Leading the Change: Three women shaping Tech & Data at Admiral

At Admiral, we’ve always embraced technology as a way to do things differently.

That pioneering spirit continues today. We believe that Tech and Data aren’t the domain of just one type of person or one career path. They’re built on true diversity of skills, ideas and perspectives.

Across engineering, data and cyber security, women are leading innovation, building communities and opening the door for others to follow. Their stories prove that there isn’t just one way into a tech career and that Admiral is a place where you can grow and thrive within Tech and Data.

We sat down with three of them - Hannah Davies, Head of Data Strategy & Capability; Jessica Lewis, Principal Engineer; and Meg Collis, Head of IT to hear about their journeys, their impact and what the future holds for women in tech at Admiral.

Hannah’s route into data wasn’t a straight line. “As a girl who liked maths, the feedback I got from everyone around me was that I would be a teacher” explains Hannah. So, armed with a Maths degree, Hannah went back to University to become a lecturer and researcher in operational research and information security.

“I loved being with students,” she says, “but I couldn’t see myself doing it for 30 years. I wanted a culture that valued work-life balance and, in South Wales, Admiral’s name kept coming up.”

Jessica’s story starts in the South Wales valleys, where many of Admiral’s colleagues across their Cardiff and Swansea offices also have their roots. She loved maths, so she studied Computer Science at university, one of only a handful of women on her course.

“It was tough,” she admits. “You question whether you belong when you don’t see many people like you.”

After graduating, she worked briefly in voice technology before redundancy forced her to look again. At this early point in her career, Jess faced a ‘sliding doors’ moment - with one offer from an accountancy firm, and one from Admiral as a software engineer. “I decided to stick with tech, even though it felt daunting and I’m glad I did.”

That was in 2006. Since then, Jessica has worked on some of Admiral’s biggest digital projects, including multiple evolutions of the digital quote engine and modernisation waves that shifted systems to microservices and cloud.

At first, career ladders for technical people were flat. “In the early days, you could become a team leader or manager, but if you wanted to stay technical, there wasn’t much progression,” she explains. She pushed herself forward anyway, volunteering for demos and projects, and eventually became a Senior Chapter Lead - managing managers while still staying hands-on with tech.

Since then, career progression within tech has become much more varied. Leaders like Jess have been instrumental in forging their own paths within Admiral and creating new career pathways and frameworks for others.

When those roles evolved, she stepped into her current post as Principal Engineer. It’s a pure technical leadership role aligned to Admiral’s organisational priorities. “It’s high-pressure, but I’d rather be in a place where I can make a difference,” she says.

Alongside her career in technology, Jess has continued to develop her skills with Admiral’s support. She’s taken part in hackathons to experiment and collaborate in new ways, and completed further study, gaining a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Leadership and a CMI Level 7 Certificate in Strategic Management and Leadership Practice. These experiences have strengthened her technical and leadership skills, bringing fresh ideas back into her work.

Jessica has also helped change the culture. In late 2023, she co-founded Admiral Women in Tech, a grassroots network that has hosted events and workshops on everything from imposter syndrome to allyship. The network has also set up a mentoring scheme with around 15 pairs. Early signs are encouraging: Admiral has seen a measurable rise in women in tech leadership since the start of 2024.

Her advice to women starting out is simple but powerful: “Don’t hold yourself back. Take the opportunities, build connections, and recognise the impact you bring.”

Meg’s career started in telecommunications at a company called Singlepoint, which merged with Vodafone. She spent her early career managing contact centres and even helped establish an offshore operation for Vodafone in Egypt. She then joined Virgin Media, leading major change programmes including complex migrations - her first taste of large-scale IT transformation.

This was the kind of work that Meg thrives on, and she was also looking for an opportunity to move deeper into tech when she joined Admiral in 2021.

“I wanted to get into IT” explains Meg, “as my background was business readiness and contact centres I knew I could really add value to the IT leadership by bringing a different perspective and good understanding of how the business operated.”

In her first role at Admiral, Meg was looking after IT provision for the contact centres. The perfect blend of her previous experience, Meg thrived in the new role of Delivery Lead, where within six weeks the role expanded and she became Head of IT, a role she has now held for four years.

When she arrived, her team of around 40 people were going through a huge amount of change. She led them through several significant projects, application and infrastructure migrations and is now working on the digital transformation platform.

“I'm incredibly proud of that team” says Meg “it’s a real privilege to see some of those individuals now being promoted up, and their careers also doing well. I’ve never worked anywhere quite like Admiral. I’m very happy here.”

Meg credits Admiral’s culture as somewhere she just felt naturally included. “Many corporate companies are still very male dominated and, as a woman, you have to adapt to a style which doesn’t feel quite natural.” explains Meg. “For women especially, it allows us to thrive and lead authentically - we don’t need to behave like men. When we lead as ourselves, everyone rises.”

She sees Admiral’s gender diversity as organic rather than forced: the result of hiring the best person for the role in an environment that supports and nurtures them.

“There’s always further you can go with diversity” says Meg. “Gender balance matters, but diversity of thought across backgrounds, experiences and perspectives is what will really drive innovation.” Her advice for women everywhere, and especially in tech: “Take action. Put yourself forward, even if you don’t tick every box. Admiral is a place that supports you to grow once you’re here, and we need the difference you bring.”