By Kathryn McKenna, Editor Sync NI
Emma Pollock, Chief Technical Officer of FinTrU, one of NI’s largest fintech companies, has revealed she did not grow up always wantingto pursue a career in technology.
Remembering herself as a young girl in Primary One, Emma recalls her ambitions of becoming a vet. Opening up on her career journey, Emma tells Sync NI: “I didn’t always want to work in technology. My career in IT happened very organically for lots of different reasons. I grew up wanting to become a vet, which changed to an accountant, a hairdresser, and everything in between. But when the time came to choose my subjects, I decided to pursue my passion for mathematics and physics.”
Emma’s interest in electricity led her to pursue a career as an electrical engineer. “This isn’t something most 16-year-olds have a vivid interest in,” laughs Emma.
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Citing her degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Queen’s University Belfast, Emma praises the teaching for covering an extensive range of topics and helping her establish an understanding of new concepts and how to apply them to solve problems. “Through this, I started to understand how many new and exciting opportunities were open to me after I graduated,” Emma explains.
“Making the decision to pursue two work experience opportunities was life-changing for me,” she recalls. During Emma’s year-long placement, she worked for a local startup as an electrical engineer. Joining a team building machines to run blood tests automatically, Emma was deeply enthused about the important work. She helped build the first prototypes, which became a successful business line. But this rewarding experience helped show Emma that her true passion did not lie in electrical engineering.
The following summer, Emma participated in a foreign exchange programme in Japan for three months. This time, Emma was working in software engineering, and quickly found she was able to utilise a lot of the skills she had developed throughout her degree, leading her to begin considering a future in this field.
Upon returning to university, Emma’s future in software engineering was solidified when she inadvertently stumbled upon a presentation from a local startup company about internet television and felt immediately inspired. “They were using technology in amazing ways, which seemed futuristic at the time as it was in the early days of streaming services,” Emma explains. Emma successfully applied for a role with the company, which sparked the beginning of her 21-year long career journey.
Emma emphasises how important mentors and networking have been during her career growth, acknowledging the positive impact others have had in encouraging her to pursue opportunities. "The people who have influenced my career the most probably don't even realise it," Emma reveals, elaborating that both informal role models and formal mentorship programmes have profoundly impacted her career.
Acting as a mentor also had a profound impression on Emma, who points to an example from a few years ago when she participated in a mentorship scheme co-ordinated by Women in Business NI.
Emma was asked to work with a “wonderful young woman” who was about to enter her final year at university when she was offered a full-time permanent role from the company she had spent her placement year with. With no alternative options to consider and her fellow students all receiving offers, Emma recalls: “I deeply admired her courage and ability to back herself when she declined this offer in order to pursue her dream role which she truly wanted. This was a courageous move and one which was extremely inspirational to me in terms of reminding me how important it is to have courage and believe in yourself.
“This young woman went on to successfully obtain her dream role and I have been delighted to watch her career go from strength-to-strength ever since.”
With women representing just 23 per cent of the workforce, Emma reveals she didn’t always register the gender disparity but is now passionate about addressing the current imbalance. “It never occurred to me to think of it this way at the time,” Emma says when considering the deficit of women when studying and starting out in her career in tech. “Having grown up on a farm from a very young age, there were no set jobs ‘just for the girls’ or just for the boys.’ We simply all did everything.”
In addition to her upbringing on a farm, Emma attended an all-girls’ school, where everything was shared rather than being ‘male’ or ‘female’ responsibilities. By the time Emma was leaving school at 18, she was steeped in an environment where men and women were not treated differently.
Having now worked in the technology sector for over 21 years in increasingly senior leadership positions, Emma joined FinTrU as Chief Technology Officer over four years ago. “There have never been limitations on the expectations of me to succeed because I am a woman – which I feel is a huge credit to both my family and teachers growing up who ensured I never felt this way.”
Emma applauds positive changes in flexible working policies which have been particularly welcome for female employees. Seeing more female senior leaders in the tech sector has also helped to inspire others to join the industry. “For some people, if they cannot see a role model, they cannot envision a future with themselves in that role, so seeing more female senior leaders has been truly heartening.”
Emma has helped advance progressive policies both at FinTrU and more broadly to attract and retain more females to her team. She is proud to report over 33 per cent of the technology team are female, with senior management level FinTrU holding 50/50 representation women and men.
Emma highlights how vital diversity is in every aspect, not only in terms of gender. “Having a truly diverse team creates a diverse voice, leading to the best results,” she explains.
At FinTrU, the company believes firmly in the importance of keeping both women and men engaged by staying in tune with their employees’ lives outside of work. One example is FinTrU’s fostering leave policy, which Emma played a significant role in creating. She comments: “My partner and I are foster carers therefore this policy allows employees at FinTrU to take paid leave to support their duties as foster carers.
“We identified a gap in parental leave policies and I have been immensely proud to not only roll this policy out, but to also role model how important it is to have a work-life balance and responsibilities outside of the workplace.”
For women interested in a career in technology, Emma emphasises the importance of individual pathways and experiences. While some follow a linear path through STEM subjects and IT degrees, others find success after studying unrelated fields and working in different sectors. "Those experiences help set you apart and make you valuable to your team by bringing a fresh perspective," Emma explains.
"You don't have to commit to a career in tech right away. Try it out - take a programming course, join an insights programme, or participate in a placement. These experiences will help you determine if tech is a good fit and if you enjoy it."
Emma concludes: “I hope you'll find that tech is a friendly, diverse, team-oriented environment. People often fear that working in tech means coding alone at home, but it's very much a team sport.”
Sync NI's Summer 2025 magazine celebrates women in tech across Ireland as we continue to encourage more women to enter the thriving sector and address the current gender imbalance. Read the Summer 2025 Sync NI Magazine online for free here.
