Flightie Spotlight - Meet tech legend Dirk Swart

We spoke with tech legend Dirk Swart to learn about her incredible career journey at Flight Centre Travel Group.

🎤 𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑭𝑪𝑻𝑮?

Technology has always been a passion of mine. I started hands-on, fixing PCs in a small repair shop, but always aimed for something bigger. That came when I joined one of Africa’s largest tech companies, building experience in a large organisation. With limited progression, I made the move to London, saw Flight Centre was hiring in IT, applied - and the rest is history.

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🎤 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒅?

I started as a Desktop Analyst, helping staff with day-to-day tech issues, which gave me a great grounding in the business. From there, I moved into 2nd line support, then into a Junior 3rd Line Engineer role, bridging teams. I later became Infrastructure Team Leader for the UK. Through Covid, our teams evolved globally into Enterprise Technology Services, where I now work as a Domain Architect.

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🎤 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆?

As a Domain Architect, my world looks very different to where I started and worked for many years. These days I'm less involved in fixing problems and more focused on preventing them and planning for what's next. I'm aligned to what we call Productivity & Collaboration, looking after platforms like Microsoft 365 and identity solutions such as Okta and I work closely with a team spread across multiple locations around the globe.

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🎤 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?

It was the people. From my first interaction, I felt welcome, and that made the decision easy. Since then, it’s the culture, the opportunities, and the people that have kept me here. FCTG has given me the platform to grow, and I have real confidence in where we’re heading.

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🎤 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝑭𝑪𝑻𝑮?

My progression at FCTG across so many roles has given me plenty of highlights to look back on, but the ones that stand out most are those shared with colleagues. Being recognised in the company’s Regional and Global awards are the moments I’m most proud of.

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🎤 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚?

Don’t hold back. Get involved, put your name out there, and be open to opportunities. If something feels right, back yourself and go for it.

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🎤𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆?

I’ve been lucky to travel widely, but for me it’s less about specific destinations and more about remote, unspoiled places like mountains, the African bush, or somewhere off the beaten track.

What an inspiring career journey. See where a career at FCTG could take you!