ESO has announced an additional 35 roles have been created at its engineering centre in Belfast for 2022. The US software firm improves community health and safety across North America, by harnessing data to identify insights and trends that can empower emergency services, such as hospitals and fire stations, to deliver better patient care, ensure provider well-being, and improve operational efficiency.
ESO already employs 65 people in Belfast, having selected the city as its first European base in September 2019, and says it is on track to creating the 120 jobs it set out to achieve on its arrival here. The integration to Belfast was supported by Invest NI which provided ESO funding of £780,000 as a result of its projected contribution to the local economy, estimated to be around £4.2 million annually.
Russell Beggs, Head of ESO in Belfast: “Today’s announcement details just how important our Belfast location has come to be in such a short period of time. We’d like to thank Invest NI for its initial support and extend my thanks to all the team in Belfast for their continued commitment and hard work. Belfast will continue to play a hugely important role as we continue to build our product portfolio and help our customers make informed decisions and improve their respective communities and I look forward to welcoming our 35 new recruits to the team throughout 2022.
“Developing an ESO base in Belfast has supported us to define our position as a market leader in delivering innovative software and data insights for first responders and frontline workers. Our decision to invest in Belfast was deliberate. Not only has local Government’s prioritisation of technology secured the city’s reputation as a tech city, ensuring that we have access to the talented and highly-skilled workforce we need, but also geographically Belfast aligns to our long-term vision which includes expanding the footprint of our product availability across Europe.”
The roles available in 2022 are largely in the areas of development and design, with the Belfast location playing a vital part in the delivery of best-in-class customer experience and innovation.
The Belfast engineering centre has been a key part of ESO’s growth and over the last three years its global customer numbers are in the thousands and it has acquired nine companies making it the largest software company providing data to emergency services.
Russell continued: “The work we’re doing locally here in Belfast is having a hugely positive impact globally, and all of the current team at ESO value being able to apply their talents to our mission-driven work. Technology is the key to driving change and I’d encourage passionate engineers and designers who are looking for new challenge with meaning to take a look at our open positions.
“Despite the challenges presented to all economies as a result of the pandemic, Belfast was recently named among our fastest growing tech cities. This is really motivating for the talent within the industry, and gives ESO, as an ambitious company the confidence to continue to invest here. Similarly, we look forward the continued introduction of and investment in new policies to bolster this growth with initiatives that support skills development for years to come.”
ESO’s workplace culture is rooted in respecting and encouraging diversity and creativity, and its Belfast People Experience & Recruiting Manager, Carole Callendar, says that being part of a team that share the goal of improving community health and safety brings purpose and meaning to day-to-day life at ESO.
Carole said: ““If everybody is from the same cultural background and experienced more or less the same things, our people would think in the same way. We value cultural diversity and welcome our team to share their experiences to encourage acceptance and understanding which we feel fosters an environment that is creative.
“ESO continues to be proactive when it comes to introducing initiatives to make life here enjoyable for everyone. We recently engaged a leading Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging consultancy firm to conduct a global survey of employees with focus groups across the company. While the findings were incredibly positive, the process certainly gave us lots of new ideas on how to make ESO an even more inclusive workplace to belong to and I’m really excited for existing and new recruits see these come to life.”
