Having spent 35 years working in technology Kelvin Gething has decided that he wanted a new focus, he decided to re-train as a software developer and is using the apprenticeship opportunities at Sainsbury’s to make this a reality.

In his day to day role as a Test Engineer, Kelvin is responsible for supporting the development of colleague apps. The wide range of apps needed to run one of the UK’s largest grocers provides Kelvin and his team with new challenges each day. Although he has been at Sainsbury’s for five years he still gets a buzz when he sees one of the apps he has worked on being used in store.

If you ever wondered what the role of Test Engineer is, then look no further. Kelvin spends his days mentoring and coaching his close-knit team of 8, a part of his role that he has developed in his time at Sainsbury’s. However, a large part of his day is actually getting his ‘hands-dirty’ and doing the testing.

Kelvin and his team will take newly developed apps and put them through their paces. They will understand what is needed and then test the software based on the objectives of the app and team who have built it as well as thinking about the needs of the colleagues who will be using it. It’s a fine balancing act to make sure that the apps deliver what the Sainsbury’s in-store colleagues need!

Kelvin shared with us that personal development at Sainsbury’s is very much part of the working week. With digital being a core part of the business the support to develop new skills is really apparent, so much so that Kelvin is undertaking a Software Development apprenticeship. Not only does he think that learning to code will be a basic life skill, he also sees it as part of his future career. He is on an 18 - month journey to make that goal a reality and his one piece of advice for anyone interested in a career is digital and technology is “learn to code”.