Tech Nation’s criteria are designed for applicants with technical and business skills in the digital technology sector. Suitable skill types are listed below. This list is not complete and provides an indication of the typical applicants assessed by Tech Nation.
TECHNICAL APPLICANTS must demonstrate proven technical expertise with the latest technologies in building, using, deploying or exploiting a technology stack and building technical infrastructure.
BUSINESS APPLICANTS must demonstrate a proven commercial, investment, or product expertise in building digital products or leading investments in significant digital product businesses.
EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL SKILLS
- DevOps / SysOps engineers
- Principal software engineers/developers
- Experienced data scientists/data engineers
- Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language
- Processing and Machine Learning experts (AI, NLP, ML)
- Cybersecurity experts
- Hardware engineers
- Experienced front-end developers
- Operating systems engineers
- Experienced video game developers
- Experienced UX/UI designers
- Experienced Mobile App developers
- Experienced back end developers leading development of, or contributing heavily to major new technologies or open-source projects (e.g. blockchain, Scala, Golang, Elasticsearch etc)
- CTO or VP engineering experience managing teams of in-house employees at a growing digital business
- Virtual and augmented reality developers
EXAMPLES OF BUSINESS SKILLS
- Experience of leading substantial VC investment over £25m GBP
- Experience as a commercial/business lead (P&L, growth, sales and distribution strategy) in a digital business
- Experience of expanding or growing a significant product-led digital technology business
- Sector-specific experience e.g. payment infrastructure in FinTech / international expansion in EdTech etc.
- Solution sales experts
- Experienced Product Manager
- SaaS or enterprise sales leadership for digital services
- Solution sales skills performed for a growing B2B digital business (i.e. not big-company experience)
- Performance marketing experts, performed in house for digital businesses
- Experienced and senior VC or PE analysts with track records of leading investments in digital businesses
- Experience as C Suite in a SMEs + (CEO, CMO, CIO) or head of operations for a digital business
**Please note the following specialisms are generally not considered suitable**
- Service Delivery, Process Delivery, Outsourcing, Consultancy / ERP Consultancy, Systems Admin and all related fields.
- Corporate roles or experience of managing large corporate teams.
- Junior investors/analysts. Such specialisms must be supported by an investment track record made at a senior level and are not suitable for Global Promise.
- Business skills apply to in-house work within product-led digital technology companies, not tech-enabled or service companies such as agencies, outsourcers, marketing firms etc.
THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS FOR APPLICANTS APPLYING FOR ENDORSEMENT BY TECH NATION:
Leader (called ‘exceptional talent’)
Emerging leader (called ‘exceptional promise’)
Applicants must either:
Meet the mandatory and two optional “Exceptional Talent” criteria in the table below
(OR)
Meet the mandatory and two optional “Exceptional Promise” criteria in the table below.
EXCEPTIONAL TALENT
(leader in relevant field)
An applicant evidencing EXCEPTIONAL TALENT must:
Mandatory Criterion: show that they have been recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector
Optional Criteria: And provide evidence of 2 of the following:
- a proven track record for innovation as a founder or senior executive of a product-led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept
- proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
- they have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive or employee of a product-led digital technology company
- they have demonstrated exceptional ability in the field by academic contributions, through research published or endorsed by an expert.
EXCEPTIONAL PROMISE
(potential leader in relevant field)
An applicant evidencing EXCEPTIONAL PROMISE must:
Mandatory Criterion: show they have been recognised as having potential to be a leading talent in the digital technology field
Optional Criteria: Ans provide evidence of at least 2 of the following:
- at least 2 examples of innovation as a founder of a product led digital technology company or as an employee working on a new digital field or concept
- proof of recognition for work beyond the applicant’s occupation that contributes to the advancement of the field
- they have made significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder or employee of a product-led digital technology company
- at least 2 examples of exceptional ability in the field by academic contributions, or through research endorsed by an expert.
