Natalie Hollywood, Security Assurance Specialist

Natalie works in our Service unit at BT Business as a Security Assurance Specialist.

She's had quite the career journey with us from joining as an IT grad to being promoted on maternity leave.

Read on to discover how she secured a role in the Security field without direct prior experience and her role in fighting cyber crime 🦾

Can you tell us how you joined BT and your journey with the business so far? 

I joined BT 9 years ago as an IT graduate with a software engineering degree. The BT graduate scheme in Belfast was very attractive to me as it was paying a highly competitive salary while allowing the graduates to rotate roles to try different areas of the business. I joined the Managed Services team and started in our tools & configuration team for two years, this involved configuring customer monitoring and managing our ticketing system, following from this I moved to become a people manager managing the Belfast service desk for 2 and a half years. I then was successful in applying for a dedicated Senior Incident & Assurance Manager role for a large retail client, I was in this role for 4 years before moving into my current team of Security Assurance as a Security Assurance Specialist.    

How did you secure your current role without prior direct experience and whilst on maternity leave? 

I always had an interest in Security and had been keeping in contact with my colleagues whilst on maternity leave so when I heard the role was advertised, I knew it was one I wanted to apply for.

Whilst I didn’t have any specific security accreditations, I had worked in Managed Services for years which has a huge focus on security, and I had technical & ITIL certifications. This combined with my transferable soft skills and my proactive approach to skill development, I then applied for the role 6 months into my maternity leave. I informed the hiring manager that I was on maternity leave and was not be back to work for several months which was no issue at all, I was successful at interview and the role was held until I returned 9 months after the birth of my baby boy.

To my delight my phased return to work was also transferred over that was agreed with my previous manager. This flexibility was so important to me returning to work with two children under 3. 

Can you tell us more about what a typical week or month looks like in your role? 

In my role I am responsible for Security Assurance and Vulnerability Management across multiple customers. On a monthly basis, I would write custom customer reports providing them with a holistic view of their security posture across their estate. For vulnerabilities, I am responsible for the assessment, prioritisation, patch management, communication between stakeholders, risk analysis and the tracking of the vulnerability. Governance, Risk and Compliance activities are the main activities I carry out daily, every customer contract can differ in terms of the solutions my team provide so no two days are the same which is what keeps the job interesting.  

What kind of impact do you get to make on customers or wider communities? What do you think is unique about the opportunity/impact of working at BT in your field? 

Working in security assurance contributes to a positive customer experience by providing assurance that their data is secure, their privacy respected and helping their organisation comply to regulatory standards. We play a crucial role in maintaining customer trust and confidence by ensuring the integrity of customer data. In turn, this affects the wider community as we work with a range of customers throughout industries such as finance & banking, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.  

BT is a multinational telecommunications company with significant global presence, working for BT within security leads to me being exposed to a vast amount of resources, technology, training and development. We have industry experts and cutting-edge technology available to help us provide the best for our customers and gives me the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the fight against cybercrime. 

What Cyber Security qualifications are you working towards at the moment? And how does BT support you with this? 

The qualifications I am working towards at the moment are MoR (Management of Risk) and CISM (Certified Information Security Manager). BT provides me with access to relevant resources, courses, workshops either internally or through external providers. We are continually encouraged to forecast our training requirements so that budget can be allocated appropriately.  

Last year I completed 3 certifications all funded by BT including professional fees. In addition to the funding of qualifications, BT has established a culture that values continuous learning and growth in providing me with time and support to allow me to engage in training activities. 

Can you tell us more about career progression at BT? And how you feel valued and recognised for your achievements? 

I’ve worked in BT for over 9 years and I’ve tried the management and technical route but I still couldn’t give you an answer as to which one I’d like to do long term. And that’s the beauty of it, I don’t need to know. All of my roles have been so vastly different so it keeps things exciting, you don’t go into a job which you stay in for life, most of us don’t know what we want to do, and you’re not forced to know what you want to do at BT as here there are many different opportunities.  

BT make me feel valued and recognised by acknowledging my contribution within my team, involving me in decision making and providing me with regular feedback. BT have multiple recognition programmes which are also widely used. 

Interested in joining our Security teams? Check out current vacancies