Anyone with experience of remote UK roles for USA/Mexico based firms?

[edison]

I've been contacted by a US based recruiter for a remote Head of IT type role in the professional services sector. They say the role is remote and can be based in the UK or Mexico.

I think there are a few people on here who work with US based clients, how do you find it in terms of working culture and particularly expectations on working hours?

The recruiter says you must be 'comfortable with a flexible work schedule to accommodate international time zones' which I could interpret as working a combination of US and UK hours.

Any thoughts?

[jamesbrown]

I've worked with North American clients for years, although mostly clients where I've built contacts or on joint bids with companies that I've collaborated with before, nothing cold. All direct, no agencies. They have a litigious culture, so make sure your contract is reviewed carefully, and ideally have it with non-US jurisdiction and governing law (however, that is often hard to negotiate). You'll need PI insurance to cover NA, which is somewhat more expensive. Larger companies are frequently a bit risk averse and (with smaller ones alike) clueless when it comes to handling US tax/withholding (there is no withholding or filing requirement for work conducted by a non-US person (company) outside the US, assuming you're not a US citizen), so there may be some issues there.

Working culture is pretty much what you'd expect - quite different from the UK and expectations are generally high. Make sure you have a high degree of control built into the contract (that waffle from the agent raises some flags), including dictating your hours etc., notwithstanding mutually convenient meetings, and get the SoW nailed. On the upside, contracts there are typically *much* more lucrative than the UK/EU, so don't undersell based on UK/EU rates.

[Dactylion]

The recruiter says you must be 'comfortable with a flexible work schedule to accommodate international time zones' which I could interpret as working a combination of US and UK hours.

Any thoughts?

At best... Start at 2pm (or whatever equates to 9am where they are) and work 8hrs.......
Possibly.... Expected to start about 2hrs before 2 pm that and finish a working day "plus a bit" later....
Probably... Expected to start early in the UK and keep working until late in the states!!!

All for a flat "day rate" obviously

[oliverson]

I've been contacted by a US based recruiter for a remote Head of IT type role in the professional services sector. They say the role is remote and can be based in the UK or Mexico.

I think there are a few people on here who work with US based clients, how do you find it in terms of working culture and particularly expectations on working hours?

The recruiter says you must be 'comfortable with a flexible work schedule to accommodate international time zones' which I could interpret as working a combination of US and UK hours.

Any thoughts?

I'm currently working with a US client, however the team I am assisting are based in Europe (everybody totally remote) and so the vast majority of time, working hours are not an issue. Occasionally there are meetings to be had with the US team but they're bright enough to schedule them for late afternoon UK time. There's a 5 hour timezone difference, so a nice window of 'intersection'.

Whilst we all speak the same language, kind of, culturally there's a major difference. Whilst I'm driven, or was so as a younger person, the US guys are very driven. Very professional I would say, smartly dressed (shirts and ties mostly, yes, ties!!) whilst the Europeans are much more casual.

As has been said, ensure your Professional Indemnity insurance is in order, a mistake I made thinking as my policy provided worldwide cover, it excluded Jurisdictions of US/Canada. I fixed that by taking out a new policy (Randell Dorling) that was just over double my existing QDOS policy and cancelling the old one. Kind of happy about that because some of the figures that were being suggested were frightening.

I invoice in USD and get paid in USD, so if that's the case for you, you'll need a USD bank account. I opened a new Starling UK account and added a USD account option, which is only £ 5 a month. Aside from being an absolute bargain, the account was really simple and quick to set up and I can transfer from USD to GBP account right there using the Starling app on my phone. An added bonus these last couple of years is that USD has been strong against GBP, so that's been quite a windfall really. At one point I was getting over £ 150 a day more than the UK rate we agreed, purely down to the exchange rate, which is why I haven't pushed for a rate rise since that originally agreed, despite the cost of living crisis.

[Bluenose]

Any thoughts?

East Coast of USA with me on London GMT was actually preferable as you have quiet time with the India team (*sic*) before the noise comes. Their East Coast coffee kicks in around 3pm London time which also gives you a nice mid-afternoon boost as they are at max productivity and you are at your lowest.

