A day in the Life of Nita

Name
Nita

"When I was offered a job at Barclays I was very excited to join the Emerging Markets business, where they’re moving at speed."

Role
Operational Risk Manager

Works in
Global Retail and Commercial Banking (Emerging Markets)

Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

My working day

My job varies depending on the time of year and Group or regional requirements. Apart from working with the Operational Risk team, I help manage Barclays Governance and Control Committee – a group which meets four times a year.

In the morning, 09:00 to 11:00
I tend to start the working day at about 08:30 and begin by going through my emails. While I might have glanced at them on my BlackBerry on the way into work, I like to go through them properly at my desk. I’ll also go through my diary and plan my priorities for the day ahead.

Around lunch, 11:00 to 14:00
My priorities and projects change throughout the year, depending on which specific areas of the business I’m focusing on. But at this time of day I’ll often be analysing and modelling different potential risk scenarios and working out how, as a business, we can mitigate those risks, liaising with accountable executives all over the Emerging Markets areas.

Early afternoon, 14:00 to 17:00
I’ll often speak with our colleagues in Barclays London headquarters early afternoon, as we’re three hours ahead of their time zone. And on a monthly basis I take part in a conference call with Operational Risk colleagues from every country in the Emerging Markets region. We discuss the risk issues that are having the biggest impacts in our countries.

End of the day, 17:00 to 18:00
I spend the end of the day planning what I’m going to do tomorrow and reviewing my calendar to prioritise my work and ensure I’m on track to meet all my deadlines – in my role it’s absolutely vital to deliver projects on time. The weekend here is Friday and Saturday.

My career at Barclays

I joined Barclays in June 2008 so I’m still quite new to the Group. Already I’ve visited the London headquarters to work with the Risk Management team there and learn from them, which has been invaluable to my understanding of the wider business.

How I started out

Before joining Barclays I was Acting Regional Head of Operational Risk at Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai, covering nine countries. Before that I worked in investment banking in India, where I’m originally from. I’m qualified as a lawyer and as a chartered secretary, and graduated with a degree in Commerce.