Driving Diversity at Sopra Steria

You won’t find many – if any – organisations saying they aren’t striving to be inclusive, diverse, and accessible. But it’s what they’re actually doing beyond the well-intentioned words that matters.

As a tech leader in consulting, digital services, and software development, our mission is to shape the world for the better, driving positive change in business and society. With clients ranging from the government to easyJet, we have a huge remit – and consequently a workforce of thousands from a wide demographic. As such, we pride ourselves on having a welcoming culture that embraces individuality, encourages great thinkers, and celebrates success.

Listed in the 2022 UK’s Best Workplaces™ rankings by Great Places to Work® UK, we have inclusion in our DNA, because we believe wholeheartedly in the creative impact and positive contribution a diverse workforce can bring.

We bring this to life by celebrating individuality and investing in programmes for continuous personal development, such as Women In Leadership. And we tell the stories and experiences of people in under-represented groups across the business through campaigns such as In My Shoes. Through such programmes and storytelling, we aim to help make sure everyone is comfortable being themselves, and encouraged to be at their best. Our approach is one of continuous improvement and learning.

Gender equality

Founded by Dame Stephanie “Steve” Shirley in the 1960s, we have long advocated gender balance. But despite there being a nationwide push to encourage girls to study STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering, and maths – the percentage of women in the UK STEM industry, of which we are a part, has only grown from 16% in 2009 to 24% in 2019.[1]

Improving gender balance at all levels and reducing the gender pay gap are among our top priorities; so, we actively participate in a range of activities in our aim to help redress this imbalance. As well as participating in annual research to drive greater gender inclusion in technology roles, initiatives include our active Women’s Inclusive Network (WIN), which offers a safe space to build relationships, expand professional networks and be inspired. Our female mentoring programme guarantees a mentor for anyone who applies, and we also participate in the 30% Club mentoring scheme, which aims to achieve greater gender balance at all levels within organisations.

In 2022, this work was recognised with a ranking in Great Place to Work’s (GPTW) UK Best Workplaces™ for Women listing. Hot on the heels of the business securing rankings in GPTW UK’s Best Workplaces™ and Wellbeing listings, this latest accolade was further recognition of our commitment to becoming a more value-led organisation which puts its people first.

On receiving the ranking, John Neilson, Chief Executive Officer at Sopra Steria UK, said, “We are delighted to be recognised for our ongoing commitment to ensuring a positive workplace for all. It’s part of our heritage, with gender equality embedded in the foundations of our ways of working from the beginning. We have always been advocates of gender balance and supporting women to reach their full potential. We know that developing our female talent isn’t only the right thing to do, but it has – and will continue to – help our business succeed. We look forward to attracting even more talented women to enjoy fulfilling careers at Sopra Steria.”

Employee inclusion

However, gender equality is just one chapter in our diversity and inclusion story. Disability, neurodivergence, race equality and LGBT+ inclusion are also key areas of focus.

At the start of 2020, we signed Business in the Community’s Race at Work Charter, committing to making sure ethnic minority employees are represented across the business. This commitment saw the introduction of a new mentoring programme to offer support to black and ethnic minority employees.

And in 2021, we signed up to become a Disability Confident Committed employer as part of the government’s Disability Confident scheme, going on to achieve Level 2 Disability Confident Employer status in July 2022.

As well as a growing family of employee inclusion networks that aim to create a better experience for employees, the very essence of how we work day-to-day has inclusion at its heart. From our recruitment team being trained to use accessible tools and practices and partnering with inclusive suppliers through the supply chain, to embedding flexible working practices and training all managers to avoid unconscious bias and microaggressions, we firmly believe in doing everything we can to help our people thrive and succeed.

All about people

We’re a business that’s all about people, that puts people first. This commitment is reflected in our Great Place to Work® UK survey results and in our UK’s Best Workplaces™ ranking.

Sue-Ellen Wright, Managing Director of our Aerospace Defence and Security sector and Executive Sponsor of our Women’s Inclusion Network, confirms this. “It’s about our leadership being transparent about what inclusion means, so we’re present and involved in our inclusion networks, and we make sure we promote the networks and their allies,” she says. “It’s about ensuring we prioritise investments to affect change: for example, by having resources within our business who make the connection between our policies and what actually happens on the ground so we can influence the outcomes.”

We’re proud to be proactive in our quest for true diversity, inclusion and equality in our business.

For more information

We’re welcoming applications for a wide range of vacancies. To find out more, visit