Juliane is a Senior Data Scientist in the Go-To-Market for Orange Wholesale. This entity brings together our voice, mobile and data sales activities for telecoms operators and providers. Based in London, Juliane introduces her job and reasons why she chose to work for Orange.
Discover the portrait of Juliane, Senior Data Scientist
Why did you choose Orange? And what do you like most about your job?
Working at Orange, I really understood the issues and felt they matched my personality. After a few years in banking, I found myself a lot closer to the values of the telco industry if you know what I mean! Data processing is interesting, but I like what happens “after” the most – how data is used in terms of our business lines and how we work together to increase its value. It’s transversal and collective work, where all players come together around the table to consider issues and provide concrete business responses.
How attractive does your job seem to you? Do you think it helps create a more egalitarian digital world?
A few years ago, the public called us 'statisticians' and that wasn’t very inspiring ... Today, we have become 'data scientists' and young people are turning more and more towards our professions. However, at Orange, we’ve been aware for a long time. But I still note a recent acceleration, helped by the creation of the Data & AI entity. And on our approach in the digital world, I would say that data has a simple advantage: we speak the same language, regardless of nationality. As a profession it opens many possibilities, in technology, marketing, finance and even life sciences.»
As a data analyst, what are your main challenges?
When it comes to data, we have to overcome several barriers. Generally, we’re good at creating models, but the operational part is often more complicated. It is not easy to finally implement a project. We need to support users. We also still spend a lot of time doing manual data processing. We’re on track to automation but we still have some way to go: that will be my next challenge.
You work in a male environment; how do you collaborate with male colleagues?
It's true the data industry is very male-dominated, not just at Orange, but I've never felt that it is a problem. And then things change, for the better. I see it during conferences, forums; our profession is starting to attract young women, including in fairly senior positions. This is a good indicator.