From joining just in time for Christmas socials to leading a major release by year‑end, Tom’s first year at Aspect has been packed with learning, collaboration, and memorable experiences. In this Q&A, he shares his highlights from building cross‑team relationships and contributing to the social committee to developing deeper technical and business expertise.
Congratulations on your one-year anniversary here! What would you say are the highlights of your year?
It’s been one of those years that makes it feel like I’ve been here both a lot longer than a year, and like I’ve only just arrived. The highlights largely centre around the people at Aspect. I’ve enjoyed getting to know colleagues from across the business, which has been incredibly helpful when working with other teams. I also joined the social committee and have really enjoyed getting stuck into all the events at Aspect.
Can you briefly describe your role or what a typical day looks like for you?
Life as a QD is very varied, and my day depends on whether I’m working on a big project or on support. I might be partnering with researchers to optimise code for new strategies and setting up automated jobs, or I could be working on new reports to give our trading and investor‑facing teams more visibility on our signal generation. Our team also monitors alerts or errors that appear in our systems, which means understanding the cause and explaining it to various teams when needed.
What were your first impressions when you joined?
One thing that surprised me was how much exposure and responsibility I had from day one. The philosophy in my team is to learn by doing, and I really enjoyed getting hands‑on with different parts of the codebase early on. Joining in early December also meant I was thrown straight into Christmas lunches and socials — my first week included a go‑karting event and a Christmas lunch with the research team. Everyone was incredibly welcoming, and I felt part of the team immediately. I was also impressed by how accessible the senior leadership team is. I appreciated the regular “breakfast with a director” sessions, and I’ll never forget that a senior leader personally welcomed me in my first week and even knew where I had joined from. It made me feel genuinely noticed and valued.
How have you been supported in learning, developing, and growing in your role?
The support from my team has been excellent. We have regular reviews to discuss areas to focus on and how best to develop in those areas. I’ve been able to build my technical and domain knowledge through contributing to a wide range of projects, and learning from more senior developers has been invaluable. I’ve also developed my business and industry understanding by attending conferences and discussing current projects with researchers. This has helped me better understand the motivation and processes behind our strategies - not just the code that powers them.
Is there anything you are looking forward to in the coming months and years?
After taking the lead on my first major release before Christmas, I’m looking forward to taking charge of more projects this year. I really enjoy working with researchers on major changes, and being the main QD on a project has always been a great learning opportunity. I’m excited to have more agency and independence to head up future work.