Neurodiversity and me

1. What's your current job role and in which department do you work in?

I work in DWF's Cyber Security Operations Centre as a Cyber Security Engineer. My role is to detect, prevent and respond to cyber security incidents and events to defend DWF against cyber-attacks, threats and vulnerabilities.

2. How long have you worked at DWF for?

I started working for DWF in the Information Security Team back in April 2021.

3. Please tell me about your recent promotion and how that came about?

Learning about Cyber Security has always been a hobby of mine and prior to working for DWF I worked as a Cyber Security Professional. After 8 months of working in Information Security at DWF I showed a keen interest in professional development and in helping to build and develop DWF's Cyber Defences using my previous experience and knowledge gained from studying. I was offered the opportunity to step up and become a Cyber Security Engineer. I applied for the role and was successful, this has been a great achievement for me and has been a positive step in my career.

4. Please can you tell me more about neurodiversity?

Many people with neurodiverse conditions have extraordinary skills and talents but may struggle to fit the profiles sought after by employers. Neurodiversity to me is about equality and giving individuals the opportunity to be part of a great team where their skills can be used and developed whilst making them feel valued.

5. How do you feel DWF has supported you with your neurodiversity?

I spoke to my manager regarding my Autism diagnosis and he and my team have been very supportive. I can become overwhelmed when public speaking and therefore sometimes struggle to articulate my thoughts into words. I sometimes struggle with focus because I'm hyper aware of what is going on around me or I can also focus on a task too much and find it difficult to move onto another until I'm happy with what I've been working on and the task is 100% completed.

My manager and team are aware of this and encourage me to overcome these obstacles by setting tasks and helping out if necessary. A great example of one of these tasks is as simple as asking me to writing notes on the board during our group meetings, this has helped to build my confidence.

6. What's the best thing about working at DWF?

The best thing about DWF is the culture and the people. The IT function as a whole is highly professional but very friendly and approachable at the same time and that’s for all individuals at all levels of the business.

When I started my new role as an IT Security Engineer, to help me understand the DWF infrastructure and team hierarchy the IT managers from each department came together to create a training schedule for me. I spent a couple of days meeting the various teams and learning all about their roles. All of the teams that I spoke to were very helpful and have given me an excellent insight into how their departments function and contribute to the success of the business. This training didn’t just help to improve my knowledge of the network infrastructure and teams but also made me feel like I'm a valued employee and part of an excellent company.

"Neurodiversity to me is about equality and giving individuals the opportunity to be part of a great team where their skills can be used and developed whilst making them feel valued."

Adam Brown, Cyber Security Engineer

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