I work at Mitsubishi Corp Intl Europe where I try to balance 3 roles being Deputy CFO, Board Director and General Manager - Treasury. Previously I have had roles in banking, treasury systems and corporate treasury for several well known names. I never went to university and the first exams I encountered after leaving school at 16 were the ACT exams. I can honestly say that they were a major turning point in my career as everything that I was working on suddenly came to life and had meaning.
Patience, perseverance, coolness under pressure and full knowledge of all the facts.
Putting aside being made project manager for a major reception suite refurbishment that I was asked to complete in 9 weeks and having to prepare for EMIR in quick time, I suppose I look back on some of the system implementations that I have been involved in, both from a user’s and vendor’s point of view. Some of the challenges I encountered were “interesting” but above all the lessons learnt and the ways of handling certain situations have stayed with me ever since; “Always try to manage people’s expectations”.
I try and use the ipad at meetings and have made a conscious effort to go digital as I was finding myself forever filing. Despite this, I still seem to be left with papers after holding a meeting as the counterparty invariably uses materials to assist with the explanation. This is totally understandable when presenting an explanation in a non-native language but it doesn’t help my filing!
I applied to be treasurer for a small local charity, but they asked me to become a trustee instead. At the time I didn’t know what it meant and what would be required of me. It was a steep learning curve - it's amazing what I get involved with - and it has opened my eyes to the challenges of working for a very small charity as well as another world full of new acronyms!
Most of the communication is done by e-mail and trustees are asked for advice and various contributions. They get to know your stronger points so in my case all the policies and procedures were offered to me for update. How could I refuse? This is good way to learn a lot about the charity.
Refreshingly, there hasn’t been an IRS, FX deal or accompanying EMIR requirement in sight. I have been working on a resourcing review, job descriptions, recruitment, a premises move, procurement of insurance and research into creating a trading entity.
I reached the point in my career when I felt it was time to give something back especially to local causes. Smaller charities are heavily reliant on volunteers as they don’t always have the funding to pay for full time or even part time staff.
It can increase your skills and expertise whilst bringing you into an environment where you can actually make a difference. I would look at local charities where you have a strong alignment with their purpose, their aims and objectives. And finally I would say don’t go in with fixed ideas and be open, as the landscape can be very different to the sometimes comfortable corporate world.
I tend to use the policy & technical team where it is a two way process in giving and receiving information. I also make frequent use of the ACT’s training resources within the career hub as there is plenty of soft skill related training available.
Knowing the Score by Judy Murray. It's unbelievable how she has two sons that have managed to achieve what they have, given the absence of funding and consequent reliance on the odd donation.
Probably the treasury department management team at British Gas plc in the 1990s. They know who they are so I won’t embarrass them!