The East Coast teams chat will keep pinging you out of hours but it depends on the weighting of the team, if you are running Dev. out of India the chat starts to decline from 3pm UK Time and then tends to die off totally by 7pm UK Time unless there is a major release or event as the Conti. Euro's tend to log off from 3.30pm UK Time.

West Coast U.S is a total PITA (why is everything based out of Washington state?) but its OK if you need to talk to specialist or, an individual. it's not good for running a large team out there and I would not be too keen if that were the case.

I think the great relocation from West Coast to Texas/Cheaper U.S locations means more gigs are going to be doable from London time IMHO.

[edison]

East Coast of USA with me on London GMT was actually preferable as you have quiet time with the India team (*sic*) before the noise comes. Their East Coast coffee kicks in around 3pm London time which also gives you a nice mid-afternoon boost as they are at max productivity and you are at your lowest.

The East Coast teams chat will keep pinging you out of hours but it depends on the weighting of the team, if you are running Dev. out of India the chat starts to decline from 3pm UK Time and then tends to die off totally by 7pm UK Time unless there is a major release or event as the Conti. Euro's tend to log off from 3.30pm UK Time.

West Coast U.S is a total PITA (why is everything based out of Washington state?) but its OK if you need to talk to specialist or, an individual. it's not good for running a large team out there and I would not be too keen if that were the case.

I think the great relocation from West Coast to Texas/Cheaper U.S locations means more gigs are going to be doable from London time IMHO.

As far as I can tell, the main people I would have to deal with are near East Coast (-5 hours time difference) and they do have some operations in India.

West Coast USA does indeed sound a PITA. I had a friend who was managing a PMO for a massive global transformation programme running in Asia, Europe and North America. Seemed to involve quite a bit of working 12-14 hour days.

[willendure]

I've been contacted by a US based recruiter for a remote Head of IT type role in the professional services sector. They say the role is remote and can be based in the UK or Mexico.

I think there are a few people on here who work with US based clients, how do you find it in terms of working culture and particularly expectations on working hours?

The recruiter says you must be 'comfortable with a flexible work schedule to accommodate international time zones' which I could interpret as working a combination of US and UK hours.

Any thoughts?

Worked with the Yanks a few times, and I have to say I have always enjoyed it culturally (or perhaps it just made me feel good about being more cultured than they are?). But I generally like their optimism and positive vibes, it makes a very refreshing change from our UK culture.

I also like being 5 or 6 hours ahead of them. It means they are just having their coffee and you are telling them about what you have already achieved with your day. That head start can really help you stay on top of things when its accross time zones - it certainly would not be nice to do it the other way around.

Also USA firms that I have worked for have generally been well resourced. You realize how thin we spread things here in the UK sometimes by comparison.

Having a contract employer outside the UK also automatically puts you outside of IR35 concerns, and the rate of pay is usually good $$.

In short, I would bite off the hand that offered such an opportunity sounds great.

[jamesbrown]

Having a contract employer outside the UK also automatically puts you outside of IR35 concerns, and the rate of pay is usually good $$.

Is that supposed to be ironic? Either way, it's nonsense.

[willendure]

Is that supposed to be ironic? Either way, it's nonsense.

My mistake then. It at least places the company buying the contract services outside the requirement for large/medium to determine status? So no matter the size of the company, it works like it current does for small companies? Or am I wrong again?

[jamesbrown]

My mistake then. It at least places the company buying the contract services outside the requirement for large/medium to determine status? So no matter the size of the company, it works like it current does for small companies? Or am I wrong again?

It depends but, either way, IR35 is a consideration. It's Chapter 8 if there's no UK company in the supply chain and the client is wholly overseas (i.e., no PE or branch in the UK). Otherwise, it's Chapter 10. In practice, quite a few contracts with overseas clients will be under Chapter 10 because they have a UK branch, which may be completely unaware of the risks/liabilities being created by the overseas branch.