This week our Head of Recruitment had a virtual chin wag with Rebekkah Provine, one of our Product Leads within the legal content squad. We hear how she’s had a front row seat to the growth of ThoughtRiver, how joining us has helped her use her legal experience in an innovative way and that she is, in fact, a superwoman who can look after three young children through lockdown, work full time and STILL find time to bake!
What’s your role here at ThoughtRiver?
I’m a Product Lead within the Lexible Content Squad, which deals with the legal side of the product and crafting the legal content that is put into the system. In the Content Squad, we have engineers and alongside them, a relatively small team that is legal content. We have a good mix of different legal backgrounds and are qualified in different areas of law or at a different stage of qualification which makes for a great diverse team.
How long have you been with the company and why did you feel it was for you?
I moved from the US to the UK and joined ThoughtRiver in June 2016. One of the reasons I wanted to work here is it gave me the opportunity to do a lot of legal work but in a non-traditional setting. I’m a qualified lawyer in the US, however, didn’t see myself working in a law firm and ThoughtRiver gave me the opportunity to use my experience in contract law in a way that’s different and innovative; for me that was exciting.
How have you seen the company grow in the time you’ve been here?
Too many changes to list! It’s a very different company to when I first started, the growth in terms of people has correlated with the growth of the company and as a platform too. The whole development work was completely different, and the underlining intelligence has become so much more sophisticated. From my side, we have a lot of the same underlying concepts, but the way we worked was different as we didn’t have the system to support it, that’s been built throughout my time here and we’ve come so far.
What keeps you interested in ThoughtRiver?
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I’ve spent 4+ years here as I believe in the product and that it’s useful, innovative and something that not a lot of other companies are doing. Being able to input from the legal side has been very enjoyable and there’s always new opportunities to learn from the development team, they’re so generous with their time.
What’s surprised you the most about working at ThoughtRiver?
The exposure to the development side. I came from a contract law background and felt confident in my abilities, but I didn’t have any experience in AI and I’ve learnt so much from that side. When I started, I didn’t expect to learn quite as much as I have throughout my time here.
What excites you about the project that you’re currently working on?
The out of the box (OOTB) work we’re doing is exciting to me as that is something that any client can use, and it offers value right out of the box. It’s been a really great project to work on and the team who are working on it have been very dedicated to making it the best it can be.
How would you describe the culture?
Very collaborative, even given our recent lock down challenges. I always feel people will give me the time if I need it. A lot of people who work here aren’t just passionate about their work, they’re passionate about this work. We all really want it to succeed and support each other to get there.
How would you describe the leadership team?
Always looking to improve in every aspect possible. This could be the quality of the work or how they’re supporting people, they’re always looking to be better.
What advice would you give a new starter coming into TR?
Learn as much as you can (and want to) about other parts of the business. There’s a lot to be learnt in other areas and it might not be directly related to what you’re doing now but knowing different parts will come into play much more than you think. Reach out and people will respond.
Tell us something we don’t know about you?
My main hobby is baking random desserts and I’d say my signature bake is pudding cookies (American style). We have an abundance of desserts in my home due to the pandemic so I’m looking forward to bringing them back to the office when we can.
For all open positions here with us at ThoughtRiver please visit our Careers page.
