Centrica seeks new batch of recruits

Utility adds to IT team in transformation programme

Business services group Centrica is initiating another round of recruitment to support its £500m IT transformation programme.

The company, which owns British Gas, is looking to fill a number of IT posts, including a data warehousing designer, solution architects and Siebel and SAP analysts, to join those hired since the scheme was launched in March.

‘We have some pretty massive change programmes going on in the business at the moment,’ Centrica chief technology officer Kirk Downey told Computing.

‘Filling these roles is part of developing our capabilities alongside the systems we are implementing for the business.’

The transformation programme has been instigated to make Centrica more flexible and competitive, and to reflect business and process change in its IT systems more quickly.

Downey says the recruitment drive is tied into the schedule of transformation work.

‘All the hiring we’re doing is around areas identified as business-critical,’ he said.

‘We’re doing a significant amount of work with SAP and conducting business intelligence at the moment, on which the business absolutely depends.

‘We have a partnership with our non-information systems partners, where our work is part of a shared agenda to respond to Centrica’s requirements as best as possible,’ he said.

Downey says a buoyant IT skills and recruitment market means now is a good time to find talented people.

The overall recruitment drive is intended to add 300 new people to the 1,100-strong IT team.

Downey says Centrica is almost halfway through the process, and that leadership skills are the most important in differentiating between prospective candidates.

‘We have an emphasis on leadership qualities,’ he said.