Alumni stories - Working at Firetail
People at Firetail come from different backgrounds, but share common traits. We are practical optimists, working openly and with purpose towards social progress.
We spoke to three Firetail alumni, Calum, Maria and Ilse about their experience at Firetail and its impact on their subsequent careers.
Calum is now an advisor on Digitalisation, Digital Health, and Smart Cities for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ilse is a Senior Policy Advisor for the City of Den Haag, and Maria is a Senior Impact and Funding Advisor with the Fojo Media Institute at Linneaus University.
They each worked with Firetail for over five years and are now based in Singapore, the Hague and Stockholm.
Living our values
Our culture is important to us and our values are the foundation of that culture. For values to truly be at the centre of what we do, everyone needs to connect with them. This is reflected in some of the feedback we received about people enjoy working at Firetail and the integrity of our work.
“I really enjoyed working with the team at Firetail. They are a bunch of lovely, smart, hardworking, committed and interesting people. So I really felt part of a great team! I think Firetail’s main strength is its genuine, deep-rooted understanding and commitment to social impact. It’s important for Firetail that this has always been its core business, rather than something that’s done ‘on the side’ or pro bono.”
Ilse van der Hoeven
“It is very rare that someone leaves to go to a different job. Most often it is because of changes in life circumstances, and usually that means that the European team members move “home” – which was also the case for me after having spent 11 years abroad. I’m immensely proud to be part of the Firetail family and grateful for the years I had there and how it shaped me, professionally and personally.”
Maria Beradovic
We believe in our people and our complete focus on high impact work with our clients trying to achieve social progress. We aim to help mission driven organisations to make choices and get business decisions right.
You can learn more about our values here.
A broad, challenging, learning experience
Firetail is committed to working across a broad range of impact-driven organisations, with the aspiration of helping them to realise their ambitions for society.
“I think one of the things I most enjoyed was the diversity in terms of clients, topics and people. As a consultant you have the opportunity to take a look inside organisations that work on so many interesting topics and challenges.
During my time at Firetail I advised clients on wide ranging issues including tackling corruption, researching breast cancer, developing sustainable supply chains, and innovating investigative journalism methods. And that was just some of them!”
Ilse van der Hoeven
“Firetail’s main strength lies in the ability to get to the heart of a problem and, through robust and applied thinking, come up with a viable, impactful solution. It is important to recognise the potential that organisations such as charities can benefit from in terms of inter-disciplinary cross-learning - ‘cross-fertilisation’ - and the need to be both adaptable and agile.”
Calum Handforth
“I think one of the key things I learned is how to create structure; to questions, problems or solutions. When you work in the field of social impact it can be difficult to keep a cool head. There are so many important challenges, always too little resources, and it’s hard to know if you’re doing the right thing because a lot of impact is difficult to measure in money. So it’s even more important to be clear about goals, the added value and role of your organization, to make choices about what you do and don’t do. I think the work that Firetail does helps organizations a lot in bringing that structure and clarity to their work. And I’ve learned a lot about bringing structure from helping different organisations think about their challenges and impact.”
Ilse van der Hoeven
A supportive environment to learn and grow
A common theme is that our people have the freedom to learn, whilst being supported and mentored. They grow their skills, and this lets them have a real impact with clients.
“I enjoyed the freedom to learn and the exposure of working across all aspects of this dynamic business - from fundraising and business development to communications - all aimed at offering valuable services to impact-driven organisations who needed help to make positive change and realise their ambitions for society. I benefited from Andy’s mentorship and support, inspirational drive and passion as well as being given opportunities to learn and develop skills and confidence.”
Calum Handforth
“I live by the principle that if I stagnate or stop learning, it’s time to move on. In my six years at Firetail, I never felt either. Andy and the team are incredibly capable people and there is so much focus on learning and continuous improvement. I owe so much of my professional development to them, not least Andy. He let us lead, but always generously offered his time, challenged us and treated each assignment as a learning and development opportunity for us. More than once it took you to places outside your comfort zone, but it’s effective.”
Maria Beradovic
A strong platform for a career in social impact
Our alumni have gone on to some amazing jobs after their time with us, in diverse fields including innovation in public services, promoting independent media, and developing smart cities.
“I currently work as a Senior Policy Advisor on innovation in public services for the City of The Hague (in the Netherlands). I work in a team with designers and researchers on ways to make public services more human-centred.”
Ilse van der Hoeven, Senior Policy Advisor, City of The Hague
“Moving back to Sweden I took a job at Fojo Media Institute which works to promote independent media and journalism across the world. I’m their first senior advisor for impact and funding and am tasked with leading and setting up an impact team, coordinating the efforts of M&E, communications, fundraising and strategy to make the sum greater than its parts.”
Maria Beradovic, Senior Advisor: impact and funding, Fojo Linnaeus University
“I now work as an advisor for the UNDP in Singapore. My role involves advising government on how to identify and apply innovative technological solutions for sustainable development to improve inclusion in society. I am part of a small team with global reach.”
Calum Handforth, Advisor: Digitalisation, Digital Health, and Smart Cities, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
We are always keen to hear from people who want to make a difference and are committed to positive social change. If you’re interested in joining our team or see if there are other opportunities to work together, please do get in touch at recruit@firetail.co.uk
To find out more about a career at Firetail, click here.
Firetail is an equal opportunity employer. We value the difference inclusivity and diversity make.