The UK captured 35 per cent of all global funding in 2022, according to the annual State of European Tech report. Not a bad result in a year where the funding slowdown cooled the start-up sector considerably – total investment in the third quarter of the year was down more than 40 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2021.
That downturn has affected the UK tech sector: the share of unicorns has decreased from 41 per cent in the years prior to 2018 to 26 per cent over the past five years, and the UK is also losing ground to other countries. The same report found that France has overtaken the UK as a tech nation, based on public tech market cap.
Add to that the swathe of tech layoffs and the uncertainties in the banking sector and you’d be forgiven for thinking the climate is all doom and gloom. The truth, as always, is more nuanced. Innovate Finance says that in 2022, the UK was on the receiving end of $12.5bn in fintech VC investment.
Opportunity knocks for the fintech sector in a number of ways, with Statista data reporting that the largest sector this year is expected to be digital investment, with a total transaction value of $5.42bn and expected revenue growth of 28.7 per cent in 2024. In digital payments, the number of users is expected to be 65.2m users by 2027.
New smart data provisions in the The Data Protection and Digital Information No. 2 (DPDI) Bill, which was laid before Parliament in early March, are set to foster competition and innovation in the market.
The recent spring budget is also cause for optimism. A package of support for the tech sector was announced, including a new quantum computing hub, a £1m annual award called the “Manchester prize” for AI research, plus £3bn in investments for high growth businesses over the next decade.
And despite layoffs across the financial services and tech sectors, those with specific skills are in demand. Cloud computing and Kubernetes skills are in demand for fintech roles as are Python programmers, big data specialists and those with AI and ML capabilities.
To see what finance, tech and fintech roles are out there, check out the Growth Business job board, or see some open roles below.
ServiceNow Consultant, Sopra Steria
Sopra Steria’s government and transport sector is currently growing its ServiceNow capability and the ServiceNow consultant will help design, develop and implement workflows and processes within CSM, FSM, ITSM modules in the ServiceNow platform and integrations with external systems.
You’ll provide value-based assessments and workshops to help customers maximise business results and support bid opportunities for ServiceNow projects that demonstrate Sopra Steria’s distinctive and sustainable consulting business and secure additional revenue and/or new clients.
To apply, you’ll need demonstrable experience in ServiceNow customer service management (CSM) and/or field service management (FSM) modules, experience of managing or leading software development teams and you’ll be a ServiceNow certified implementation specialist in customer service management (CSM) and/or field service management (FSM). See all the requirements here.
Commercial Bank – Credit Officer VP (Hybrid), Citi, London
The commercial bank – credit officer VP job is a new role based in Canary Wharf, and will see you work alongside bankers in underwriting requests for new and existing clients with ownership responsibility for the end-to-end credit process.
You will lead credit due diligence with clients and perform relevant industry and peer analysis. Other responsibilities include preparing detailed written credit summaries by analysing the business, performing detailed financial analysis, interpreting the finance need, identifying the strengths and prevailing risk factors and rendering a final credit decision that meets the business risk and return goals.
You’ll require commercial/corporate banking experience with a focus on credit analysis and underwriting, with UK banking industry experience preferred. See all the details for this job now.
Integration Engineer, PayPal, London
The integration engineer will be responsible for supporting PayPal’s enterprise merchant base, ensuring the merchant develops and launches a best in class solution to a reasonable timeline.
You’ll interact directly with clients, merchants, partners and developers to recognise and articulate business requirements and how best to implement PayPal solutions, while adhering to guidelines and company policies.
To be considered for this role, you’ll need a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in finance and computer science as well as three or more years’ experience with web and mobile technologies including web services, APIs, REST, HTML/HTTP, iOS, Android and leading web and mobile application frameworks, plus you’ll know multiple major programming languages (C++, Objective-C, C#, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, Perl, .NET, PHP, Python). Find out more here.
Visit the Growth Business jobs board for thousands of opportunities.
Kirstie McDermott works for our job board partner, Jobbio. Based in Dublin, she has been a writer and editor for over 15 years.
