Grow with Cleo: Meet Jill

Tell Us About Your Role

I work as a fraud investigation analyst on the payments infrastructure team.

Essentially, our team monitors users when they enter into activity with Cleo. Our aim is to keep both our users and Cleo (as a business) safe. 

I spend most of my time analyzing data using SQL, which involves lots of dashboard building and monitoring. Fraud-related data can be a bit complicated, but I’ve learned how to make it more accessible by creating or updating models using DBT (Data Building Tool), which is another valuable data-skill that I’ve been encouraged to learn on the job here at Cleo.

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How Did You First Get Into Your Current Role?

I actually joined Cleo mid-pandemic, back in 2020. I wanted to make some money while completing my undergrad studies, and I was actually a Cleo user at the time, which is how I found out about the role. 

I started working part-time as a customer support agent, as part of the (then new) US support team. I worked in that role for around nine months before becoming a manager on the team. I loved this role as I was leading a great group of agents, and supported the credit builder card. 

Working as a support agent taught me so much about escalations and disputes, which were relevant to fraud–I guess this is where my interest in the area started. Let’s be real, no child is saying they want to grow up to become a fraud analyst 🥲

After nine months in the managerial role, I moved into the fraud and data space. The person leading the team pulled me in knowing that I had existing product knowledge from working in customer support, and I assured them that I could pick up the technical skills needed. 

I was given access to a learning platform to learn SQL, which was awesome. It was clear that Cleo were committed to giving me the tools and time I needed to grow and succeed. 

Another big part in my learning curve is the support I’ve had both from peers and from my manager. This support has allowed me to learn quickly, and start to apply my knowledge to my role. 

Initially, I met with a teammate on a weekly basis. It worked almost like a swap-shop. I provided her with product knowledge, and in exchange she shared her technical knowledge and brought me up to speed 🤝

I also sought out a mentor figure with the help of my manager. They’ve helped me with any questions I’ve had, and supported me through the inevitable imposter syndrome that comes with a role transition. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention. Whilst making this role transition, I also went back to school full time to study. My degree taught me so many valuable skills that I now apply to my role, including data transformation and visualisation, and I learned the basics of python too. 

Although studying full time and working full time was a lot, I was able to talk to my manager openly if I was feeling overwhelmed, and I felt well supported throughout. 

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What Does Your Typical Week at Cleo Look Like?‍

In our squad (like most at Cleo), we work in 2 week sprints. From Monday through Thursday we have daily standups with the whole squad. 

Within fraud specifically, I have daily check-ins with my analyst teammate. This is a great space to sense check ideas. 

I also check in twice a week with our Head of Department to talk about what we’re working on. She’s got a fascinating background, having worked in big tech, meaning she has a vast amount of knowledge to share. She’s generous with her time too, so I’ve managed to learn an incredible amount in a short period of time.

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Favourite Projects You've Worked On?

Being quite a young company, we’ve been on a journey from having no infrastructure. We worked with backend engineers to build infrastructure that would make things more accessible for Cleo as a whole. 

On an ongoing basis, visibility of fraud across the company has improved. This has reduced the need for ad-hoc asks. We used to have to do a lot of digging to identify fraud cases, whereas now it’s much more simple. 

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What Do You Like Most about Working at Cleo?

I honestly just love working with a bunch of kind people. My teammates are great, the wider business is supportive and everyone is encouraged to speak up. Just great vibes all around. 

I work remotely, and have little overlapping time with most of the team, but our communication style is great so it doesn’t negatively impact me. 

I’ve loved seeing the US team expand over the past couple of years. It’s nice that slack no longer goes silent in the afternoon. 

Where Can We Find You When You're Not at Work?

If I’m not on an early morning hike, I’m probably on a dancefloor somewhere in NYC. Life’s all about balance, right?

I’m also a dog mom to Murph. He’s kinda famous at Cleo.  

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Thanks Jill. Any Advice for Potential Applicants?

I’ve definitely noticed that people who are super motivated by our mission are the people who do well here, because their passion shows in their work.

We live true to our values, so be sure to check them out.