A bit about me…

My data journey started with an econometrics degree, which involved a wide range of coding, from R to Java and C! This technical foundation led me to my first role, organising Econometrics Summer Schools with Oxford and Cambridge Universities, including working as a teaching assistant. I spent over a decade in analytics consulting and marketing analytics before joining Monzo, where I now lead the data team in Workforce Management.

Our team builds customer routing algorithms that help connect customers with the right support agents, making sure we provide the most efficient and effective service.

I’m passionate about ensuring women have a seat at the table, and I’m a strong advocate for a healthy, sustainable work-life balance. It’s something I care about personally – I was promoted into senior roles after returning from maternity leave while working part-time. I want to inspire the next generation by showing them what’s possible. I love supporting others through mentorship and believe in lifelong learning so continue to be a mentee myself.

What I like most about Monzo

What I love most about Monzo is the complexity of the problems we get to solve. Every day brings a new challenge and a chance to learn and solve something genuinely interesting and meaningful. There are endless opportunities to explore new areas, all alongside people who are not only incredibly intelligent but also humble and supportive.

I wrote a blog about my experience

A bit about me…

I am a data science leader who’s passionate about helping organisations get real value from data, using insights to make better decisions and build better products. I love building teams and believe that investing in people’s learning and development through coaching and mentoring is the most powerful way to drive lasting impact.

Throughout my career, I’ve mentored women at all stages in their careers and I’ve personally benefitted from having incredible mentors to guide me through my own journey.

At Monzo, I have been leading the creation of a community for women across our data discipline. We’ve been gathering feedback through surveys and listening sessions, and are defining areas of focus such as recognition and feedback, career progression and sponsorship, and work-life balance and parental support.

I hold a PhD in Economics from Princeton University and a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Yale University.

What I like most about Monzo

It might sound like a cliché but what I like most about Monzo is the people. It is great to work with smart people who are passionate about our mission and product and who work collaboratively together. And it’s rewarding to know that the work that we do is making a real difference in people’s financial lives.

A bit about me . . .

I’ve built my career around solving challenging problems with good people. I’ve been fortunate enough to work across several industries, including finance, health, entertainment, and technology – always focused on using data to drive company strategy and deliver real impact.

At Monzo, I lead a team of fantastic data scientists and analytics engineers. The most rewarding part of my job is managing, mentoring, and supporting a diverse team of data professionals as they develop their skills and careers.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing women who have championed me and my career. I’m passionate about paying that forward by creating opportunities for other women in data.

What I like most about Monzo

Monzo’s mission to make money work for everyone is very important to me. You really see it come to life in our day-to-day work and it’s hugely rewarding to see the impact we have on people’s financial lives.

I’m also proud of the team I’ve built – intelligent, dedicated and compassionate people who I get to tackle problems with and learn from every day.

I appreciate the support and mentorship I’ve had at Monzo from other female leaders who want to help me grow and succeed. I’m excited to keep that culture going.

A bit about me . . .

I’m a Senior Staff Data Scientist at Monzo – a senior individual contributor, so I don’t manage people directly, but focus on leading projects and working in areas where I can have the biggest impact.

I didn’t grow up knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I had so many interests from writing to chemistry to psychology. My first taste of data work came through an internship at BP in trading analytics, which I completed during my Chemistry degree. I really enjoyed it but I thought I’d still go back to science. During my masters in Organic Chemistry, it became clear the lab wasn’t for me, so I took a full-time analytics role at BP instead. That’s where I learned Python and got the bug for coding, eventually moving into fintech so I could learn from some true coding experts. Along the way, I’ve been lucky to have brilliant mentors who helped me grow and figure out what I’m really passionate about.

What I like most about Monzo

I’ve been at Monzo for over 5 years now, and part of what keeps me here is the variety of my role. I get to dive into complex, ambiguous problems and use my knowledge and expertise to build solutions – all while working with smart and empathetic colleagues.

I also really value the flexibility we have here. Monzo recognises that people have responsibilities and lives outside of work. We focus on outcomes rather than rigid schedules, which gives everyone the space to work in a way that suits them and still deliver great things together.

A bit about me…

I’ve been building my career in data science since 2015, but my data journey began much earlier. I grew up in Taiwan, completed a PhD in Economics at the University of Trento, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher because I loved deep, academic problem-solving.

However, I realised  academia wasn’t where I wanted to stay, so I took a leap, quit my job without a plan, and was lucky enough to get referred into my first Data Scientist role. It was a wonderful “aha!” moment: the rigorous problem-solving skills I’d spent years developing were exactly what the industry needed.