TECH NATION ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
When making a decision on your application, Tech Nation will assess that you meet the eligibility criteria. It will also consider the following factors:
- your career history – for example the international reputation and impact of your work
- the strength of the statements in your recommendation letter and of the evidence in support of your application
- how you’ll contribute to UK digital technology by being based in the UK
- personal factors such as your academic track record, salary level and company you’re being hired by, or amount of money raised if an entrepreneur
- the commercial impact of your previous work, achievements and experiences
EXAMPLES OF EVIDENCES
The following examples indicate the type of evidence that could be assessed by Tech Nation when considering the criteria for either Exceptional Talent or Exceptional Promise. These examples are not exhaustive and alternative relevant evidence can be supplied to demonstrate you meet the relevant criteria.
MANDATORY CRITERIA
- How do I demonstrate that I have been (or have the potential to be) recognised as a leading talent in the digital technology sector?
A ‘leader’ of exceptional talent (or promise) must show extraordinary ability by sustained (or emerging) national or international recognition. The individual will be able to demonstrate a level of expertise (or emerging expertise) which places them at the forefront of their respective field in the digital technology sector. Any activity you are providing as evidence of recognition should have occurred within the past 5 years.
Examples of relevant evidence could include:
- You led the growth of a product-led digital technology company, product or team inside a digital technology company, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings, lines of code from public repos or similar evidence. Please note that ‘leading industry experts’ excludes roles listed as unsuitable in the Typical Applicants section of the guidance (for example, managers at Outsourcing or Consultancy firms etc.)
- You led the marketing or business development at a product-led digital technology company, demonstrably enabling substantial revenue and/or customer growth or major commercial success, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, senior global commercial executives inside the company and/or at company partners/customers, or similar evidence.
- You led the growth of a non-profit organisation or social enterprise with a specific focus on the digital technology sector, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence.
- Outside of your normal day-to-day job role, you led or were a significant contributor to a substantial open source project, as evidenced from compilation of code commit summaries, repo stars or similar metrics such as download statistics, where possible.
- Outside of your normal day-to-day job role, you established, led or were a senior contributor to a large technology-led industry initiative, evidenced through reference letter(s) from global senior project executives.
- You have received nationally or internationally recognised prizes or awards for excellence specifically in the digital technology sector, as evidenced by the award itself, reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your achievement, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence.
- You have evidence of speaking at high-profile digital technology sector events, or specialist events for your particular field in the digital technology sector, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings or similar evidence (including event size/attendance estimates where possible).
- Published material in professional or major trade publications or major media about the applicant related to the applicant’s work in the digital technology sector. You must include the title, date and evidence that you are the author of such published material and any necessary translation.
- You command a high salary or other remuneration for your services, as evidenced by commercial or employment contracts with salary information including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings.
- You have held or hold a significant expert role participating on panels, or individually, assessing the work of others in the same field or a field of specialisation related to the digital technology sector.
Please note that evidence of media recognition should include details about the publication and target audience. LinkedIn or Medium are not considered sufficient as evidence. Evidence of recognition provided by a colleague, friend or manager or internal company awards, training or certificates is not sufficient for meeting this criterion. Where possible evidence should include supporting data such as number of page views, downloads or other quantifiable metrics.
OPTIONAL CRITERIA
1) How do I demonstrate that I have a proven track record or examples of innovation in the digital technology sector as a founder or senior executive of a product-led digital technology company or an employee working in a new digital field or concept?
You can demonstrate this by providing evidence of any genuine and significant product-led digital technology businesses you have established as a founder or senior executive which is currently active or has been dissolved in the last five years. Any company provided as evidence should demonstrate a level of income beyond solely covering the applicant’s salary and must have been commercially successful or otherwise demonstrate how the applicant meets the endorsement criteria.
Examples of relevant evidence include:
- Evidence of innovation/product development, proof of product in market and associated traction through revenue.
- Evidence for each business should include your last set of audited accounts, projections for current financial year and articles of association.
- Evidence of domestic and/or international sales should show customer numbers for each country in which the company is operating, including a ranking of your distribution channels with a breakdown of when these sales were achieved for each channel (i.e. online, physical retail, 3rd party distributors, resellers etc.).
- Evidence of employment contract with salary information including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings.
- If you are an employee working in a new digital field or concept, this must be clearly demonstrated, for example by providing a patent application (patent should include verifiable ID on Google Patents).
2) How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?
