US Software Firm Announces New Belfast Training Places

A number of high quality pre-employment training places in the emerging field of DevOps have been announced by US software company Bazaarvoice.

The company opened a Belfast office in June this year, creating 170 new jobs.

The firm, working with the Department for the Economy and the Ulster University has launched its first Assured Skills DevOps Engineering Academy offering graduates, and experienced technologists, an exciting opportunity to join its Belfast team helping to predict the shopping trends and habits of tomorrow.

The company announced in June last year that it was opening a Belfast office with the creation of 170 new jobs. Consequently, the Department for the Economy along with Bazaarvoice and the Ulster University is offering 15 high quality pre-employment training places in the emerging field of DevOps.

Bazaarvoice works with major high-street brands and retailers providing them with insights on consumer purchasing habits by collecting and analysing consumer-generated content like ratings and reviews. The company services over 5,000 customer websites across the UK, Europe and the US, including household names such as Argos, Debenhams, ghd, and Philips.

Ann Williamson, Head of Employer Skills at the Department, said: "The Department's Assured Skills programme continues to be a great example of proactive government intervention to meet the needs of companies, while enhancing the skills and talents of our graduates by providing high quality pre-employment training and potential employment. I would encourage anyone with a STEM-related degree to apply for the Assured Skills Academy."

Paul Hill, Senior Director of Engineering and site lead for Bazaarvoice, said: "Bazaarvoice's Ratings and Review platform helps consumers make better purchasing decisions. On a monthly basis we serve billions of page views and tens of billions of API requests. Our DevOps Engineering team members are a critical part of building the systems and software that operate at that level. We're excited to offer the opportunity, in conjunction with Ulster University, to upskill the talent in Northern Ireland and to continue to grow our team in Belfast."

Successful Academy applicants will undertake a 10 week training course at Ulster University where they will become proficient in a range of areas including, but not limited to, Amazon Web Services, Python, Serverless technology and containerisation.

Successful Academy participants will have the opportunity of an interview for a full-time position with Bazaarvoice offering a starting salary in the range of £26,000 to £44,000, with a clear path to career progression.

Previous experience is not required to apply for the Academy, but applicants should be a graduate in a STEM related subject, experienced in SysAdmin, or have related job experience.

For the duration of the programme participants will be paid £150 training allowance per week plus travel expenses.

For more information and to apply online visit nidirect website. The deadline for applications is 4.00 pm on Wednesday 05 December 2018.

(MH/CM)