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What's it like to work here? Meet a few of your new colleagues
Lu Stanton-Greenwood
BI Team Leader - Data Engineering
Finance
Started at StepChange in 2014
My average day...There is no such thing as a typical day in Business Intelligence (BI)!
We complete reports for operations that provide insight on their key performance indicators (KPIs) on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, so I will normally be working on at least one of these, alongside other pieces of ad hoc analysis. We could be looking into anything from referral trends across the year to the demographics of clients at specific points in their journey. If there’s data on it, we touch it.
A ‘typical’ day for me would be a combination of supporting new charity initiatives, such as the CVPP product or the Breathing Space project. My involvement will consist of gathering reporting requirements and building datasets for analysts to use in their roles, working with Data and Integrations to ensure the data warehouse structure is in line with reporting needs and testing new data to ensure it works the way we expect. Every day is different because our department is about responding to the needs of the charity; as it changes, so do we.
How did I get here?
I started my time with StepChange 7 years ago, as a Data Verifier in Plan Activations. I picked up a task to rework the creditor matrix (a document used to identify which creditors used which codes), which was my first real project with the charity. After a year as a Data Verifier, I moved into the Plan Referral team as a Debt Advisor, where I stayed for around 18 months. In those 18 months, I worked with my team leader on my personal development plan and volunteered for any opportunity I could get my hands on. With a lot of changes in the department, there were projects that required indepth (if simple!) data work.
I applied to be a Real Time Analyst some time after, and it was at that point that my experience really started to take off. As a new function in the charity, we were able to shape it and build all of our own tools and reports. To cut an intricate story short, this function was where I gained most of my confidence in meeting with team leaders and managers, some basic Excel knowledge and a growing appreciation for my most hated subject, maths (as an English/Creative writing graduate, numbers were not my strongest point).
After just over a year in Real Time Analysis, I moved to the Business Information department as an assistant, initially on secondment. I became permanent after two months and took on several projects that have been lengthy and very engrossing. I have moved up from data analysis into data engineering, which is slightly different, as I provide and certify datasets instead of analysing what it means for the charity. Throughout my career here, my general approach has always been the same; volunteer for every project I can, build as many relationships along the way as possible, and work on developing weaknesses into strengths.
I am busy with...
Our data strategy! We are moving away from manual Excel reports and into self-service, automated reports in Power BI. I spend a lot of time between writing SQL code, creating dataflows (which are streamlined data queries from the data warehouse), documenting the steps we take to ensure that data is correct and working on requests for new datasets. I also support the team and stakeholders with understanding the data they’re using and act as a subject matter expert (SME) on data clarity and quality.
I love it here because...
It’s because of the people.
It’s hard to not appreciate the quality of the people who work for StepChange, and I feel like most of the best people I’ve ever worked with are here, working hard and helping each other to achieve. This isn’t limited to my own team, it’s wherever I’ve been in the Charity. There’s someone to learn from everywhere you look.
