What’s it like to work at Barclays Capital IT? Is there an average day? What’s the pace like? What are the challenges? We asked a member of the Development team in Fixed Income to talk about what they do, the challenges and the satisfactions their job entails.

Who am I?
I am an IT development team manager working in Fixed Income IT, based in London.

What areas do I work in and what do my team and area focus on?
The team I manage is responsible for maintaining and developing the company’s Fixed Income and Equities back-office settlement system. This involves understanding business priorities, translating requirements into technical specifications and delivering system changes, which range from small enhancements to large programmes of work. The system is used globally by Operations, Finance and Product Control. My team is also responsible for the Settlement Interface Applications used to instruct and confirm trades, for example SWIFT.

What do I do?
On a day-to-day basis, I interact with a number of different areas. I work with the business to develop high level project plans and then provide progress updates for the projects that have started. Due to the nature of the business, priorities change on a regular basis, so it’s a very dynamic environment to manage. I work very closely with my direct reports, who include business analysts, development team leaders and settlement interface experts. The purpose of the team is to monitor market changes, understand business requirements and translate these into technical specifications – this is often referred to as ‘bridging the gap between the business and IT’. It’s down to the development team leaders to ensure the team is focused on the project tasks and deliver within budget. Many of the projects also require assistance from different IT teams, including database administrators and platform support.

The most challenging aspects of my role?
Every day at Barclays Capital brings new challenges – anything from requests from the business to support a new product, to overcoming obstacles that might delay a project, and managing staff issues. This is a fast-paced firm, so I have to stay on my toes and be accommodating when required. I think it’s also very important to keep the team motivated by encouraging a fun and challenging work environment.

What do I enjoy about my role and Barclays Capital?
I love coming to work – my colleagues are bright, enthusiastic, have a ‘can-do’ attitude and are committed to getting the job done. I joined as a graduate in 1998 and since then I have spent four years working in Asia and I have been assigned to a number of different teams. Whenever I think I might start to get bored in my role, a new challenge is presented which has enabled me to reach my full potential and develop personally.