Marie studied shipping at university in Liverpool where her masters was in maritime operations. Whilst studying someone asked her where she wanted to work when she finished. She said that she would work for Lloyd’s List and she did so for 23 years. In that time, she became a sales manager, chief researcher for Lloyd’s Shipping Economist and the editor of Lloyds Maritime Directory. But, she really wanted to analyse shipping data. In 2000 she joined the Analysis of Petroleum Exports team (APEX). Her job was to track oil and gas tankers globally. This was prior to AIS which was available from 2007, the same year she took over as manager of the team. She became the primary contact for clients, fixing their systems, queries, creating new products and services, and data quality. Two notable milestones for her were creating a report that she was told couldn’t be done and rebuilding the APEX backend.
Fun fact: ‘I won a week’s holiday to St. Lucia for the report I created – the one that couldn’t be done. Everything booked, passports, dog sitter booked. Then, COVID happened – Ah well, it would have been nice!’
We wanted to find out what inspired Marie to join Vortexa, what some of her biggest milestones have been to date and what day-to-day life really looks like for the Lead Data Analyst…
What inspired you to join Vortexa?
I decided to take a year out after working at Lloyds List for 23 years. After about a month, I was bored and wanted to explore what opportunities were around. This work was in my field of expertise, strangely similar to what I had been doing but also so very different.
After speaking to Arthur, Ayca and David (Vortexa’s Head of Partnerships, VP of Market Intelligence and Chief Economist) over a couple of months I became very interested in Vortexa. I love shipping in general, but the energy when discussing the business was what really drew me to Vortexa. Finally, In conversation with Fabio, the CEO, his excitement for the business was like a ‘kid at Christmas’, I knew then that I wanted to work at Vortexa and really feed off the energy of those around me. Hopefully, everyone sees my passion for the business too.
What would you say is the most interesting aspect of your role?
The most interesting aspect to my role is seeing people come together, sharing ideas and watching them (both people and ideas) grow. Everyone is looking at how we can make the data quality better, the UI more intuitive and our clients more engaged.
What have been some significant milestone moments for you at Vortexa?
Understanding the dynamics of the data has been the biggest milestone. I am a very logical person so I need to know how things fit together. This is not just with the data but with the team. I do not own key business milestones as they belong to the wider team and I play a small part in it. The residuals cargo project was a discussion topic which has since been picked up as a major project. The main work is done by others in the team but I am fortunate to have been able to steer and advise when needed.This will have a huge impact on data quality and is very exciting.
The most interesting aspect to my role is seeing people come together, sharing ideas and watching them (both people and ideas) grow.
What does day-to-day life look like for you as a Lead Data Analyst?
I like to say I play for a living. I look at the data in the UI and the underlying tables and try to find outliers. I follow these outliers to identify future projects, suggest changes to how we look at the data. It is not all play, data quality is a huge concern for our clients and we need to capture issues, patch them and look at ways to reduce or eliminate them.
All analysts test the products that are developed, from the UI to internal systems. If we can find bugs they can be fixed, we hope this is before it interrupts our clients day.
What key qualities make a Lead Data Analyst successful?
Any good analyst will look at the big picture and then prioritise. That is why a good data analyst will continue to investigate the data. We want to understand what is important to the various personas that use the data and step into each of their shoes when performing our daily tasks. There are so many facets to this industry, one size does not fit all.
I believe that any analyst should always ask ‘WHY?’ Why is this important? Why does the distribution of the data look like this?, Why are we missing this? etc. Then, I would follow up by ‘WHAT IF?’ What if this is incorrect?, What if we change the way we look at …. etc?
I am amazed every day at the intelligent, generous and motivated people around me.
How would you describe the culture at Vortexa?
The culture fits my own persona. I am amazed every day at the intelligent, generous and motivated people around me. I admire the philosophy and courage to provide a space where younger people can come and explore ideas, create and learn, this is very unusual. In my experience, many companies quash innovation and forward-thinking of younger people by not allowing them a voice because “they don’t know anything yet!”. Vortexa is the opposite and the business is excelling in this field. Those of us with experience are learning new things every day from these younger, less experienced colleagues, and hopefully I can help guide them along their working journey.
What advice would you give to people hoping to join Vortexa?
If you have passion and drive, want to be heard, be involved and enjoy developing ideas and yourself -then apply, You won’t regret it! If you want an easy life sitting and letting things go by, then Vortexa is not for you.
Besides the driven, exacting work culture, the parties are great!
Describe your working life at Vortexa in three words!
Happy, challenging, enlightening.