You can demonstrate this by providing evidence that you have gone beyond your day-to-day profession to engage in an activity that contributes to the advancement of the sector. Examples may include mentoring, advising, organising interest groups, leading on policy, teaching at a university or participating in clubs or societies for the furthering of the field.
Examples of relevant evidence include:
- Evidence of contributions to an Open Source project
- Your GitHub profile demonstrating active participation in a collaborative project
- Your Stack Overflow profile showing significant contribution to discussions around code
- A link to one or more videos of talks or conferences that have had a significant viewership
- An op-ed or news article that exemplifies thought leadership, evidence of mentorship.
- Evidence of mentorship (i.e. the sharing or teaching of skills and knowledge). Mentorship should have been done within an organised, structured and recognised mentoring scheme, which can be clearly demonstrated through evidence. Training a colleague or simply providing support or advice is not considered sufficient evidence for these criteria.
3) How do I demonstrate that I have made a significant technical, commercial, or entrepreneurial contribution in a product-led digital technology company, either as a founder, senior executive or employee?
Tech Nation will distinguish whether you are a technical applicant (whether your occupation requires you to write code or manage developers) or whether you are a business applicant (any occupation within a product-led digital technology company that doesn’t require you to write code).
Please note that the term ‘significant contribution’ in this criteria requires you to demonstrate impact, not necessarily innovation. This is different from Optional Criteria 1 where you are required to demonstrate high levels of innovation, not necessarily impact. If these are your chosen criteria then your evidence should clearly demonstrate this differentiation. Submitting the same evidence for both criteria may not be sufficient if it does not meet these different requirements.
Technical examples of a “significant contribution” include:
- Having led in the development of high-impact digital products or services;
- Starting or contributing to open source projects in a way that has been acknowledged by peers as advancing the field;
- Having worked as a key engineer in the core product of a start-up, showing evidence as to how you have contributed to its success.
Documents that will be considered as acceptable evidence include (please provide more than one piece of evidence. The list below contains suggestions – other types of documents can be submitted):
- Employment contract with salary information including any bonus and equity options (although you will have to demonstrate how you have gone beyond your day-to-day activities to demonstrate that you have made a significant impact in the sector);
- Letter from an employer wherever applicable. This is in addition to the required letters of endorsement and should to be written by another individual;
- Documentation on product designs or architecture diagram clearly showing your contribution. Please ensure this evidence is no more than three A4 pages long and demonstrates your personal work, not that of the company or team of individuals;
- GitHub account that contains lines of code clearly showing your continuing contribution.
Business examples of a “significant contribution” include:
- Having led or played a key role in the growth of a product-led digital technology company, such as influencing investment and strategy or delivering major products or releases;
- Having founded a successful product-led digital technology company or other organisation and leading it.
Documents that will be considered as acceptable evidence include (please provide more than one piece of evidence. The list below contains suggestions – other types of documents can be submitted):
- Employment contract containing salary information including any bonus and equity options
- Letter from an employer wherever applicable. This is in addition to the required letters of endorsement and should be written by another individual;
- Documents detailing your significant contribution towards commercial success (such as evidence of sales pipeline built and delivered, growth generated, leads generated, processes developed and implemented).
4) How do I demonstrate that I have exceptional ability in the field by making academic contributions through research?
Examples of relevant evidence include:
- Evidence of at least one significant contribution to the field in the form of a paper published in a top-tier peer-reviewed journal. Research undertaken as part of an undergraduate or MSc thesis does not qualify for this criteria;
- Evidence of awards received for outstanding applied work, supported by excellent academic achievement (a first-class degree or distinction);
- A letter of support from a research supervisor or other expert in your area of expertise affirming their potential world-class standard. This is in addition to the required letters of recommendation and must be written by another individual;
- Evidence of an award that has been granted by an organisation of a similar standing and distinction to the Royal Society in the UK, as well as the selection criteria for this award. Please note that awards must be of merit and not solely monetary (e.g. grants, bursaries or scholarships).
The Global Talent Visa category is extremely competitive and includes a rigorous application process. At Themis, we have a robust track record of advising successful applicants looking to remain or enter the UK using the Global Talent Visa route. We provide friendly, practical, expert technical and legal advice and will swiftly spot any weaknesses in your application and correct them.
