The Principle One team are hitting the road for a series of university recruitment events over the next few weeks. As a specialist consultancy working in law enforcement, national security and wider public sector organisations, we offer a wide range of graduate roles and recruit from a diverse range of backgrounds and universities. Over the next few weeks we will be visiting Newcastle, Durham and UCL, where we have developed strong ties with since our first graduate intake in 2019.
Our first intake came from Newcastle, where Ben Sadler, our Chief Operating Officer, has maintained strong ties with the University ever since he graduated in 1996 and this relationship has helped us tap into a rich seam of talent across a number of different degree disciplines, reflecting the broad range of consulting career paths that we can offer. “As a music graduate who has forged a career in consulting, I believe that having softer skills and a hunger to learn is just as important as the knowledge you gain in your degree subject,” Ben says. “At Principle One we have a commitment to develop our graduate staff and support their career progression in collaboration with our experienced consultants”.
Maggie Elstob joined Principle One in 2020, having completed an English Literature degree at Newcastle before beginning her career in sports management. Maggie initially joined Principle One as a Business Operations Manager, a role which enabled her to apply her project management and marketing skills but also gain an understanding of the consulting business. This gave her a springboard into consulting work and she has since completed roles as a Project Manager across two major technical change programmes.
“During my time at university - like most people - I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take my career in. I considered medicine, policing, the armed forces, and event management to name a few.” said Maggie. “During my time at Newcastle, I realised that at the heart of these roles was a common theme of helping people and making things happen. At Principle One, I combine my desire to help people and make a difference, with being at the centre of building a business I want to work for. I use my skills in people management and organisation in my project management role to make a difference on technical programmes and make the world a better place in a way I never thought I would when I left university.”
Alongside our graduate programme, we also support ten-week internships and one-year industrial placements. Maths student Josh Alder joined us in summer 2020 from Newcastle as one of our first lockdown interns. Working remotely with occasional trips to the office, he spent 10 weeks developing his problem solving, data analysis and programming skills helping our partner TRAFFIC, who work to ensure the trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature, analyse vast volumes of unstructured data to tackle ivory poaching. For Josh, this internship was a chance to “try before you buy” and find out about what a Software Engineering role at Principle One would involve.
“Maths is a broad subject, and throughout my degree I had very little idea of the kind of career path I wanted to pursue. I joined Principle One in July 2020 for a 10-week internship and was able to immediately get involved in some fascinating and impactful project work - of which I discovered there is great variety. Working at Principle One has allowed me to explore numerous career paths and stick with the one I enjoy most; software engineering. I feel that there's a great working culture here, having noticed a strong emphasis on collaboration and quality of work, and I have not looked back since rejoining in 2021.”
Alongside our Newcastle alumni, we have been delighted to see a steady intake for both internships and graduate roles from Durham University, with a focus on Engineering, Physics and Maths. Max Fehringer, who completed a degree in Physics at Durham before following up with a Masters at Newcastle joined as a Systems Engineer in July 2022 after spending two years working as a software developer for Procter & Gamble. Since joining, Max has been working on a government innovation framework, enabling multiple suppliers tackle mission critical problems across a range of customers.
"Having enjoyed the computer science elements of my Physics degree, I knew that I wanted to gain more knowledge in this field and further utilise my problem-solving skills. After my Computer Science Masters, I joined Procter and Gamble where I gained invaluable work experience, but I knew that I wanted to be involved in work that made more of a difference to people’s lives; working at Principle One would allow me to do this. My current role at Principle One enables me to use my skills to support important, innovative projects which provides a real sense of purpose to my day-to-day work. In addition to this, the welcoming atmosphere and friendly culture at Principle One is exemplary and has been a clear highlight of my career so far.”
Another career path that is open to graduates from a wide range of degree disciplines, but with a strong interest in law enforcement or national security is that of a Business Analyst. Lucy Johnson Perret joined Principle One in September 2021, having completed a first degree in Experimental Psychology at Oxford and then a Masters in Crime and Forensic Science at UCL. As a Business Analyst, Lucy has worked on a wide range of projects, combining her strong interest in technology with the analysis of the challenges faced by law enforcement and national security customers and working closely with technical architecture and design teams to develop solutions for delivery.
“During my masters, I wasn’t really sure what route I wanted to follow career-wise. I knew I had an interest in law enforcement and security but wasn’t convinced about being in a front-line role.” Lucy reflects. “I read about Principle One on a UCL job board, and the Business Analyst role sounded great – I could use the background knowledge I had gained from my studies and apply it in an exciting and innovative environment focused on technology’s role in making the UK safer. I have really enjoyed the past year and have felt both encouraged and challenged in my role, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”
We are currently looking for candidates for graduate, internship and industrial placement roles to start in summer 2023. We are open to a wide range of degree disciplines as we can offer a broad range of roles from systems engineering, software development, business analysis and project management. Candidates must be self-starting, enjoy problem solving and have a strong interest in technology and the threats and opportunities it presents to public sector organisations.
To find out more or apply, please send a CV to careers@principleone.co.uk.