If you intend to apply for a Global Talent visa in digital technology, you need to figure out whether you are a technical or business applicant. You don’t need a job offer to get this type of visa, but you do need a definite background that can be either:
TECHNICAL (even from non-technical organisations)
It’s pretty simple – if you are a programmer, this option is for you.It is required to prove your deep expertise in building, using, deployingor exploiting a technology stack and building technical infrastructure.
BUSINESS (only from technical organisations)
This option is for those who don’t do programming themselves,but hold senior positions in the IT industry (senior sales experts, product managers, and C-suite executives (CEOs, CMOs, CROs.) You area good fit if you can demonstrate a proven commercial, investment,or product expertise in building digital products.
- UX/UI design
- Cybersecurity
- Hardware engineering
- Front-end development
- Mobile App development
- Video game development
- DevOps / SysOps engineering
- Machine learning (AI, NLP, ML)
- Data science/data engineering
- Operating systems engineering
- Virtual and augmented reality development
- CTO or VP engineering experience managing teams of in-house employees at a growing digital business
- Experienced back end developers leading development of or contributing heavily to major new technologies or open source projects
- Principal software engineers/developers
- Solution sales expert
- Experienced Product Manager
- SaaS or enterprise sales leadership for digital services
- Experience of leading substantial VC investment over £25m GBP
- Performance marketing expert, performed in-house for digital businesses
- C-Suite in a SMEs+ (CEO, CMO, CIO) or head of operations for a digital business
- Solution sales skills performed for a growing B2B digital business (i.e. not big-company)
- Experience of expanding or growing a significant product-led digital technology business
- Commercial/business lead (P&L, growth, sales and distribution strategy) in a digital business
- Experienced and senior VC or PE analysts with track records of leading investments in digital businesses
- Sector-specific experience (payment infrastructure in FinTech, international expansion in EdTech, etc.)
Which job positions are not suitable
Regarding the technical background, the eligibility conditions are pretty much transparent, but for the business applicants it can be more difficult to figure out whether their specialism is suitable or not. Here are a few specializations that UK government flags as insufficient for Global Talent visa:
- Corporate roles or experience of managing large corporate teams.
- Junior investors or analysts. Such specialisms must be supported by an investment track record made at a senior level and are not suitable for Global Promise.
- Service Delivery, Process Delivery, Outsourcing, Consultancy (technical or management), ERP Consultancy, Systems Admin and all related fields.
Also, according to the guideline, Tech Nation does not consider business candidates engaged in technology-related consulting or outsourcing specialized on service delivery, processes management or systems architecture. Hence, business applicants should perform specifically in-house work in a product-led IT-companies.