Women in Tech @ ASOS: A day in the life of… Suzie M (Platform Lead)
If you’re anything like me, I love hearing about people’s career stories — not out of nosiness (OK, maybe a bit!), but more out of curiosity and interest!
This ‘Day in the life of’ series gives you a peek into what a typical day looks like for our women in tech at ASOS (there isn’t one!) and how they started their careers. Hopefully you take something inspirational away from it!
First up is Suzie M who is a Platform Lead in Data Services.
My alarm clock goes off…
At 6am. First my Lumie alarm goes off, followed by my radio and finally my phone forces me out as I have to get out of bed to switch it off! I get up early so I have time to be present in the world before my kids wake up and make my fave green smoothie for lunch.
My commute to work…
I leave at 7:30am and depending on whether I’m in Alfred Place or Greater London House, I’ll either cycle or ride my scooter to the station. I love my train commute and spend it doing life admin and checking my emails.
I’m responsible for…
I look after the Data Tech Stack for Advanced Analytics, which means I’m creating an environment where data is more accessible to people in the business who are making data-driven decisions. I’m also very involved in Women in Tech (a community focused on empowering and enabling women in technology at ASOS).
I got the job…
I’ve always worked in tech. I did IT A level on DOS databases. That’s how archaic I am! I’m like a tiny dinosaur.
I started as a COBOL engineer and spent seven years specialising in financial crime systems. One of my favourite projects I’ve ever worked on was Faster Payments — my team built the system that reduced the time it took fraud checking for payments from 1.5 days to under 1 second. After that I was at Tesco where I led a team to build their recruitment website, implemented a HR system, and looked after Supply Chain optimisation and international stock forecasting.
It was business growth that attracted me to ASOS. It seemed like there were more opportunities to be technically innovative.
My typical day…
I spend a lot of time making sure what we’re doing makes sense to other people and what other people are doing makes sense to us. I work from home one and half days a week, so I can pick the kids up from school and generally like to spend that day getting focused work done.
My most memorable moment…
Speaking at the Women of Silicon Roundabout Conference about ASOS’s journey to Azure.
The best part of my job…
I love the fact that whilst the speed of things change, bringing uncertainty, the flipside to that coin is opportunity. If you can hold your nerve you can make anything happen.
In the evenings…
Most evenings I’m back to my first job, which is being a mum. We’re big board games people — Cluedo is our current favourite. The little one is annoyingly good at it and he’s only seven! If I’m not at work and not being mum, I’m out doing some kind of sport.
My one piece of advice for aspiring women in Tech…
Keep positive and build as many relationships as you can with people you want to learn from. Somewhere along the line, society decided that what makes a good woman is being a good mum, a good housewife, pretty and thin. And that’s all bulls***. Women are strong, creative and inspiring — especially in tech. Tech is going to be the way to heal the world and we all have a responsibility to ensure our workforce is diverse to create a fantastic future.
Suzie McFarlane has 17 years of experience working across the tech industry. She currently leads teams at ASOS which leverage new Cloud technology, to enable ASOS Advanced Analytics and drive the Data Driven agenda. She’s a passionate advocate of diversity in tech, flexible working and loves the dynamic that working in tech presents. When not at work, Suzie juggles life as an independent parent who loves outdoor sports.
Kim Tang is a Cultural Change Advisor at ASOS Tech. Her superpowers include, but are not limited to: making tech a place we all love to work through change, communications and engagement activities. She’s an avid traveller, loves a summer music festival, and has a slight obsession with trainers and jackets.
