effective in his role, leading to his promotion to the Head of Cyber Operations the following year.