I in IRIS - Martha

I have worked at IRIS for nearly two years, though counting my internship when I was 19, two and a half! My job has evolved a lot over that time - from general admin and planning tasks as office manager, my role nowadays feels like a mix of plate-spinning, low-level detective work, and playing company-wide whack-a-mole. Officially, I’m now the Director of Operations but in reality, it’s more like “person who deals with random things no one else knows what to do with.”

I sit across a mix of areas; legal (contracts, IP, compliance, risk); internal ops (offices in the UK, US, and Philippines, project management); and general company infrastructure. One minute I’m reviewing a commercial contract, the next I’m figuring out healthcare rules in Manila or unpicking a tricky workflow issue in the VIPER project.

There’s a fair bit of legal responsibility - working with external counsel, handling employment and commercial stuff, making sure we’re not walking into any compliance nightmares - but it’s all layered into the day-to-day chaos of helping teams run smoother. I spend a lot of time trying to remove friction, nudge projects over the line, and get people aligned… usually while fielding various urgent yet mysterious “can you help with this?” tasks.

No two days look the same, and most of the time I'm dealing with totally new problems to solve, but I’ve now got a pretty good handle on where we’ll meet obstacles and how to quietly get things moving again when stuff gets stuck. It's messy, reactive, and kind of all over the place - but that’s half the fun!

It definitely looks like a bit of a pivot on paper, but when I did a legal internship at IRIS in my second year of uni, I got a taste of the fast-paced, high-stakes, all-hands-on-deck energy and I loved it. I realised I wanted to be involved in everything at once, learning on the go and picking up as many new skills as possible. IRIS felt like the kind of place where that was not only possible, but encouraged.

My law background has definitely helped, especially with the legal side of my role - understanding contracts, managing risk, and generally not panicking when things get complicated. But more broadly, studying law gave me a really analytical, detail-oriented way of thinking, which has turned out to be surprisingly useful in operations. A big part of my job now is spotting issues before they turn into problems, and thinking a few steps ahead - skills that law definitely helped sharpen.

I think the real secret is mutual respect. I know that the people I work with are absolute experts in what they do - so I respect that, and I’m always open to learning from them. At the same time, there’s an understanding that part of my job is to keep things running smoothly, spot potential issues early, and make decisions that keep us on track. That mutual trust makes it much easier to create a sociable, relaxed, and fun atmosphere without letting things slip.

A lot of my role is about making sure people feel comfortable, heard, and supported. Sometimes that’s about joking around and keeping things light to put people at ease, and sometimes it’s about drawing a line and making a clear decision because it’s what makes sense for the team or the business.

Balancing that can be challenging, especially as a young woman trying to lead and still keep things light. But the respect goes both ways, and I think that’s what makes it work. I’m lucky to work with such brilliant, kind, and top-class people—when everyone brings that same level of mutual respect, the culture naturally becomes one that’s both professional and genuinely enjoyable to be in.

Most memorable moment at IRIS so far?

Probably when I slipped on a chair in my second week working at IRIS, split my face open and had to go to A&E to get stitches.

App you couldn’t live without?

Spotify. I can hardly walk 5 feet without music.

Song that gets you pumped for the day?

Hard Out Here by RAYE or Don’t by Honeyglaze

Favourite food?

Spaghetti bolognese yum

One thing your colleagues don’t know about you?

You’ll have to ask them - I talk so much I’m pretty sure they know everything about me…