Kate Black
Manager
Baillie Gifford
You studied down south, tell me what attracted you to work in Scotland.
I completed a Maths & Financial Services degree at college. I enjoyed it, but decided to take a gap year to consider what I wanted to do. I came to Edinburgh as I have friends here, and started work with Baillie Gifford as a temporary administration assistant.
When a permanent contract became available for an Investment Accountant, I applied and was successful. I've been with Baillie Gifford for over 10 years now.
What sort of work do you do?
Initially as an Investment Accountant I had responsibility for a number of specific clients and my job was to ensure they received a high level of service relating to investment administration. In 2003 I moved into a Team Leader position in which I managed a team of 5 before moving into an Assistant Manager role in 2006 and then Manager role in 2008. I am now managing 2 reporting teams within the same department that I initially joined in 1997.
My Manager role is very varied dealing with any staffing needs, providing management information to the head of department, moving forward projects and, most importantly, still getting involved in client queries.
What do you find most rewarding?
I work with Team Leaders and Accountants to ensure they have the
correct training to enable them to carry out their jobs effectively, it
is rewarding when I see their successful development.
I work
with other departments, especially our software development teams to
help develop systems that automate some of our manual processes. This is
a very interesting part of the role.
Finally speaking to
clients; I enjoy dealing with any queries they have and then getting
positive feedback from them is very rewarding.
What impact has this job had on your lifestyle?
Within Baillie Gifford there is a great social environment. As well
as giving you the opportunity to attend outward bound courses to
develop your skills, the company also arranges a wide variety of social
events including, an annual dinner dance and office outing, quiz nights,
wine tastings, theatre nights.... the list goes on! This gives
colleagues from my department and other departments within the company
an opportunity to meet away from the office.