US tech firm creating 55 jobs with Invest NI aid

A US software firm is creating 55 jobs with a new development hub in Belfast.

IT firm Chef, which is based in Seattle, says it will add the new posts by 2020.

Chef has over 1,000 customers spread across a range of areas such as Facebook and IBM. It helps businesses in their ‘digital transformation’.

Invest NI has offered £357,500 towards the creation of the new jobs.

Barry Crist, Chef chief executive, said: “Digital transformation is a highly valuable exercise for our customers and it’s crucial that we invest in the products and solutions they need to be successful.

“Our software helps developers and operators ship build, deploy, and manage software at speed, and with quality, through compliance with regulatory standards such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

“The practical support from Invest NI — from introducing us to local talent, helping us identify office space and integrating us into the local technology ecosystem — has meant we have been able to get our new development centre up and running quickly.”

Gary Hanley, Invest NI senior vice-president for North America, said: “The new software development centre in Belfast will help Chef grow its business in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and Asia and will provide support to those customers. As well as creating 55 new jobs and generating over £2.3m in salaries into the economy each year, this centre will also add to the skills base in Northern Ireland and enhance the region’s technology capability.”