Business

Belfast software engineering team to help US company grow its Slice of the market

Slice chief technical officer Jason Ordway (right) with Steve Harper, Invest NI's executive director of international business
Slice chief technical officer Jason Ordway (right) with Steve Harper, Invest NI's executive director of international business Slice chief technical officer Jason Ordway (right) with Steve Harper, Invest NI's executive director of international business

NEW York-based technology firm Slice is creating 50 jobs in Northern Ireland in a new software engineering centre.

Eleven of the jobs are already in place, and the roles will attract average salaries in excess of £40,000.

Slice provides an online and mobile ordering and payment platform for independent pizzerias in the US.

It enables independent local pizzerias to compete with the online and digital ordering platforms of large national pizza chains.

The company was recently voted as one of the Best Places to Work in the US as part of Inc. Magazine’s annual Best Workplaces survey.

Jason Ordway, chief technical officer at Slice, said: “Pizza is big business in the US worth $45 billion annually. Ours is the only technology platform that partners with local independent pizzerias, and we currently have 10,000 pizzerias using the Slice platform.

“As part of our growth strategy we want to add new functions and improvements to our existing platform. The engineering team in Northern Ireland will develop new innovative solutions for the pizzerias, improving order efficiency and customer service."

He added: “I have had positive experiences of Northern Ireland as an investment location, and in particular the software engineering talent here.

"When I joined Slice and we began talking about growing our engineering team, alongside those based in New York, I was quick to recommend Northern Ireland.

“We’ve had lots of support from Invest NI throughout this process, which has enabled us to get up and running quickly.”

Invest NI has offered £400,000 towards the creation of the new jobs.

The agency's executive director of international business Steve Harper said: “We are delighted that Slice has chosen to establish its software engineering base in Northern Ireland, creating 50 high-quality jobs.

“The technology area in which it works is innovative and will give employees new skills and exposure to Apple’s mobile App technology, used in the iPhone and iPad. This will add to the skills base in Northern Ireland and enhance the region’s software development capability.”