EDF’s Software Engineering Up-skilling Programme

At EDF, we’re committed to career development and continuous learning. As part of this commitment, we’ve introduced an up-skilling programme for those looking to switch careers within the company and get into tech! This blog explores our first cohort’s experience as they recount their challenges and highlights throughout the bootcamp, leading straight into their first roles in software engineering. Our members come from differing occupations, serving as Business Analysts and Team Managers, eager to embrace a challenge — each a testament to their determination, adaptability, and the unwavering support found within EDF.

Read below as each of our career-changers recap their transition from their previous roles into their current positions as software engineers.

Stephen Docker:

I went through the Software Engineering Upskilling Programme — I used to be a Business Analyst, in Business Change & IT, for the last seven years or so; mostly working on any and all aspects of our Smart Metering implementation. I took on a lot of technical or near-technical work, and I’m also familiar with an Agile IT environment, so the transition was probably easier for me than others.

During the programme, we learned Typescript, using it to build web applications in React, and how to deploy them to AWS through automated code. We also learned SecDevOps practices and thinking — putting security first and continually testing and maintaining whatever we were working on.

Right now, I’m on the Field & Asset team, in Solutions and Automation. The guys have been very welcoming and accommodating; they understand that I’ve been on a hell of a journey and have an awful lot left to learn. We’re working on Field Assist, which is the new application for Meter Installers to run their work on meter maintenance, installing and commissioning meters.

Software Engineering is a really tough subject; one of our tutors described it as “the most challenging cognitive task a human being can do”. If Steve (Bowerman) thinks you can do it though, trust in his judgement and give it your best shot — all the people in our cohort have come out of the other side without anyone dropping out! Steve’s been really supportive throughout the process; we’ve had a lot of time with him to discuss the programme, both before and after the formal bootcamp. We’ve now been placed with individual mentors to help us develop and build upon what we’ve learned.

EDF really pulled out all the stops to try to ensure we would succeed- we were tutored by people who work professionally with the subject matter day in, day out, and have done for years, or even decades in some cases! This experience really gave us huge benefits in terms of understanding how it all works together. Personally, I’ve not touched anything to do with programming since university, about 20 years ago, so there was a lot of new concepts and ways of thinking to try to understand, but it’s all starting to percolate through now!

Mark Benson:

I joined the Software Engineering Up-skilling Programme in early November 2023; this began with a five-week bootcamp course encompassing introductions to programming, best design practices, version control, the code release pipeline, and building modern web apps. After the bootcamp ended I was placed into an engineering team with a mentor & career manager to help guide me along the rest of my upskilling journey.

This experience has confirmed how much I enjoy learning new things. Although the sheer amount of new things to take on board is daunting at first, I have countered that with a constant feeling of awe and appreciation at having this opportunity.

My previous role was as an analyst in the Pricing Operations team in the Sales & Marketing area. During this role, I worked on tariff launches and government rebate schemes for the SME market, and fixed tariff builds & launches for the Resi market alongside quarterly Price Cap activities.

I am currently in the Propositions & Commissions team in the SME & Commercial tribe within Solutions & Automations. We maintain a software tool called Teller, which our SME brokers and partners use to submit sales contracts to us. Teller passes the details on to our customer information systems, and it also manages the commission payments due to the broker from each contract. I’ve found it fascinating starting to learn how Teller operates and is maintained, and the team have been very supportive with easing me into the types of work they undertake.

I’ve been working on small updates to the new version of Teller which passes sales from SME brokers to Kraken, alongside learning how to resolve commission queries on the old version of Teller that interfaces to SAP.

I have not done any programming since secondary school (many, many moons ago!) and so I faced a vast array of challenges including moving from Windows to the Apple macOS system, learning about the UNIX command line environment and the tools for creating code and maintaining version control. Alongside all of this was the challenge of taking on board the course content and concepts of programming in a language called TypeScript, and how to build using AWS.

If you relish a challenge, love to solve problems and have an inquisitive mindset I’d suggest looking out for software engineering upskilling opportunities at future Careers Focus events.

Phil Duffy:

I joined EDF in 2021 as a Senior Analyst in the Operations & Data Strategy team in BOARO. With the re-org ongoing I was planning to continue in a similar role but when this option came up it felt like it was an opportunity not to be missed. Having took part in an intense 5-week bootcamp learning the concepts of Software Engineering I felt both excited and daunted. Starting a new role with a brand-new set of skills without being able to rely on past experience built over a career as an analyst was something I haven’t had to do in a long time.