I love diving into new areas, learning from scratch, and building deep expertise. Turning complex ideas into simple products is incredibly rewarding, and working alongside great people makes it even better.

What I like most about Monzo

Monzo’s mission to make money work for everyone isn’t just a slogan – you see it in action everyday which I find deeply motivating.

I get to collaborate across disciplines on fascinating projects like “experimentation” – a framework to test ideas and drive measurable product improvements – and “cloud FinOps” ensuring the bank is built on efficient, resilient and scalable infrastructure. Monzo’s culture makes it easy to connect with anyone in the organisation and spark new ideas!

I also feel empowered as an Individual Contributor, staying close to technical challenges while influencing teams and leading through expertise rather than management.

A bit about me . . .

My journey into data and technology was unconventional. I initially trained as a classical singer, but became fascinated by the intersection of traditional music theory and computer science, specifically the idea of computationally extracting musical features based on traditional theory – such as harmony and rhythm – to calculate and recommend musical similarity.

This led to a sharp pivot into a PhD, where I learnt to be resourceful, analyse different types of data, and build my own tools to conduct my research.

Towards the end of my PhD, I joined a local tech company, solving technical customer issues. However, my passion truly ignited as I started exploring the entire tech stack. I fell in love with data-driven decision-making and moved into engineering and analytics. Now, I’m a Lead Analytics Engineer and a Tech Lead at Monzo, building resilient, scalable foundations – like data models and pipelines – that provide high-quality, robust data to the entire company. I recently wrote a Monzo blog post on this topic.

What I like most about Monzo

Monzo trusts us and gives us autonomy. It’s not just about completing tasks – we’re encouraged to identify and define opportunities and drive meaningful change. My work focuses on closing “open loops” in our technical systems to improve efficiency and measurement.

I’m an internal consultant, identifying gaps where we lack visibility or measurement and developing a full-stack solution. Success isn’t just about delivering a technical fix, it’s about ensuring the solution is sustainable and helping others by sharing knowledge along the way.

Alison O’Connor

Head of Economic Analysis – Impact and Evaluation

I’m Head of Economic Analysis at the ICO with 15 years’ experience in data intensive roles across both the public and private sectors. As an economist, data is at the heart of everything I do. It enables my team and me to move beyond assumptions and anecdotes to uncover meaningful patterns, test hypotheses, and measure real-world impact. I have always enjoyed working with data because it brings clarity to complexity, it helps create understanding about not just what is happening, but why.

At the ICO, I oversee and provide leadership on work related to impact considerations and measurement. Data is central in my role to empowering others to make informed and impactful decisions, drawing on evidence and insight, and understanding the impacts of our interventions to ensure that we are making a material positive difference. Whether I’m evaluating the effectiveness of a policy intervention or exploring economic trends, I find satisfaction in using data to generate insights that inform decisions and drive positive change.

As a leader, I am proud to champion the use of data and to support others in unlocking its potential. Given my own career journey with data, it is important to me support other women in data to connect, learn and grow in their careers.

I am General Counsel at the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for personal data and Freedom of Information. I have been in this role since August 2025, leading on the ICO’s legal strategy and governance, and advising on complex data protection and information rights matters ultimately ensuring regulatory compliance and the responsible use of individuals’ data.

My career in data has centred around the theme of data guardianship, and ensuring data is used responsibly, ethically, and with legal certainty by those entrusted to it. Compliance isn’t just about following rules but about creating trust so that the value of data can be fully realised.

My route into a career in data has been via various public sector roles.  Prior to joining the ICO I was General Counsel and Director of Devolution, Governance and Law at the Electoral Commission. This followed a variety of legal posts in the Government Legal Department, most recently as head of the legal team responsible for data protection and civil society at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), where I led on reforming data protection policy and legislation, dealing with data issues arising out of Brexit, and delivering government initiatives in civil society policy.

Working in data is a broad topic which I find varied and fascinating.  I can put my wide range of experience in policy making, regulation, and law to good use.  The work we do has real world implications and it is important to bring diverse perspectives to tackling the challenges in data.

It’s incredibly important to me that everyone has the opportunity to get involved in the sector and type of work that interests them, regardless of background, gender or ethnicity. That’s why initiatives such as Women In Data – and the ICO’s Women’s Network, of which I am the Executive Sponsor – play such an important role in overcoming barriers that would otherwise remain incredibly challenging to surmount, and we need to continue promoting equal opportunities and inclusion for everyone.