Made Tech Team Interview: Anikh Subhan, Delivery Principal

This month we continued our Made Tech team interview series with our Delivery Principal Anikh Subhan to better understand his role and to feature the great work he has been doing.

Our Delivery Principals help public sector organisations accelerate digital delivery, drive efficiency and ultimately improve society. They do this by leading large-scale teams (accounts), building and managing strategic relationships, finding new opportunities and advising as senior delivery leaders.

If you would like to watch the full interview, it is available here.

Q: Outside of Made Tech, what hobbies do you have?

A: Things like fitness, football and food, specifically desserts. I also like to go for a few runs now and then and I’m really big into space and astronomy.

Q: Before you joined Made Tech, had you ever worked in the public sector before?

A: No, I hadn’t actually. That’s something that really appealed to me about Made Tech because it was a new experience and a new challenge to focus on the public sector.

Q: How have you found working in the public sector?

A: It’s really good actually. It’s very similar in a lot of ways to the private sector. You get to work on stuff that society and the nation are using day-to-day, which is quite rewarding. But being able to play a part in improving people’s lives has been hugely motivating. 

Q: How long have you been at Made Tech?

A: I joined at the start of October, so it’s been 3 or 4 months now.

Q: How did you find out about the company?

A: I was looking for a new role and I came across an open one at Made Tech posted on Linkedin and applied and the rest is history.

Q: What attracted you to Made Tech?

A: The culture here is a big aspect and is really good. As well as the type of work that we are doing and the vision for the company for the future in terms of the growth and where we’re heading.

Q: What was the interview process like?

A: It was very smooth with a very quick turnaround as well. For my role, it was a couple of different interview stages. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming as well, so it was a really good opportunity to learn more about the company, the culture and about what is expected in the role and for working at Made Tech.

Q: What does your role here involve?

A: My role as Delivery Principal involves a few different bits. The key thing really is overseeing one of my key clients in the London office and the multiple work streams within that. Within that client, we’ve got a few different projects and deliveries going on and my role is about managing and providing the right kind of support and guidance to our teams. I also work with our key client stakeholders to help shape up successful deliveries of our products and services. 

Q: What do you like most about being a Delivery Principal?

A: I think it has got to be the variety. There’s a lot of variety in the role, both in terms of the type of work we’re doing and the types of people and teams we’re working with. It’s also the reward of seeing the results of our hard work which is great and really exciting.

Q: What are some of the most challenging things about this role?

A: I think it is a good challenge actually and not necessarily one that is particularly painful or tricky because it’s a good opportunity to work on. It’s really evolving and improving how we do things in delivery as we continue to grow and scale as a company. We do some really good stuff and we work in some fantastic ways and methods with our clients and it’s about growing that as the company continues to scale going forward.

Q: What has been one of your favourite projects you have worked on?

A: One of the favourite ones, I can’t really favouritise my team, but one of them is the programme of work we are doing currently to help transform the technology and services that is used across prisons. Prisons, as you can imagine, are very old school in terms of the way they are built and the services people use. So the opportunity to really evolve that and bring it into the digital age that is very seamless in delivering value for the user is pretty exciting.

Q: Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to be a Delivery Principal?

A: I think it depends on where people are at the moment, but something to think about at a high level would be to continue to lead deliveries. Get a lot of experience leading deliveries, no matter how big or small. 

Another key part is continuing to learn, which is something that is important in any role. Have an appetite to learn and grab opportunities to do that as well. Also helping and supporting people with their own growth and development is a core part. Any opportunities to coach or mentor people and really support their growth is going to put you in a good position for this kind of role. 

We’re hiring as well, so get in touch if you are interested. There are plenty of opportunities to move into a Delivery Principal role, or similar kind of role.

Q: What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve had to face since lockdown started in this position and how did you overcome it?

A: It’s probably a similar challenge to most parents with kids at home full time: juggling work with homeschooling. Everyone’s feeling the pain there. What this means is there’s no real breaks throughout the day, so it’s constantly switching between meetings, calls, learning to read, learning ABCs and 123s; it’s quite a juggling act. 

Made Tech and the culture here is so flexible though and allows the space around work to make sure that we can manage and juggle things. That’s so important especially with what everyone’s going through at the moment, so that’s definitely helped with that challenge.

Q: What do you like most about working at Made Tech?

A: It’s got to be the culture. It’s a fantastic culture that we’ve got here focused on learning and development. It’s a people-first culture that’s relaxed but determined with a focused mindset. Made Tech has ambitious growth and scaling plans, so it’s important to be centred and focused on people as well. So for me, it’s got to be the culture.

Q: Do you have any books or resources you would recommend for someone interested in this position?

A: There’s a variety of books and resources out there, but what I would say is it depends on where people are currently at. What type of goals or specific needs they have in terms of their development or growth that would determine which books and resources to go for. So on that note, if people are reading this and they are interested in things that could help them, feel free to reach out directly to me on Linkedin, I’m happy to speak and support people in their growth. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you have any more questions for Anikh about his role here, you can get in touch by reaching out on Linkedin or Twitter. Additionally, if you are interested in joining our team, you can view our current open positions here. Be sure to stay tuned for our next Made Tech Team Interview coming next month.

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