The bootcamp was very intense with a lot of information to take in, although we were given the advice to focus “not on the details but on the concepts.” Experience is built over time and can’t be learned in 5 weeks.

I’m currently in the SME Acquisition & Retention tribe in Solutions & Automation. It’s early days but everyone has been really welcoming and supportive. I’m learning something new every day and steadily bedding in the skills I’ve learned. We’re currently working building Midas, the quote tool which will be used for selling SME contracts and passing them into Kraken.

If you’re interested in moving into Software Engineering, go for it! It’s been a great experience and the EDF Engineering Practice should be commended for coming up with a programme that offers to re-skill people in this way. It can feel like a steep learning curve, but the support is there, everyone wants you to succeed and will work with you to make that happen.

A highlight of my experience was how supportive everyone has been. The rest of the cohort on the bootcamp was brilliant, we’re all new to engineering and there was a real camaraderie and no feeling of judgment. We all had days where things were overwhelming and there was a real mentality to help each other out.

What a great opportunity it is.

Colin Fisher:

I have worked for EDF for over 20 years in various roles, but mainly as a Team Manager in Customer Services. My last role was managing a team of complaint handlers that looked after complaints regarding the behaviour of field engineers. That job was very interesting, but being honest with myself, it was time for a change. So, when I saw the EDF careers day, I was keen to see if there were other areas of the business where I could learn new skills and face new challenges.

When I looked at the schedule for the day, I noticed there was a session around Software Engineering and as I had studied this at university (but never gone on to use it in a job) I thought it would be an interesting booth to attend. That decision was similar to a “Sliding Doors” moment for me, as I learnt there was an opportunity to join an up-skilling programme to become a Software Engineer. I immediately reached out to Steve Bowerman after the session to find out more and register my interest. I was successful during the selection process to make it onto the programme and then onto the bootcamp.

The bootcamp was intense, the 1st week was hosted in London, and I got to meet the other successful candidates, we were all in the same boat and it was a great experience to be away together in a classroom environment and meet and learn from new people. The remaining 4 weeks were remote, and the material got progressively deeper and more technical, and it was a real challenge to stay with it in the last week. The parts I enjoyed the most were learning typescript and React.

When the bootcamp was over, I moved into the Central Engineering Team. The support I have received has been amazing. Everyone has made me feel very welcome and I love the morning stand-ups; seeing the tickets and learning more about the work that the team do. My advice to anyone interested in following in my footsteps would be to make the jump! You must be prepared to take responsibility for your learning and the learning never stops, but what an incredible opportunity to have.

Craig Waghorn:

I was part of the first cohort for the new up-skilling programme, where existing EDF employees take part in a software engineering bootcamp and are then put into a squad to learn in-role. My previous role was within the Messaging Channel team in VCC. I was responsible for the implementation of our chatbots in SMS and WhatsApp. In this role, I began to write JavaScript code for certain features of our chatbots, which is what ultimately led me to a career change.

During the bootcamp, we covered all areas of software engineering. I’m using a lot of React currently which builds the visual side of our web app, along with Typescript to write the functionality. I think the biggest challenge for me was moving from a role and business area where I was considered an expert into a role where I had to start again.

However, I’ve made a great set of new friends from the bootcamp, and I think the first week being in person really helped with this. We’re still in contact regularly and support each other. Along with this, I’ve also realised how supportive and welcoming the wider engineering community in EDF is. Everyone I’ve dealt with seems happy to help.

Currently, I’m working in a small squad in the Sales and Marketing Tribe within Solutions and Automation. We are working on adding new functionality to EnergyHub within our web app.

If you’re interested in taking the same route: Go for it, no matter what your current role is or what experience you have. The cohort I was part of has people from all different business areas with different backgrounds but with a common interest in software engineering. Whether that be from past years at university, as a hobbyist, or writing small bits of code for a current role like me.

My previous manager encouraged me to apply and then supported me through the process until I started. I’m still in contact with him as well so there’s ongoing support there also. As I’ve previously said, the support from the cohort has been amazing, as well as from the engineering community.

Coming from diverse backgrounds, Steven, Mark, Phil, Colin and Craig navigated the bootcamp with enthusiasm, embodying the programme’s transformative impact. At EDF, our dedication to continuous learning and fostering supportive communities has been integral to these achievements. The Software Engineering Up-skilling Programme reflects our efforts in empowering individuals for success in the dynamic world of energy and technology.