Designing Your Career Path

Women in Tech York is a community! We're made up of individuals studying, working in, or interested in technology. We run events where attendees can share their knowledge and interests, as well as encourage and empower one another whilst building their networks.

Our events are not exclusive to women; absolutely everyone is welcome. You don't need to be a coder or consider yourself technical to enjoy and benefit from our events. We welcome all students and career-changers who are interested in learning more about tech and careers in the industry.

Events run on the second Thursday of the month.

As always, there will be a free buffet (vegan options available) thanks to our amazing sponsors Isotoma and Genio. Please let us know about allergies in advance.

Our monthly events are designed to compliment our goals:

⭐ Feel included – Join a space where everyone is welcome.

⭐Explore your options – Discover new paths, ideas, and technologies.

⭐ Grow your network – Connect with like-minded people

⭐ Learn something new – Gain insights from speakers, panels, and discussions.

Because we mix up the format each month, some events will be more social, while others might focus on talks or structured networking.

We're exploring new ways to think! We'll be joined by Sophie Weston, Principle Engineer at Clearbank and Katie Silvers, Senior Leader at Salesforce. Key themes include:

➡️ Reframing how you think about your career path - it's not just a ladder to be climbed!

➡️ The importance of a growth mindset

➡️ What Design Thinking is and how you can apply it

This month our event is designed to help you explore your options.

has spent thirty years working in technology as a software engineer and DevOps advocate. These days her main focus is on ways of working, helping to create happy, effective teams and build a good engineering culture.This is what she does in her current role as Principal Engineer at ClearBank. Prior to that, she worked with Matthew Skelton (co-author of Team Topologies) helping organisations to adopt Team Topologies and fast flow ways of working.An active member of the wider tech community, she is an ambassador for Women In Tech York, co-organiser of DevOpsDays London and FastFlowConf, and has even been known to give the occasional talk herself.

is a senior leader known for bringing warmth, clarity, and creativity to the world of tech. With a background that spans law, UX, and AI strategy, she’s built a career at the intersection of human insight and emerging technology. Katie leads global teams with a people-first approach, championing design-led thinking, ethical innovation, and practical applications of AI that make work more meaningful not just more efficient.

She's passionate about creating space for diverse voices, mentoring the next generation of leaders, and making sure that as we build the future, we don’t forget who we’re building it for.

Submit your talk details here - we review submissions monthly as a team and vote for the talks we'd most like to hear. All submissions are anonymised before voting to ensure a fair process.

We're a very friendly group! If you'd like to chat to us beforehand you can join our Slack community or contact us directly via social media or email with any questions.

• Slack: https://wit-york.slack.com
• LinkedIn: Women in Tech York
• Instagram: womenintechyork
• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.wityork.org.uk/contact

Can you cater for allergies and dietary requirements?

We always do our best to cater for everyone. If you let us know about your requirements at least 4 days in advance we'll pass them on to the venue and ask them to accommodate. A vegan buffet is ordered by default.

If you have concerns about the food on the night then please speak to a member of staff. Nutritional information can be found on Revolution's website. We order a buffet which typically includes mini burgers, fries, salads, garlic bread and small snacks. If you need to know what food will be provided ahead of time please let us know.

Is this event accessible?

• The room booked for this event is upstairs, but can be accessed by a lift. Please contact Revolution to confirm access to the lift.
• We usually use Google Slides with captions
• We ask our speakers to use the microphones provided.
• We have exclusive access to the upstairs toilets - please note there are 2 steps up to access these toilets specifically, though other toilets are available.
• You know your needs best - we've added an option on our order form for any adjustments or requirements you want to let the organisers know about in advance. We will do our best to ensure a fair and comfortable experience for everyone.

Is this event inclusive ?

We try our best to make sure everyone feels included, welcome and comfortable at Women in Tech York events

• Pronoun stickers are available for everyone (if your pronoun isn't provided please let us know and we'll get more created to include you).
• Red camera badges are available to indicate that you don't want to be photographed.
• Music is kept to a low volume.

Getting here

If you're unsure how to get to Revolution check out thesection of our website - we've added information on car parks, buses and bike paths around York.

The short version of our code of conduct is be respectful. Everyone here is part of our community. We do not tolerate any form of harassment or abuse.

If you'd like to see the full code of conduct, please view it on our website https://www.wityork.org.uk/conduct or email [email protected] for more details.

Info: You can arrive any time during registration. This is a chance for attendees to check in, grab a drink, and chat. The event will formally start at 18:30.

Info: In many organizations, the role of Principal Engineer is considered the highest level of the ‘individual contributor’ career path. But careers aren’t like ladders—short, straight, and evenly spaced. Instead, they’re long, winding, and often challenging journeys.

Principal Engineers provide engineering leadership, and that isn’t just about deep technical expertise. It also demands broader and hard-to-master skills—like influence, communication, and strategic thinking.

With 30 years in tech, Sophie will reflect on her career and share key insights on what helped her navigate the path from Junior Developer to Principal Engineer. This talk will explore the skills, strategies, and support that can help you shape and sustain your own career growth—whether you're aiming for Principal Engineer or another leadership role.

Info: Katie will be introducing the power of Design Thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation, walking through each stage of the process, from empathizing with users and defining clear problems, to generating creative ideas, prototyping solutions, and testing them to gather feedback. In today’s fast-moving tech world, especially with the rise of AI, keeping people at the heart of what we create has never been more important. Design thinking reminds us that technology should solve real human needs, foster trust, and create meaningful impact. By the end, you’ll leave with practical tools and inspiration to apply design thinking in your own work and beyond.

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